+BOX: Outcomes Over Output

+BOX is a nutrition-centered food security program that makes healthy food, with a focus on fresh fruits and vegetables, more accessible and available to children and families experiencing food insecurity. We partner with local farms, food rescue organizations, and neighborhood schools to deliver CSA-style produce boxes to food insecure children and their families on a weekly basis to increase household food security, fuel student achievement, and improve the long-term health and wellness of the families we serve.

To better understand how effective +BOX has been in driving those outcomes, we conducted a program evaluation survey at the close of the 2023-24 school year. We received more than 200 responses, in three different languages, from program participants with children in schools in Carlsbad, Oceanside, and Vista.

The results were incredible!

Almost all (99%) families participating in the +BOX program are experiencing at least some improvements in health and wellness, including 82% of respondents who reported significant improvements in their household’s health and wellness. 

Existing research suggests that food insecure families typically lack access to fresh fruits, vegetables, and other essential nutrients (70% of conventional food assistance is provided in the form of processed or ultra-processed foods), and are therefore more likely to suffer from poor health, diabetes, high blood pressure, and other chronic illnesses. Research also shows that consistent access to fresh, high quality, high nutritional value foods leads to better health in both the prevention and treatment of illness and chronic disease. 

Now we know with certainty that +BOX, in alignment with existing research, is directly improving the health and wellness of the families we support.

Our program evaluation survey also revealed that +BOX is effectively fueling student achievement. Ninety two (92%) percent of respondents shared that their children have experienced improvements in academic performance, including a majority (60%) who have had much more success in school since participating in the +BOX program.

These results, while validating to our team, are unsurprising. According to No Kid Hungry, food insecurity among children affects concentration, memory, mood, and motor skills, all of which are necessary for classroom success. Nutrition insecurity negatively impacts a child's overall health and wellness, which leads to more sick days and more school absences. Furthermore, in 2019 the CDC reported that students with higher academic grades were more likely to engage in healthy dietary behaviors, including eating vegetables one or more times per day. By focusing on consistent access to fresh fruits and vegetables, +BOX is not only providing the fuel that students need to learn, but also promoting healthier eating habits that will lead to higher academic performance in the long-term.

Finally, expanding access to healthy foods is one of our core principles, so we asked program participants how accessible they found the +BOX program in relation to other food assistance programs in their community. We are happy to share that 100% of families participating in the +BOX program confirm that +BOX is the most accessible food assistance program supporting their communities.

We recently celebrated our achievement of one million pounds of produce delivered to food insecure families, providing life-changing nutrition to more than 700 families on a weekly basis, but we are even more proud of these outcomes. They’re a validation of our approach and a demonstration that +BOX goes beyond conventional hunger relief. This is why we do this work.

+BOX is driving outcomes that will have long-term positive impacts on children and families, uprooting the conventional food assistance model, and building a next-generation food assistance program that fuels wellness, growth, and opportunities for a healthier life. 

We invite you to join us in this work as we strive to hold ourselves to the high standard established by these results. With your help, we can continue to drive positive outcomes for more and more children and families.

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