Program areas at DC Greens
Food Access (Produce Rx): DC Greens' Food Access programming reflects our belief that access to healthy food is a basic human right. Our Produce Rx program advances a "food as medicine" approach, equipping physicians to prescribe fresh fruits and vegetables to lower-income patients coping with chronic disease (diabetes, pre-diabetes, and hypertension). Adult patients redeem their prescriptions at grocery stores and receive $80 per month to spend in the produce aisle. Another component of our food access portfolio is Produce Plus, which we incubated and managed until 2021, providing vouchers for over 25,000 low-income DC residents annually to shop for fresh, local produce at farmers' markets citywide. This program, launched by DC Greens in collaboration with DC Health, changed the landscape of healthy food access in the city and secured the market for four new farmers' markets to open east of the Anacostia river. At the end of 2021, DC Greens completed our management of Produce Plus.
Food Policy: DC City Council and government agencies share our desire to build a healthy food system in the nation's capital, as evidenced by the breadth of existing food related legislation. DC Greens collaborates with colleagues and legislators to craft food policy that will advance health equity, such as the No Senior Hungry Act, and advocates for policy that supports the sector's work on the ground, such as Give SNAP a Raise. We also collaborate with city agencies to build channels for community input (e.g., School Food Collaborative; community voice within the Food Policy Council), offer best practices and opportunities from across the country (e.g., Good Food Purchasing Program, Healthcare Finance opportunities around Food as Medicine), and are involved in helping to shape policy at all levels of DC government.
The Well at Oxon Run: The Well at Oxon Run is DC Greens' place-based iniative and up-stream intervention to address health equity. The Well is a farm and intergenerational community wellness space in the Congress Heights neighborhood of Southeast DC. We spent three years visioning this space together with community leaders and long-time neighborhood residents, and have hired staff from within the community to guide the space as it grows. We officially opened The Well in 2022.
General programs: General program support includes but is not limited to: DC Greens' participation in commissions and collaboratives that advance our mission of health equity in the District; collaboration and strategy sessions with other nonprofit leaders that span multiple programs; getting general information to the public about our programs and mission as a whole; general programmatic support that is not specific to any one program but benefits all programs. In an effort to work collaboratively, we have partnered with more than 80 non-profits.
Lobbying: Activities to pass and amend legislation that creates a more just and resilient food system.