Growing Community Health, Wealth & Resilience

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An illustrated onion.

See What’s Possible When We Start with Food

At Fair Food Network, we believe that food can be a powerful starting point—for collaboration, strong communities, and innovative solutions. Together, we can build a more inclusive and resilient food economy.

How we’re supporting families, farmers, and local economies

First piloted in Michigan in 2009, our Double Up Food Bucks program has grown into a national model for nutrition incentives. Double Up matches SNAP purchases of fruits and vegetables, helping families stretch their food budgets while supporting farmers and local food businesses.

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How we’re investing in food businesses creating positive change

We support food and farm businesses with catalytic capital and wrap-around business services. Our investments focus on entrepreneurs who are nourishing their neighbors and contributing to vibrant, livable communities, with a special emphasis on those facing barriers to access. Together, we are building a stronger, more inclusive food economy.

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How we’re partnering with the Nutrition Incentive Hub

Leveraging our experience and lessons learned from building and scaling programs like Double Up Food Bucks, we lead technical assistance and innovation for the Nutrition Incentive Hub, a USDA-supported center launched in partnership with Center for Nutrition and Health Impact. The Hub strengthens nutrition incentive and produce prescription projects across the country.

A mother and son smiling behind a shelf of kale and hiding a basket of apples at the farmers market
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An illustrated salad leaf and some seeds.

Change Is Happening Right Now

From advancing our nutrition incentives work to investing in food and farm businesses, our approach is designed to create an immediate impact and long-term systems change.

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Total dollars invested into communities by Fair Food Network.

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Total produce bought through Double Up & SNAP benefits since 2009.

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Estimated pounds of produce bought with Double Up & SNAP benefits since 2009.

Our latest impact report shows what’s possible when we invest in our neighbors, our growers and food producers, and our communities. 

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Virtual Roundtable

Fair Food Network’s Founder and Resident Champion Oran Hesterman leads an insightful conversation with Keith Schneider, Senior Editor at Circle of Blue and contributor to The New York Times and Jon Henry, Owner of Jon Henry General Store.

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An illustrated salad leaf and some seeds.
An illustrated green onion and some seeds.

Stories From the Field

Access to healthy food is well documented to reduce people's risk of chronic health conditions and contribute to better health and well-being. While the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program aims to alleviate food insecurity, the primary focus of nutrition incentive programs has always been ensuring that children and families not only have access to enough food, but the vital nutrients that are the foundation of a healthy, active life and healthy communities. 

Explore how Fair Food Network continues to amplify a unified voice in support of nutrition incentives and a strong SNAP program across the country.

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Fair Food Network launched a special fund on behalf of the Nutrition Incentive Hub to help deepen the impact of nutrition incentive programs at the height of the pandemic, it was a creative way to “meet the moment” during an unprecedented crisis. What the fund emphasized is that, for families struggling to put healthy food on the table, and for farmers, food retailers, and fledgling nutrition incentive programs coalescing to form a more resilient local food system, the moment is always now. 

Explore the latest impact the Capacity Building and Innovation Fund has had across the country.

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Despite the good intentions and creative strategies of impact investors, extreme wealth inequity persists. The climate crisis will only deepen the divide, unless we change quickly. Many impact investors are investing and giving more to meet the challenges of our world. But entrenched relational norms that prioritize capital and transactions over community and relationships are much slower to change.

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Illustration of an onion.

Join Us

Join the community that believes food has the power to transform communities for good.

Sign up for our updates to stay informed about our latest programs, read inspiring stories of impact, and how you can become an important part of the movement. See what’s possible when we start with food.

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