Wholesome Wave, a national 501(c)3 non-profit that addresses nutrition insecurity by making healthy produce available and affordable for people who need it most, released the first-of-its-kind research report, “Produce Prescription Programs: US Field Scan 2010-2020.”  Wholesome Wave engaged DAISA Enterprises in 2020 to conduct the national field scan research.
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“Wholesome Wave helped pioneer produce prescriptions back in 2010, encouraging healthcare providers to prescribe the fruits and vegetables needed to help someone prevent or manage diet-related diseases, having a significant impact on people’s health,” said Michel Nischan, co-founder, Wholesome Wave. “We’ve worked hard the last eleven years to launch more than 100 Produce Prescription Programs around the country, empowering low-income families to make smart food choices by closing the nutrition gap with affordable fruits and vegetables.”
 
DAISA identified and researched more than 100 new Produce Prescription Programs which began between 2010-2020 for this report, examining data related to program eligibility and operations, partnership development, program longevity, prescription redemption mechanism, funding sources and more, as well as conducting interviews with 19 of the program operators and reviewing news articles, reports and policy briefs and program implementation guides. 
 
High-level research findings include:

• Between 2010 and 2020, about 100 new programs housed within or partnering with healthcare entities began operations throughout the United States, with the fastest growth occurring within the last five years.
• To redeem prescriptions, 48% of programs partner with farmers’ markets and 68% utilize a paper voucher. However, partnership with retail grocery markets (29%) as well as on-site produce distribution (20%) are also growing in popularity as programs seek to diversify access.
• The top three health factors used to screen eligible produce prescription patients include food insecurity (38%), unspecified diet-related chronic diseases (51%), and diabetes/pre-diabetes (33%). To increase equity and access, many programs are shifting away from requiring a diagnosis of a diet-related condition and instead screening more broadly for food insecurity or being at risk for diet-related disease.
• Inconsistent or insufficient funding leaves programs at risk of failure and hinders efforts to grow and innovate. With only 16% of the examined programs citing federal funding as their primary source, there is a resounding call to integrate produce prescriptions as a preventative healthcare service within Medicare, Medicaid, and insurance plans.
• The pandemic has exacerbated food insecurity especially within BIPOC communities and the need for nutrition incentives is higher than ever. In pivoting operations, some programs have increased efficiency through delivery, drive-through markets and virtual educational offerings, while acknowledging the effects of inequitable Internet access and fewer opportunities for social interaction.

 
​“The role that nutrition education plays increasing redemption and produce utilization underscores the importance of embedding produce prescription programs holistically,” said Benjamin Perkins, CEO, Wholesome Wave. “This research showed that 70% of programs named nutrition education or culinary instruction as a crucial component to this program as a whole. Similar to medication adherence, if we do not factor in the context in which participants live their lives, the likelihood of uptake diminishes.”

The DAISA team is grateful to play a role in advancing the understanding of the Produce Prescription Program landscape and why this powerful model is experiencing a groundswell of interest from communities as another path towards health and well-being through nutritious food.

Young Mountain Tea's growth strategy and impact thesis is being fine-tuned and the company will be approaching other potential business partners and investors over the next few months. 


About Young Mountain Tea
Young Mountain Tea was launched in 2013 when Founder Raj Vable made a promise to a Himalayan non-profit: if they would organize local mountain farmers to grow high-quality tea, he would set up a company in the US to sell it. The company’s mission is to develop a market that raises up emerging tea makers, creating vibrant mountain economies and healthy lands across the Indian subcontinent. The company specializes in sourcing single-origin, organic, loose-leaf teas direct from smallholder farmers. Their collection of 25+ teas is available through the company’s website and sold to bulk and private label companies. 

About DAISA and DAISA Capital
DAISA Enterprises was founded by Daniel Ross in the fall of 2015. It works at the intersection of food, health and economic development. DAISA provides strategy consulting, initiative design and management services, for national and regional philanthropic foundation and impact investor clients, as well as high-impact social enterprises, working in community food systems, health, and community development. 

