As part of our work around this year’s White House Challenge to End Hunger and Build Healthy Communities, DoorDash is reiterating its commitment to supporting initiatives and policies that broaden food access across communities. From innovative public policy to partnerships that have an impact on the lives of people experiencing food insecurity – governments, nonprofits, and companies across the U.S. all have a role to play in accomplishing the goal of ending hunger by 2030.
Continuing our Support of the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health
Today, we’re proud to build on our previous commitments in support of the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health by continuing to break down barriers to food access via local delivery.
In partnership with Brighter Bites, we’re expanding our existing work powering the delivery of prescription, fresh produce via Project DASH to Medicaid-eligible families in several additional cities across the U.S. by 2025. By growing its partnership with Project DASH, Brighter Bites will expand its reach to partner with pediatric clinics serving Medicaid-eligible families to identify children experiencing weight challenges, providing them and their families with a multi-pronged Produce Prescription Program to promote healthy eating habits. This partnership aims to help increase the consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables, strengthen nutrition security, and reduce the risk factors of dietary disease.
Since 2018, Project DASH has helped to break down barriers to access by empowering food banks, food pantries, and other social impact organizations to use DoorDash logistics to power the delivery of charitable food and other essential items in a way that emphasizes convenience and dignity. Since the program’s launch, we’re proud to have powered more than 5 million deliveries of an estimated over 80 million meals via Project DASH in support of our partners and the communities they serve. If your organization would like to partner with Project DASH, please email projectdash@doordash.com.
Broadening Food Access Through Commitments that Leverage the DoorDash Platform
Today’s announcement builds on our previous commitments in support of the conference to leverage our platform in ways that broaden food access. In 2022, we announced a partnership with 18 mayors to provide them with data on food access needs and the ability to leverage the company's logistics to help power the local delivery of charitable food through Project DASH. To further support our 18 partner cities, DoorDash provided $1 million in Community Credits gift cards which have been used to support displaced Tacoma, WA Housing Authority residents, summer youth programs in Pawtucket, RI, Camden, NJ-based anti-hunger organizations, and community organizations in Tucson, AZ.
Broadening food access also means breaking down barriers for people who prefer to access food from grocery stores or other partners on the DoorDash Marketplace. In March, we announced a series of new commitments designed to expand access to nutritious food and healthy choices. By 2025, DoorDash will offer access to SNAP/EBT grocery delivery in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico; grow the availability of produce on the DoorDash Marketplace; and keep healthy options top of mind for consumers by promoting and highlighting healthy products as part of the DoorDash consumer journey in the DoorDash Marketplace.
Supporting Ways to Broaden Food Access Through Innovative Policy
However, we know that to truly solve hunger, we need public policy solutions that broaden food access for vulnerable populations in permanent ways. As a member of the Alliance to End Hunger, DoorDash supports increased funding for our partners and the communities they serve via the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) and the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP). We’re also proud to join our partners in support of the Farmers Feeding America Act and join anti-hunger leaders like Feeding America, the National CSFP Association, Meals on Wheels, and others in support of the Delivering for Rural Seniors Act which will help break down barriers to access for seniors who face transportation and other challenges in accessing their monthly CSFP food box.
In 2022, we released a whitepaper, Broadening Food Access Through Innovative Public Policy, outlining the importance of broadening food access by investing in anti-hunger programs, and, last year, the Urban Institute released a report demonstrating the importance of local delivery in breaking down barriers to access.
We all have a role to play in combating food insecurity and today’s commitment in support of the White House Challenge to End Hunger and Build Healthy Communities builds on our longstanding work to broaden food access via the DoorDash platform and advocacy for innovative public policy in support of the collective goal of ending hunger by 2030.
