SAN DIEGO, CA (February 18, 2025) – Brighter Bites, a national nonprofit that delivers fresh fruits and vegetables directly into families’ hands, announces merger with +BOX in a bold step toward advancing public health and nutrition.
Brighter Bites and +BOX will leverage its combined resources, expertise, and networks to accelerate its mission of improving health outcomes through increased access to nutritious foods and empowering communities with the knowledge to make healthier choices.
Initial research findings suggest produce boxes offer unique benefits. Together, Brighter Bites, a national nonprofit, and UT (University of Texas) physicians have partnered to deliver a produce prescription program and pilot study of 150 families with Medicaid-eligible children ages 5-12 in the Houston, TX, area for eight months. Part of this program includes families receiving deliveries of produce boxes full of about 20 pounds of fresh fruits and veggies, or 8 to 10 types of fruits and vegetables, delivered every two weeks for 32 weeks directly to their home via DoorDash.
“Early indications are that families who received Produce Rx were able to significantly increase their fruit and vegetable consumption. Families have seen a wide array of produce items, such as kohlrabi, eggplant, and dragon fruit, in addition to many items they were already familiar with,” says Mike Pomeroy, MPH, vice president of operations, Brighter Bites.
“One parent commented, ‘My son and I are always excited to see what will come in the bag next week. We work together in the kitchen to find ways to use all the unique produce items.’ These families have learned to love new produce varietals that they will purchase with their own dollars in the years to come, increasing produce sales for everyone,” says Pomeroy.
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On March 12, Brighter Bites Founder Lisa Helfman joined fellow leaders in the produce and nutrition industries on a SXSW 2019 panel called “Produce Matters.” Lisa and Dr. P.K. Newby discussed the science, community, connection, and health that comprise and come from fresh fruits and vegetables. What a lively hour of conversation along with Q&A from the inspired audience! Special thanks to Lauren Scott of the Produce Marketing Association for moderating the discussion.
Pictured (L to R): Lauren Scott, Produce Marketing Association; Lisa Helfman, Brighter Bites; Dr. P.K. Newby.
Brighter Bites partners with City Harvest in New York City to implement our program at several sites in Queens. The Queens Chronicle profiled Brighter Bites in an article, reporting on our program’s mission to help families eat healthier with free fresh produce, nutritional education, and fun food experiences. Read more about it here!
Media Contact:
Stefanie Cousins
Stefanie.Cousins@brighterbites.org
919-360-4156
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nutrition Education Nonprofit Honored With Prestigious Award from Partnership for a Healthier America
National nonprofit Brighter Bites wins Impact Award from organization creating solutions to ensure children will live healthier lives
Houston, TX (August 6, 2018) — Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA), the nonpartisan nonprofit creating solutions to ensure that all children and young adults will live healthier lives announced today that Brighter Bites will receive its annual Impact Award at the September 27 gala in Washington, DC. The PHA Impact Award is presented each year to a group or individual working at the community level to help build a healthier future.
“We are proud to present Brighter Bites with this year’s Impact Award for its service to local communities across the country,” said PHA President and CEO Nancy E. Roman. “Brighter Bites is helping to create access and instill habits around fresh food that has life-long health benefits.”
Brighter Bites was co-founded by Lisa Helfman and Dr. Shreela Sharma in Houston, Texas. Since its founding in 2012, Brighter Bites has donated over 17 million pounds of fresh produce, and 100,000s of nutrition education materials to over 53,000 families struggling to access or afford nutritious food. Brighter Bites programs and nutrition education materials are currently delivered through six programs based in Houston, Dallas, Austin, Southwestern Florida, Washington, DC, and New York City.
The PHA Impact Award recognizes organizations that demonstrate a measurable impact on communities disproportionately facing obesity. Researchers at the UTHealth School of Public Health found that students and families participating in Brighter Bites programs significantly decreased the amount of sugars consumed and increased their intake of fresh fruits and vegetables.
“We know that when families have access to nutritious food and better information, they opt for better health choices,” said Brighter Bites founder Lisa Helfman. “I’m so proud to accept this award on behalf of our incredible team who is working tirelessly to ensure that more kids and families across the country have access to both healthy produce and the nutrition know-how to prepare it.”
Brighter Bites was among four other finalists this year, including The National Fitness Foundation, OPEN – Online Physical Education Network, SuperChefs, and The Walking Classroom Institute.
Brighter Bites will receive the award at Partnership for a Healthier America’s gala in Washington, DC, on September 27. Brighter Bites will share this distinction with The Walking Classroom, which enhances students’ physical, mental, and academic health through exercise.
