Leading grocery technology company in North America, Instacart has announced a Community Carts campaign, supporting families affected by expirations of emergency SNAP (Supplement Nutrition Assistance Programme) benefits.
The campaign aims to ensure that families who rely on the SNAP benefit for healthy, nutritious meals will not have to go without.
The SNAP benefit was created during the pandemic and will expire in 32 states. More than 30 million people will be affected by the expiration of the SNAP benefit, with the impact causing grocery budgets for the average household to tighten by at least $95 per month.
While households across the United States will feel the pressure, local foodbanks already feeling the pinch, with growing supply shortages amidst increasing food prices, will need to prepare for a significant rise in demand for assistance.
"Many partner food banks are preparing for heightened demand as SNAP benefits return to pre-pandemic levels," said Lauren Biedron, Vice President of Corporate Partnerships at Feeding America.
Instacart’s Community Carts campaign expands its existing Instacart+ membership, now extended to those receiving SNAP benefits for a discounted price. The launch of the Community Carts campaign is to generate public awareness to motivate donations to food banks in states affected by SNAP funding expirations.
Accessible through an app for all IOS and android users, the Community Carts function revamps traditional food drives of the same sentiment, grocery items easily donated to identified local foodbanks in need with products delivered directly to the foodbank by Instacart shoppers.
"Our goal is to put more food on the table for more families," explained Instacart Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Dani Dudeck. "As grocery budgets tighten for millions of SNAP recipients and lines stretch longer at food banks across the country, accessing affordable, nutritious food has never been harder. At Instacart, we're committed to finding more ways to support food banks nationwide so they can continue to serve their communities and feed more families."
The Community Cart tool will be available from the 1st of March through the Instacart app and website.
More information is available through the Instacart website.