​DAISA Capital is a branch of DAISA Enterprises and was co-founded with Gustavo Mamao, a serial entrepreneur who came to join DAISA as part of a plan to prove a new model for investing in and building the Sustainable Food and Agriculture space. DAISA Capital expects to support a small portfolio of inspiring food companies, and it is looking for other Investors partners in the Food and Impact Investment field to grow its model / approach.

For more information, contact [email protected]

Co-hosted by Maria Elena Rodriguez (DAISA Enterprises) and Annalina Kazickas (Wallace Center’s Food Systems Leadership Network) this August 2020 webinar explored the possibilities that exist at the intersection of arts, culture, and food systems. ​

Beginning in 2015, DAISA Enterprises, along with Catherine Sands from Fertile Ground, served as the Learning & Evaluation partners for the Healthy Food Fund (HFF) of the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation. This three-year initiative provided grants in the $30,000 - $60,000 range to 25 nonprofit organizations in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine and New Hampshire and sought to examine the impact of strategic investments in local fresh food organizations on improving access to healthy food for low- and middle-income households. The communities involved did not have adequate access to healthy, culturally preferred, and affordable foods for all residents, therefore effective, innovative and agile approaches were necessary. As such, DAISA worked closely with Foundation staff and with leaders of the funded programs and developed and tracked metrics aligned with the HFF Theory of Change. In addition, by collaborating with the grantee partners, DAISA facilitated a monthly Community of Practice to foster cross-fertilization of ideas, techniques, and actionable lessons learned. At the time, HFF aimed to have and document a measurable impact on the community food environment and increase distribution of healthy food. With the arrival of COVID-19 in early 2020, those outcomes and the infrastructure and relationships which enabled their success now contribute to effective, local responses. ​
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North Spore stands for a world of people consuming healthy and delicious mushrooms. During their work with the DAISA Capital team, led by Gustavo Mamao, the company’s founders got conscious on how the company impact thesis is related to some of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The potential for mushrooms to be a key meat replacement – which has been one of the forces for plant-based alternative products – and all the scientific progresses into the health benefits of some mushroom species are key market forces driving North Spore’s fast growth over the last few years.  ​
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DAISA Enterprises, a food systems and community health strategy firm based in South Hadley, Massachusetts was selected by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to design and facilitate a convening of the Healthy Children and Families grantees for 2020.
 
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) is the United States' largest philanthropic foundation focused solely on health; it is based in Princeton, New Jersey. The Foundation's goal is to improve the health and well-being of all in America."  RWJF aims to advance policy, systems, and environmental changes that create the conditions to foster families’ opportunities to promote healthy child development.  The Healthy Children and Families convening will be a forum for sharing learnings and leveraging insights among grantees, partners, stakeholders, and RWJF staff around strategies to achieve this goal and prioritize health equity. More than a hundred health leaders are expected to attend this engaging event in spring or summer 2020.
 
DAISA Enterprises works at the intersection of food, health, economic and community 
development, building cutting-edge initiatives and enterprises.  It has quickly established itself as a key partner to national health-based philanthropic foundations, helping them design and implement field-building events and programs. 
 
DAISA CEO Daniel Ross expressed commitment to the mission and values of the HCF initiative, “DAISA is honored to support the work of RWJF grantees, help them connect and learn from each other, and build a greater movement for the health of children in our country. This is amongst the most powerful work we can do.”

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Read the white paper and share it with your networks.
Visit EFOD.org to learn more about Equitable Food Oriented Development and the EFOD Collaborative.
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The white paper was jointly produced by the EFOD Collaborative and DAISA Enterprises, with support from The Kresge Foundation. EFOD Collaborative Steering Committee members include Community Services Unlimited Inc., Nuestras Raíces, La Mujer Obrera, Mandela Partners, Detroit Black Community Food Security Network, Inclusive Action for the City, Planting Justice, Sankofa Community Development Corporation, La Semilla Food Center, and allies from Capital Impact Partners, Self-Help Federal Credit Union, and The Wallace Center at Winrock International.