Nutrition for Pregnant People
Pregnancy is a sensitive time in which adequate intake of nutritious foods brings crucial long-term benefits to both baby and birth parent. Growing evidence shows that when food-insecure pregnant people are supported to consume nutritious foods like fruits and vegetables, birth outcomes and maternal health improve.
Women, Infants and Children Program
Unfortunately, in high cost-of-living areas like San Francisco, government-provided food assistance for families may still not be enough for pregnant people to purchase all the nutritious food they need. This is why, since 2017, Vouchers 4 Veggies has provided a key supplement by automatically enrolling pregnant WIC patients to receive additional benefits for purchase of fruits & vegetables.
To this end, V4V partners with the San Francisco Department of Public Health and Women, Infants and Children program (WIC) to mail an additional $40 a month in fruit & vegetable benefits to pregnant participants, plus shopping and nutrition tips, for a total of 12 months. Benefits can be used at a variety of stores throughout San Francisco.
The Difference
Leveraging this existing partnership, Vouchers 4 Veggies received additional funding through the California Preterm Birth Initiative (PTBi-CA) in 2017 to rigorously evaluate the outcomes of the program.
This additional funding allowed V4V to determine the extent to which $10 in weekly vouchers redeemable for fruits and vegetables improves intake of fruits and vegetables, reduces food insecurity, and lowers preterm birth rates among low-income, pregnant people in San Francisco.