Combating Food Insecurity in Philadelphia: A Multi-Pronged Effort Part 2 (Access and Affordability)

1 in 7 Philadelphians, including 1 in 3 children, face hunger. Food insecurity in the city is shaped by complex, overlapping challenges: limited access to high-nutrition foods, the prevalence of low-nutrition options, economic hardship, and a widespread lack of education on how to prepare healthy food once the ingredients are available. These intersecting issues form what food advocates call “food apartheid”, a systemic and racialized gap in food access.

In response, Philadelphia has built a resilient food ecosystem over the years, one that’s evolved to meet people where they are, with both immediate relief and long-term strategies. In a previous article, we explored emergency food services. This time, we’re focusing on efforts which aim to create long-term food security through access and affordability.

Access to nutritious food: “Serving the people who are hungry today, and working to ensure less people are hungry tomorrow.”

Philabundance, which has been tackling hunger for over 40 years, distributes tens of millions of pounds of food across Southeastern Pennsylvania and Southern New Jersey. “We believe that no one should go hungry,” says CEO Loree Jones Brown. “To make that vision a reality, we need to not only meet the immediate need for food assistance, but also address the root causes of food insecurity.” 

In addition to addressing emergency food needs, Philabundance invests in long-term solutions through programs like the Philabundance Community Kitchen— a free, 16-week culinary workforce development program for low-income Philadelphians. Students gain both professional and life skills while preparing meals for community members in need. Last year, the program produced nearly 450,000 meals. At the same time, graduates often walk away with far more than training. One student, who remained with the program as a chef for nearly a year after graduating, recently landed his dream job at the Loews Hotel. “We are serving the people who are hungry today, and working to ensure less people are hungry tomorrow,”  says Jones Brown. Initiatives like this go beyond putting food on tables; they use food as a foundation to create pathways for stability and opportunity.

Another initiative blending emergency food relief with long-term solutions is the Cesar Andreú Iglesias Community Garden, one of an estimated 400 community gardens across the city.  Some are located on public land assigned by the Philadelphia Parks and Recreation Center, while others, like Iglesias Garden, have been reclaimed by residents and revitalized on abandoned lots. Organizations like the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society and the Neighborhood Gardens Trust support these efforts by assisting communities in securing land and offering resources such as workshops, tools, and materials. 

Community gardens, as described by Iglesias Community Garden member Michael G.M., promote the thriving of communities by serving as open spaces for multiple activities. Beyond growing produce, Iglesias Garden hosts block parties, workshops, and food distribution events, and it’s become a hub for neighborhood engagement.

“We have the ability to provide for this neighborhood,” says Iglesias Community Garden member Anthony Ryan. “Not only do we do food distribution, we do land care at the same time.”

As more neighbors received food from the garden, many began giving back – donating plants, time, and care. “People be bringing stuff that they want to plant. And it’s like, oh my God, everybody is just, like, pitching in. This is a real community garden.” 

A third model expanding access to nutritious food is food co-ops – which are essentially grocery stores owned and operated by the same community they serve. Unlike Philadelphia’s thriving community garden scene, only four food co-ops currently operate in the city. Still, they hold significant potential, especially in areas where larger grocery chains are absent or unwilling to invest.

“Because we are community owned, food co-ops have a unique opportunity and capacity to open in areas where chain stores will not open,” explained Lori Burge, General Manager at the South Philly Co-Op. “Opening an urban store in a smaller retail footprint is something that chain grocers won’t do.” 

Making Nutritious Food Affordable: “We talk about stretching your food dollar” 

Photo credit: The Food Trust

The largest challenge for food co-ops, according to Burge, is navigating the high cost of goods. “Wholesalers price food based on volume purchased, and as a single store, we don’t have much volume to compete with large chains”, she explains. Since the organization joined the National Co-op Grocers, they have been able to offer much better pricing on nationally distributed goods. Other ways they’ve reduced prices is through the Co+op Basics program, which offers more than 189 essential items at consistently low prices, and the collaboration with food justice organizations to boost affordability.

