Shipt’s Commitment to Food Security
As we embark on a new school year, Emeril’s Culinary Garden & Teaching Kitchen is thrilled to highlight our collaboration with Shipt, a retail technology company making significant strides in improving food access.
At Emeril Lagasse Foundation, we align with partners whose values resonate with our mission to inspire, mentor, and enable youth to reach their full potential. Shipt stands out for its substantial commitment to Emeril’s Culinary Garden & Teaching Kitchen, providing our school partners with access to healthy food and supporting training initiatives for our teachers.
Shipt’s Commitment to Food Security
Recently, Shipt unveiled an initiative to increase access to nutritious food within our communities. By accepting SNAP EBT (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) payments on marketplace orders, Shipt is improving accessibility and opportunity.
This initiative will expand access to healthy, affordable foods to nearly 74 percent of America’s food deserts, with the potential to reach over 86 million Americans*. SNAP recipients will benefit from a discounted monthly membership, making it easier for families to access nutritious food. More than half of our school partners for Emeril’s Culinary Garden & Teaching Kitchen are located in food deserts, and 68 percent of students in our program live in economically disadvantaged households.
Over the years, Shipt has provided discounted memberships and credits to our school partners nationwide. We have witnessed firsthand how instrumental this is in accessing healthy and nutritious food, and we’re excited for our school partners to share this latest announcement with families.
“At Shipt, we keep people at the center of everything we do. Food access plays such a critical role in people’s lives, especially for students” said Shipt VP of Economic and Social Impact Khadijah Abdullah.
“Shipt is proud to work with great community partners like the Emeril Lagasse Foundation to spark an appreciation for food and learning important lessons through food in students.”
Emeril’s Culinary Garden & Teaching Kitchen, integrates gardening and culinary education to help students understand where food comes from and the importance of healthy choices. By improving access to healthy food, Shipt ensures that the lessons learned in our gardens and kitchens can be applied at home.
We are grateful for Shipt’s continued and expanding support. Together, we can make a greater impact on our students and their families, providing them with the tools they need to lead healthier lives.
*Based on census tract population data in the Shipt coverage area. Shipt coverage areas can map to multiple census tracts. Shipt defines a ‘food desert’ using the following definition provided by the USDA in the Food Access Research Atlas 2019: “Low-income census tracts where a significant number (at least 500 people) or share (at least 33 percent) of the population is greater than 1 mile from the nearest supermarket, supercenter, or large grocery store for an urban area or greater than 10 miles for a rural area.