NEW HANOVER COUNTY — New Hanover County is officially moving forward with its Endowment-backed program to provide county residents struggling to access groceries free Instacart memberships.
In early July, Port City Daily broke the news about the county’s planned partnership with the delivery app; on Monday, the county commissioners approved the contract in a unanimous vote as part of the meeting’s consent agenda. No discussion was had.
The contract with Instacart will be funded with a $1.2-million grant from the New Hanover Community Endowment. In its first year, the program will provide 2,000 county residents a free Instacart membership — a subscription costs $10 a month — and add another 1,000 in the second and final year of the grant.
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While the county couldn’t provide details about the program to Port City Daily in July, due to a non-disclosure agreement, the county held media availability with NHC Chief Health and Human Services Officer Tonya Jackson on Wednesday.
“This is important because in our county we know that we have challenges for many of our residents when it comes to transportation, coupled with the challenges of the many food deserts that we have in New Hanover County and some of our residents having mobility issues,” Jackson said. “So it was very important for us to use this as an opportunity to address that.”
Jackson explained the county has designed the program’s eligibility to be “simple.”
Participants must be New Hanover County residents with income at or below 300% of the federal poverty level, which is $47,880 for a single person and $99,000 for a family of four. Participants will self-report their income.
“We tried to make sure that we used a formula to fit us somewhere so that we could capture as many residents as we possibly can, while ensuring that we’re helping the most vulnerable,” Jackson explained, noting New Hanover County’s median household income of $75,166 was a factor.
Participants will also need to show they live within a “food desert” and demonstrate a “transportation or mobility challenge.” For the purposes of the program, a person is living in a food desert if they reside outside a one mile radius of a grocery store.
Jackson said residents will also provide their address when applying, which will confirm their county residency and proximity to a food desert. The county has developed a food access map staff can refer to for help determining eligibility.
Port City Daily asked if residents who have mobility challenges, yet don’t live in a food desert would still qualify. TJackson said, though the program is designed to address food deserts, anyone thinking they may qualify or currently struggling to obtain food due to mobility or transportation issues should still apply, according to Jackson.
“The GIS map is a tool; it is not the determining factor,” Jackson said.
The partnership with Instacart is modeled off of a similar pilot program the company started in 2023 with Columbia, South Carolina.
However, New Hanover County’s program also includes prescription delivery through Instacart. Jackson said selected participants will need to check with their pharmacy to ensure their medications can be shipped, but once confirmed, those deliveries will be allowed.
While the membership is free and covers delivery fees for orders more than $10, users will still have to pay for the groceries they order and any service fees and tips. Participants will also be able to share their subscription with up to three other household members.
In addition to the membership, accounts will also be granted a $10 monthly stipend to buy eligible products, including produce, dairy and eggs. Other grocery items can still be bought in the same order; stipends are automatically applied to eligible items at checkout.
Applications opened on Tuesday; residents can apply online, and the county is also planning outreach events to encourage applications. If more than 2,000 sign up, requests will be first-come first-serve, with all requests processed within 30 days of submission.
The Instacart partnership is the latest joint venture between the county and The Endowment after a deal to bring a grocery store to downtown Wilmington’s Northside fell through last year.
It also comes as more research shows food deserts are not a major factor in a person’s nutritional habits. A 2018 paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research found exposing low-income households to the same products and prices as those in high-income households reduces nutritional inequality by only 9%. The authors also found education and nutrition knowledge are strongly associated with the differences in preferences across income groups.
In Instacart’s other partner city of Columbia, the city took a survey prior to reupping its contract this year. It found 79% of participants indicated they are very likely to continue participating in the GAP program if extended and 6% said the program improved their ability to provide food for their household “a great deal.”
Jackson told reporters the county is planning to hire a third-party consultant to analyze the program’s success as part of the grant. She said success in a year’s time would look like 2,000 families on the program, but that the county and The Endowment are also interested in studying what the holistic health and nutritional impacts will be for the community.
She also shared the county is hoping The Endowment will find the program valuable enough to continue its funding partnership with the county after the two-year trial run.
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