Access to Food

Deconstructing complex issues such as food insecurity starting with organizations providing services in health services, educational programs and nutrition support is likely to produce outcomes that address negative trends at a root cause level. 

Access to Food in Philadelphia

The Problem

Structural food insecurity impacts 14% of Philadelphia’s residents, almost 250,000 people (including 90,000 children) and disproportionately impacting Black (23%) and Latino (20%) families. 

Vik Dewan, Principal

Additional Statistics

While the incidence of food insecurity decreased during the COVID pandemic due to a short-term increase in public funding, approximately 500,000 people in Philadelphia experienced these additional programs cut in July 2023. There are real costs to food insecurity – loss of productivity and poor nutrition impacting childhood educational achievement levels and senior health vectors, including increased incident of diabetes and high blood pressure related outcomes. 

Understanding

Additionally, increasing rates of food allergies combined with food insecurity are a special concern for the nutrition, health of safety of children. Addressing food insecurity only through public assistance programs or private efforts through food pantries and emergency food distribution programs without starting with neighborhood health resources combined with food pharmacies programs cannot systemically and holistically address the growing numbers of individuals who are food insecure. 

Access to Food in Philadelphia

Our Theory of Engagement and Change

Focusing on food drives, food pantries and emergency food distribution without providing programmatic interventions to address the education, health and nutrition components that are often the underpinning of food insecurity challenges may just continue to treat the symptoms and not the root causes and result in a constant and continuing access to food issues and the resultant costs in productivity and poor health vector outcomes. 

Vik Dewan, Principal

Brief

At Doing Good Well, we believe that our most pressing social challenges can be addressed and improved though holistic and collaborative approaches and partnerships of high performing, effective not-for profits. Deconstructing complex issues such as food insecurity starting with organizations providing services in health services, educational programs and nutrition support is likely to produce outcomes that address negative trends at a root cause level. 

Approach

We believe these organizations require new sources of long-term capital – funding that can come from well informed and patient donors. We believe that none of these organizations can achieve the outcomes we believe are possible without working together – with joint performance goals, integrated in their delivery and committed to outcomes that are defined by milestones over a multi-year period. Our Subject Matter Experts convene, coach and coordinate the work of these collaboratives that have deep roots in and credibility with the community in specific neighborhoods and work closely with our donors to share deeper insights and context.

Access to Food in Philadelphia

Current Challenges

We will seek $2-3 million as an initial commitment to these outcomes in the first year.  

Vik Dewan, Principal

Focus

West Philadelphia and Cobbs Creek –our initial focus is on West Philadelphia and the hyper local area of Cobbs Creek bringing together a collaborative of not-for-profits that are neighborhood based. We will direct our attention to programmatic interventions that provide integrated education, nutrition, health delivery programs. 

Numbers

Figures grow by the year.

PhiladelphiaN IMPACTED
%
TOTAL PEOPLE AFFECTED
k
children AFFECTED
k