About Brighter Bites:
Brighter Bites is a nonprofit that creates communities of health through fresh food with the goal of changing behavior among children and their families to prevent obesity and achieve long-term health. Brighter Bites is an evidence-based, multi-component elementary school, preschool, and summer camp program that utilizes reliable access to fruits and vegetables, nutrition education, and consistent exposure to recipes and messages that feature fresh food. Since 2012, Brighter Bites has provided more than 17 million pounds of produce and 100,000s of nutrition education materials to more than 53,000 families and teachers in Houston, Dallas, Austin, New York City, the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan area, and Southwest Florida. To learn more about Brighter Bites visit www.brighterbites.org.
Brighter Bites talked to Civil Eats about our three-part formula: Produce Distribution + Nutrition Education + Fun Food Experience. There has been new research indicating that learning to cook at a young age can lead to a healthier and better life in the future! Learn more about it here!
Media Contact:
Stefanie Cousins
Stefanie.Cousins@brighterbites.org
919-360-4156
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NYC’s Largest Food Rescue Organization and Top Produce Company Team up with Nutrition Education Nonprofit to Address Childhood Obesity and Encourage Healthy Eating Habits in New York City This Summer
City Harvest and D’Arrigo Bros. of New York bring fresh fruits and vegetables to families in Queens through a new partnership with national nonprofit Brighter Bites
New York, NY (July 16, 2018) – Food rescue nonprofit City Harvest and produce company D’Arrigo Bros. of New York today launched a summer-long program in New York City with Brighter Bites, a nonprofit organization that tackles childhood obesity by providing low-income families with free fresh produce and nutrition education. This effort builds on the three organizations’ similar work during the school year to provide free produce at schools with students living in underserved communities, and will increase access to produce for more than 400 families through programs at three summer camps in Queens.
“We believe that increasing access to healthy, affordable food is the key to helping all New Yorkers become food secure,” said Kate MacKenzie, City Harvest’s Senior Director of Programs. “Studies have shown children need to be offered a new food 10-15 times before they’ll develop a taste for it. For many working families in New York City that are struggling to make ends meet, however, experimenting with new foods like fresh produce isn’t always an option. City Harvest is excited to be partnering with Brighter Bites and D’Arrigo to decrease the risk that comes with trying new foods, and help families build healthy habits over the summer.”
According to City Harvest, more than 1.2 million New Yorkers face hunger every year, including nearly one in five New York City children. In Queens alone, over a quarter million residents are food insecure. Through City Harvest and Brighter Bites’ produce distribution and nutrition education programming, parents have the ability to learn which healthy foods their children have a taste for, and the recipe cards and tip sheets that come with the produce each week help them prepare meals in fun and nutritious ways.
Brighter Bites and City Harvest are kicking off programs at three summer camps in Queens that will provide more than 50,000 pounds of produce, along with kid-friendly bilingual recipes and tip sheets in English and Spanish on topics ranging from “Eating the Rainbow” to how bringing kids into the kitchen to help with meal prep makes them more invested in trying new foods.
Each week participating families will receive two bags containing approximately 50 servings of eight to 12 different fresh produce items along with the nutritional educational materials. D’Arrigo is generously donating a third of the fresh fruits and vegetables each week, with two-thirds coming from City Harvest.
“Every family wants to provide the best for their children to help them grow healthy and strong,” said Gabriela D’Arrigo, Vice President of Marketing for D’Arrigo. “As a family-owned business here in New York, we’re proud to partner with Brighter Bites and City Harvest to help our neighbors across the city have greater access to fresh produce.”
Since launching in 2012, Brighter Bites has distributed more than 17 million pounds of produce and hundreds of thousands of nutrition education materials to 200,000 individuals from more than 40,000 families through schools and summer camps in New York City, Houston, Dallas, Austin, Southwest Florida, and Washington, D.C. Brighter Bites uses a simple formula for introducing healthy lifestyles to families: produce distribution, nutrition education, and a fun food experience that includes sampling a recipe of the week to see just how great produce can taste. In New York City, parents and community volunteers will pack bags of fresh fruits and veggies for families and teachers to take home for six weeks this summer.
“We know that far too many parents struggle to access and provide their children with fresh produce, particularly during the summer months when kids are out of school,” said Brighter Bites Executive Director Samuel Newman. “Since Brighter Bites established our New York City program in 2017 with City Harvest and D’Arrigo, we’ve been blown away by the kids’ response to trying different kinds of fresh fruits and veggies–often for the first time–and we’re so pleased to be continuing this important work throughout the summer months with these same partners.”
