Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved

COVID-19 has increased childhood food insecurity rates. The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia collaborated with Food Connect and The Common Market to deliver produce boxes to food-insecure families. Food Connect leveraged technology to use texting, scale delivery integrations, and optimize routing to deliver 95,000 pounds of food over a 16-week period. COVID-19 has increased childhood food insecurity rates. The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia collaborated with Food Connect and The Common Market to deliver produce boxes to food-insecure families. Food Connect leveraged technology to use texting, scale delivery integrations, and optimize routing to deliver 95,000 pounds of food over a 16-week period.

FoodTank

"Bridgeton Public Schools are also working to increase local partnerships. This work is a continuation of a project that has been underway since the implementation of the Community Eligibility Provision – a program that allows schools to feed all students breakfast and lunch for free – in 2017. The county currently works with local producers The Common Market and Seashore Fruit & Produce. “[We] pride ourselves on being a nutrition hub for our students,” says Warren DeShields, Director of Food Services at Bridgeton Public Schools.

“Thanks to the partnership with The Common Market, along with other wholesalers, the City of Baltimore is now supplying 95 sites with 20,000 boxes of perishable food per week, totaling over 9.2 million pounds of food over the course of the pandemic,” says Holly Freishtat, Baltimore City Food Policy Director.

Healthy Together: Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital

"The Community Health team partnered with nonprofits and local organizations to deliver vegetables, fruit, eggs, bread and yogurt to needy individuals and families. A key partner was The Common Market, a national nonprofit that distributes food from sustainable family farms to communities in need."

Philadelphia Department of Public Health

The Farmers to Families Food Box Program significantly increased access to fresh food in Philadelphia, particularly in neighborhoods that suffered the double-burden of economic instability and vulnerability to infection. Though the USDA program itself met some critique on the national level, in Philadelphia it was largely successful in supporting greater food access, and also returned value to regional farms.

The Story Exchange

[The Common Market Mid-Atlantic] recently finished a seven-month, $6 million contract with the City of New York to pack and deliver more than 230,000 pantry boxes to address adult food insecurity. “Hearing directly from people about what it means to not open a box with processed sugary foods, but something fresh and nutritious — we’re giving humanity back to people through distribution and food access efforts.”

The Food Trust

"To be essential, it means a lot. Being out there on the frontlines with everyone else. Even if it is on the smaller end — you’re still out there helping out."

The Brown and White

"Sleeger said non-profits were a game-changer, such as The Common Market in Philadelphia. The Common Market is a non-profit distributor that connects local farms to communities and anchor institutions like Lehigh."

Yahoo! Money

“The Common Market has been a great resource to the diverse community served by the William Penn School District, which has been able to provide healthy food access in neighborhoods rocked by both the pandemic and years of economic disinvestment,” shared PA Senator Tim Kearney.

Lancaster Farming

"Sometimes a produce box holds more than fresh vegetables and fruit.

It also contains the labor of Pennsylvania farmers and farm workers, truck drivers, relationship-building and evidence-based information from Penn State Extension staff, the passion of 4-H youth and leaders, a mission-focused community development group, the grit of a community organizer, locally grown fruit and vegetables from an innovative non-profit regional food distributor, and potential for growing healthy communities.

We are going to have to find a bigger box."

The Common Market in the News

Tech Led Solutions to Address Food Insecurity during a Global Pandemic

School Nutrition Directors Feed Communities Through the Pandemic

PRESS RELEASE: Amidst COVID-19, Nonprofit The Common Market continues to serve Baltimore communities facing food insecurity and local farms

ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL STAFF MEMBERS DISTRIBUTED FOOD AND EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS IN MEMORY OF A LOCAL LEADER

Farmers to Families in Philadelphia: How a USDA-funded program contributed to hunger relief during COVID-19

Amid Pandemic Hunger Crisis, Entrepreneurial Women Work to Combat Food Insecurity

Farm to School Champion: Lavar Prather

Lehigh surpassed Real Food Challenge goal

The Common Market, Aramark, and Camden City and William Penn School Districts Bring Fresh, Nutritious Foods to NJ and PA Communities

Produce Boxes Grow Rural-Urban Partnerships