GusNIP Partner Feature: LiveWell Greenville

GusNIP Partner Feature:
LiveWell Greenville

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Founded in 2011, LiveWell Greenville (LWG) is a coalition of organizations and community members working to ensure equitable access to healthy foods and physical activity opportunities for all Greenville County residents. In collaboration with Prisma Health and Mill Village Ministries, LWG recently launched their newest initiative, a Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP)-funded produce prescription program designed to improve patient dietary health and mitigate low food security in their community. 

Prisma Health routinely screens patients on various social determinants of health, including food security status. Utilizing patient navigators, clients experiencing low food security will relate to FoodShare Greenville (FSG), a Mill Village Farms fresh food program and be eligible to receive produce boxes for up to 12 months. At the end of that year, clients will be offered the opportunity to continue to engage with FSG by utilizing their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in conjunction with the South Carolina Healthy Bucks Incentive Program or by paying out-of-pocket. At the conclusion of the initiative, LWG anticipates connecting approximately 440 individual families with fresh produce, increasing produce consumption and reducing healthcare costs associated with low food security. We had a chance to speak with Susan Frantz, food security director at LWG, about the work they are doing in Greenville, South Carolina.  

Please tell us about your new Produce Prescription program and how you are collaborating with Prisma Health and Mill Village Ministries’ FoodShare program to increase food security in Greenville County.

In 2020, LiveWell Greenville (LWG), in partnership with Prisma Health, identified the need to establish a pediatric Food Resource Navigator to create stronger clinic-community partnerships. This model ensures a closed-loop referral system to identify and address hunger and low food security for families. Clinicians refer patients screening positive for low food security to the Food Resource Navigator who then walks families through food assistance resources including SNAP, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), neighborhood food pantries, school meals and more. Additionally, the Food Resource Navigator refers eligible families to the FoodShare Produce Prescription (FoodShare Rx) program. FoodShare Greenville is a fresh food box program run by Mill Village Farms in partnership with FoodShare South Carolina. Between 2023 and 2025, the FoodShare Rx program will provide approximately 400 families with up to 12 months of bi-weekly FoodShare boxes containing 10 to 12 varieties of top-quality fruits and vegetables sourced as locally and seasonably as possible. Participating families pick up boxes at various pick-up sites throughout the county or, in cases where transportation is a barrier, boxes are delivered to their homes. 

Pictured above: A LiveWell Greenville team member assisting a Greenville County resident at FoodShare Rx pick-up site.

Could you paint a picture of your community for us (population, geography, topography, demographics, successes and struggles)? What impact are you hoping the FoodShare Rx program will have on Greenville County community members, practitioners and/or policymakers? 

Greenville County is located in the upstate of South Carolina and covers 785 square miles. It features the Blue Ridge mountains in the north, rural farmland in the south and an urban city center with pockets of both economic prosperity and hardship. With an estimated population of 533,834, the county is the most populous in the state and has grown rapidly with a 16.5 percent population growth from 2010 to 2020. Approximately 67.7 percent of those who live in Greenville County self-identify as White, non-Hispanic/non-Latinx; 18.4 percent self-identify as Black, non-Hispanic/non-Latinx; and 10 percent self-identify as Hispanic/Latinx, any race. A larger percentage of the population ages 0 to 24 are people of color compared to those aged 55 or older, with the Hispanic/Latinx community being the fastest growing population.   

The 2020 median household income in Greenville County was $62,422, but there were significant inequities by race and ethnicity. White households had a median household income of $70,994, compared to $39,787 for Black and $48,150 for Hispanic/Latinx households. It is important to note that Hispanic/Latinx data is likely misleading as it does not consider underrepresentation and undocumented community members living with economic hardship. In Greenville County, 10.5 percent of the total population falls below the federal poverty level; however, higher percentages of the Black (19.64 percent) and Hispanic/Latinx (26.14 percent) populations fall below this level. Also, 50 percent of Greenville County residents fall below the SNAP threshold (130 percent) and 42,980 individuals participate in SNAP from 19,979 households.  

The goals of the FoodShare Rx program are to improve patient dietary health and mitigate food insecurity in Greenville County. We are also hoping the program will strengthen the connection between the healthcare sector and community-based organizations, reduce healthcare costs and ultimately collaborate with other communities across South Carolina implementing produce prescription programs. We hope to make the case to policy makers that investing in produce prescription programs should be prioritized. 

Pictured above: A FoodShare box containing a variety of top-quality fruits and vegetables, as well as a community food resource guide.

According to LiveWell Greenville’s 2022 Annual Report, your organization spearheaded 120 policies, systems and environmental changes impacting nearly 40,000 Greenville County community members last year. What goals do you have for 2023 and how does the coalition plan to achieve them?  

Over the next year, LiveWell Greenville (LWG) is working in partnership with the Greenville Racial and Economic Mobility Commission and the Hispanic Alliance of South Carolina to build a community-informed policy agenda focused on health equity in our state. The Health Equity Action Leadership Board is a group of Greenville County residents who have been meeting on a regular basis to build an action plan that will determine the goals of LWG’s coalition with an emphasis on strategies to increase access to healthy food, opportunities for physical activity and social connectedness. 

How do you foresee produce prescription programs and policies transforming on a local, state and federal level over the next three to five years? What key components should policymakers focus on?  

Produce prescription programs are an amazing opportunity to increase food security, reduce healthcare costs and support local producers and retailers all in one program. There are many great technology innovations in the works and, in the coming years, these technology innovations will hopefully help communities to more efficiently implement and evaluate the impact of their programs while also facilitating a broad range of options for patients and innovative solutions to overcome barriers for families. 

Does LiveWell Greenville have any organizational or staff food philosophies or customs that you would like to share? 

Barriga Llena, corazon contenta. Food is the medicine that fuels our bodies, minds, spirits and communities. Everyone deserves to have access to healthy, culturally appropriate food.