Brighter Bites measures the outcomes of its program to determine impact. Research shows the Brighter Bites model provides consistent opportunities for children and their families to practice healthier behaviors in school and at home:
About Brighter Bites:
Brighter Bites is a nonprofit that creates communities of health through fresh food with the goal of changing behavior among children and their families to prevent obesity and achieve long-term health. Brighter Bites is an evidence-based, multi-component elementary school, preschool, and summer camp program that utilizes reliable access to fruits and vegetables, nutrition education, and consistent exposure to recipes and messages that feature fresh food. Since 2012, Brighter Bites has provided more than 17 million pounds of produce and 100,000s of nutrition education materials to more than 40,000 families and teachers in Houston, Dallas, Austin, New York City, the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan area, and Southwest Florida. To learn more about Brighter Bites visit BrighterBites.org.
About City Harvest
City Harvest is New York City’s largest food rescue organization, helping to feed the more than 1.2 million New Yorkers who are struggling to put meals on their tables. We will rescue 61 million pounds of food this year and deliver it, free of charge, to hundreds of food pantries, soup kitchens, and other community partners across the five boroughs. Our programs help food-insecure New Yorkers access nutritious food that fits their needs and desires; increase partners’ capacity; and strengthen the local food system, building a path to a food-secure future for all New Yorkers. To learn more, visit CityHarvest.org.
About D’Arrigo Bros. of New York
Family-owned and operated, D’Arrigo Bros. of New York, Inc. has served the New York Metropolitan area for over 50 years, offering a full line of the highest quality fruit and vegetable items available every day of the week. The company is located in a 75,000-square foot. facility in the Hunts Point Terminal Market in the Bronx. D’Arrigo takes pride in offering its customers the highest quality produce that can be found anywhere. To learn more, visit D’ArrigoNY.com
Our own Nayely Gutiérrez González, RDN appeared on Austin’s local Spanish-language TV station Univision 62 this morning for her monthly Brighter Bites nutrition chat on Despierta Austin with Leslie Montoya-Rios. Nayely brought in the delicious and nutritious Mango Tango Salsa, developed by Brighter Bites Dallas Program Director Alicia Farhat, RDN, and discussed the importance of “eating the rainbow.” This salsa certainly fits the bill. It contains fruits and vegetables, providing a variety of nutrients to keep a body healthy. Not only are the colors impressive, but it tastes great too! We heard it was a hit at a couple of Super Bowl parties last night!
We are thrilled to announce that Brighter Bites was selected by Target as one of the first Target wellness grant recipients, a diverse set of small and large organizations that address a wide scope of programs to promote and inspire access to healthy eating and active living. With this support from Target, Brighter Bites will strengthen and deepen our nutrition education activities in our Houston and Dallas markets to further our commitment to feeding with impact.
Target is working with partners to help drive sustained changes, finding new ways to help overcome barriers to wellness in communities across the country. Target is granting up to $40 million this year to help fund new partnerships and programs in the wellness space committed to increasing the consumption of nutrient-dense food and increasing physical activity of kids and families across the country.
Our Brighter Bites families will surely benefit from Target’s generosity, and we could not be happier to join Target in its endeavor to improve and promote health and wellness in our communities.
George Farhat, Program Manager Alicia Farhat, Community Relations Specialist Meredith Spence
The Get Kidz Fit Fest was held on Saturday, April 11th in Dallas. It is an annual family fitness festival that educates kids and their families about wellness and nutrition and engages them in fun activities. The kids participate in a variety of physical activities and games like dancing and obstacle courses, while the parents learn about healthier habits and nutrition. Brighter Bites participated in the Get Kidz Fit Fest too and we were really busy! In total, we brought 15 pallets (or 20,000 pounds) of carrots, apples and potatoes to the event. We filled 1600 Brighter Bites bags with that produce and gave them to 800 families. We also distributed our nutrition handbooks to families along with some healthy recipes like the Black Bean and Corn Salsa and the Cheesy Portobello Pizzas. To involve the kids in a more interactive way, we played a Jeopardy-style trivia game. The questions included topics such as fruits, vegetables, physical activity and GO vs. WHOA foods. The kids loved figuring out the answers to the nutrition questions. We even joined them in some physical activity when they were challenged to run in place for 10 seconds or do 10 jumping jacks. We got our workout in that day! The Brighter Bites staff in Dallas really enjoyed being a part of such a fun event! Educating families about healthier habits is what we strive to achieve every day.