One such partnership is with The Food Trust, which runs the Food Bucks program. For every $5 spent using SNAP benefits at participating locations, shoppers earn $2 in Philly Food Bucks, doubling their purchasing power for fresh produce. “We talk about stretching your food dollar,” shares Food Trust CEO Mark Edwards. South Philly Co-op participates in this initiative, allowing SNAP users to earn and redeem Food Bucks for up to 40 cents per dollar spent on eligible produce. According to The Food Trust, $773,000 in Food Bucks and Food Bucks RX coupons were redeemed for fresh fruits and vegetables last year across all participating locations, including farmers markets, corner stores and supermarkets across the state. 

While programs like Food Bucks work to make healthy food affordable, sister programs like the Healthy Corner Store Initiative (HCSI), also run by the Food Trust, incentivize corner stores to provide healthier options for their customers. 

Sixty-six percent of food retailers in the city are classified as corner stores, chain convenience stores, gas stations, dollar stores, or newsstands— so ensuring these locations provide nutritious food is key in addressing food insecurity in the city. However, getting store owners on board can sometimes prove challenging. “Corner stores, they’re functioning on a really narrow margin. They’re family-owned businesses. Do they want to purchase more produce and take a risk that food might not be purchased, and they have to throw it away and they lose that money?”, explains Mignon Verdell, Community Engagement Manager with The Food Trust. To address this challenge, The Food Trust provides in-store nutrition education, nutrition incentives, and technical assistance to ensure there’s a turnover of produce. 

Corner store owners have started to see the positive difference. Not only have these initiatives begun to empower customers to make healthier choices while making such options more accessible, they have also, according to a Camden store owner, “fostered a culture of wellbeing within their community and contributed to a more nourished and vibrant neighborhood.”

Challenges Ahead Amid Government Cuts And Rising Prices 

According to Loree Jones Brown, food insecurity is actually higher now than it was during the height of the pandemic—it’s just less visible. As the cost of living and food prices continue to climb, the demand for food assistance is rising. At the same time, donations and government support are shrinking. 

Recent government cuts to food access programs are exacerbating the problem, impacting not just Philadelphia but communities across the country. One such program, the Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) Program, provided funding for food banks to buy directly from local farmers, strengthening both local economies and food systems. Pennsylvania food banks were expecting to receive $13 million through LFPA over the next three years. With the program’s elimination, organizations like Philabundance are facing steep losses. The organization recently lost $1.5 million in federal funding due to LFPA’s cancellation, an amount that translates to roughly 1.1 million fewer meals for the community it serves, and an 18% cut to its food sourcing budget.

In response to the growing food insecurity crisis, urban agriculture is emerging as a powerful part of the solution. Philadelphia Parks and Recreation supports more than 70 initiatives through its Community Agriculture Network, which includes community gardens, school gardens, food forests, and other green spaces dedicated to growing food.

Photo credit: The Food Trust

One standout example is the Carousel House Farm, the city’s only public production and education farm. According to Ash Richards, Director of Urban Agriculture at Farm Philly, an initiative with Philadelphia Parks & Recreation, the farm produces over 5,000 pounds of food annually. Community gardens connected to Farm Philly are estimated to grow an additional 25,000 pounds of food each year, a figure that excludes the hundreds of gardens operating independently of the city program.

“The gardens are huge assets,” says Richards. “And not just the gardens—the orchards, food forests, school gardens, and compost sites are tremendous assets for our city.”

However, even city-supported programs like Farm Philly face limitations due to restricted funding. Their work is often confined to initiatives officially within the program, leaving little room to support external efforts, even when the resources are available. For example, Farm Philly has compost it could share with other community gardens, but lacks the trucks and personnel to distribute it. In some cases, solutions are ready and waiting but go unused due to budget constraints.

Amid rising food costs, diminishing government support, and limited capacity for food insecurity initiatives to meet growing demand, local organizers remain determined. “Are we challenged by these things? Absolutely,” says Michael G.M. of the Iglesias Community Garden. “But we rise to them. We respond.”

*Our final article in this series will spotlight initiatives addressing the knowledge gap around food and the policy efforts shaping long-term solutions. Once access is secured, how do we ensure people know what to buy, how to prepare it, and how to build lasting habits around healthy, nourishing meals? And beyond community-led responses, what role should governments play in tackling food insecurity at its roots?