Addressing Perinatal Food Insecurity: A Pilot Program

The Junaid Family Foundation (JFF) has been proud to support the Greater Cleveland Food Bank’s (GCFB) Nourishing Beginnings program over the past year, an innovative initiative addressing barriers to food access and security for pregnant women and their families. This program recognizes that as one of the most fundamental human needs, prioritizing food access, especially during pregnancy, can not only reduce health disparities but significantly impacts lifelong health, for both mother and baby.

Women in the program are provided medically tailored groceries which are fresh and pantry grocery items customized by nutritional professionals based on a treatment plan. The devoted staff and volunteers of the GCFB hand-pack boxes for participants and deliver them to women’s homes, eliminating the barriers of cost, transportation, and access. Participants also receive cooking tools to prepare meals, nutritious recipes designed to meet the dietary needs of pregnancy, assistance with SNAP/WIC enrollment, and ongoing support and resources from community health workers and GCFB staff.

The goals of the Nourishing Beginnings program extend beyond immediate food access. Additional measurable outcomes include nutrition status, food security, psychosocial health, and birth outcomes. By testing and evaluating the most effective and sustainable methods for delivering nutritious food to pregnant individuals, the program seeks to build evidence to pursue systematic policy reforms to ensure all pregnant women have access to create a healthy start for themselves and their children. 

This type of food-is-medicine intervention that integrates food access with clinical care demonstrated impressive results over the past year. Nourishing Beginnings shows great potential as a model that can be scaled and replicated in other communities, creating healthier futures in Cleveland and beyond.

Food security during pregnancy has lasting long term effects on maternal and infant health. JFF’s support for Nourishing Beginnings furthers our commitment to advancing maternal and child well-being and we are inspired by GCFB’s efforts and their unwavering commitment to nourish our community.