FoodShare South Carolina is a PSE change intervention designed to improve food security and health outcomes through fresh food access and affordability. Every 2 weeks residents can order a Fresh Food Box using cash or SNAP/EBT. The program is a SNAP Healthy Bucks site (a state SNAP healthy incentives program), which allows SNAP recipients to receive a $15 healthy incentive to go towards the cost of their box. Each Fresh Food Box contains 9-11 varieties of culturally appropriate fruits and vegetables, always with a mix of more common items (e.g., apples) and less common items (e.g., radishes). A recipe card that is culturally relevant to participants and based on the produce in the box in a given week is also included. The program is situated within an academic medical center and community-based hospital system. A screening and referral process was created that links patients to FoodShare sites across the state.
Intervention Target Behavior: Healthy Eating, Food Insecurity/Food Assistance
SNAP-Ed Strategies: PSE Change
There are 20 county based FoodShare Hub across the state where participants can purchase a Fresh Food Box. Each Hub also has a network of "partner sites", such as churches, clinics, day care centers, Senior centers, apartment complexes, libraries schools, and other community-based organizations that serve a Fresh Food Box ordering and pick-up sites within their communities. To date (since 2015) across the state of South Carolina, 338,800 boxes (over 6 million pounds of fresh produce) have been packed and distributed to community participants. Of these food boxes, 50% were purchased using SNAP. The FoodShare program serves a number of Hispanic/Latina and African American families with preferences for foods based on personal experience and cultural significance.
Settings: Pre-K & Childcare, Community-wide, Faith-based centers, Healthcare, Schools
Age/Population Group: Pregnant/Breastfeeding, Parents/Caregivers, Adults, Older Adults
Race: All
Ethnicity: Hispanic or Latino Origin, Not of Hispanic or Latino Origin
The FoodShare program includes a Fresh Food Box component with a SNAP incentive and partner site capacity building materials. These intervention components provide participants with access to fresh, affordable produce and assist organizations in capacity building to improve health through fresh food access. The core component includes the Fresh Food Box and complementary components include food insecurity screening and referral.
Intervention materials include a hub readiness toolkit, partner site readiness toolkit, application to become a partner site, pre-order SNAP form, clinic food insecurity screener, food box order form, healthy bucks log, sample recipe card, SNAP manual voucher, tips for English/Spanish food box, calendar, and a web-based order tracking system.
An obstacle to lifestyle changes is the cost associated with making healthy choices. A successful program aimed at low wealth, ethnically diverse individuals with chronic diseases must address both the cost of, and accessibility to, healthy foods. The FoodShare program addresses these barriers by creating a network of partner sites and neighborhood coordinators who accept orders for Fresh Food Boxes, pick up boxes, as well as takes the box back to the community in which the participant lives. Additionally, a screening and referral process within clinics has allowed the program to reach more participants.
Evidence Base: Emerging
Based on the SNAP-Ed Evaluation Framework, the following outcome indicators can be used to evaluate intervention progress and success.
Readiness and Capacity - Short Term (ST) | Changes - Medium Term (MT) | Effectiveness and Maintenance - Long Term (LT) | Population Results (R) | |
Individual | ||||
Environmental Settings | ||||
Sectors of Influence |
- ST5b and ST5c: 33 partner sites and 6 new FoodShare hubs demonstrated need and readiness
- MT5d: 33 partner sites and 3 new FoodShare hubs have adopted the model
The following evaluation materials are available upon request: 1) a semi-structured interview guide to assess readiness and need to adopt the FoodShare model among potential new sites/organizations, 2) a semi-structured interview guide to confirm adoption of the FoodShare model among new partner sites and new FoodShare hubs, and 3) data tracking forms to track number of unique customers to determine reach.
Increasing Access to Fresh Produce within the SC SNAP-Ed Program through the FoodShare SC Model:
Website: The FoodShare website includes information on how the program works, the FoodShare team and partners, the various programs, resources and recipes, and ways to get involved.
Contact Person:
Omme-Salma Rahemtullah
Interim Executive Director
803-851-4461
*Updated as of September 26, 2023