EatSF in full swing!

Two months in and EatSF is in full swing! Now that EatSF, a fruit and vegetable voucher program for low-income families and those with diet-sensitive chronic diseases, is up and running we wanted to share the good news about our first few months!

Since launching April 1st, we now have over 200 households enrolled in the program! That means that 200 individuals and families who didn’t have access to healthy fruits and vegetables before can now go buy them from their local corner store or farmers market in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco. EatSF participants have reported on the program, saying “we haven’t had any problems using the vouchers at the stores. All the store owners knew about the program and it was a very easy process.” And, “I really like the program! I was able to buy lots of fruits and vegetables, more than I thought.”

Making the program even more exciting, those enrolled in EatSF have redeemed nearly 1,000 EatSF vouchers in the first two months ! That comes to almost $5000 being pumped directly into small, locally-owned businesses. Money that is being spent only on healthy and fresh produce. Commenting on the EatSF program, a participating corner store owner said, “we’ve had a lot more new customers coming into the store because of the program. We’ve even had to order more produce this month because so many people are buying it.”

We are working with additional community-based organizations in the Tenderloin and expanding soon to new sites and corner stores in the SOMA neighborhood. Stay tuned for more exciting news and updates about EatSF!