A little more than a year ago, The Produce Moms® (TPM) launched their now popular podcast with their first guest, Lisa Helfman, founder of Brighter Bites, the nonprofit that provides families and teachers in under-served communities with fresh fruits and vegetables and nutrition education to decrease diet-related chronic disease. This week, The Produce Moms and Brighter Bites announced their newly formed alignment with the podcast’s 75th episode featuring Lori Taylor, CEO & founder of The Produce Moms interviewing Rich Dachman, CEO of Brighter Bites, and discussing the focus and importance of the partnership from the perspective of both organizations.
Lori Taylor has long been a fan of Brighter Bites. “When I heard about Brighter Bites and met Lisa, I was immediately drawn to the great work Brighter Bites is doing. The mantra and ethos of Brighter Bites is creating communities of health through fresh food and I love that! I’m so enthusiastic to align with Brighter Bites, support their organization and help leverage TPM’s platform to better advance the program, and inform more folks about this amazing work they’re doing.”
In 2012, Taylor started The Produce Moms as an idea and blog with a mission to get Americans to eat more fruits and vegetables. TPM has evolved into a global community of more than 1.4 million users in all 50 states and over 30 countries, nearly 100 brand partnerships with grocers and suppliers, a North American relationship with Nickelodeon and Viacom and a national partnership with Kroger. “As TPM has grown, we wanted to make sure we were giving back, and I feel like the most important thing we can do right now is support Brighter Bites. We can see their model working! Brighter Bites is unique in the fact that they have the data to show that the program is working. Two years after participating in the program, an average Brighter Bites family consumes 19 additional servings of fresh fruits and vegetables per week, and they aren’t even receiving the free produce anymore!”
Since its inception in 2012, Brighter Bites has delivered over 25 million pounds of fresh produce to school children and their families in six cities around the U.S., with another three to four cities coming on line in the next two years. “Exposure means everything to us in our efforts to expand”, says Dachman. “Our strategic alliance with The Produce Moms allows us to tap into an established platform with the wide produce industry and consumer audience cultivated by Lori and the TPM team. We recognize the importance of having The Produce Moms army behind us as we continue to build!”
Dachman and Taylor invite you to hear more about Brighter Bites, The Produce Moms, and the commitment the two organizations have made to encourage produce organizations to come together. Dachman sums it up by saying, “Instead of competing with each other, let’s join forces to promote healthy eating and snacking through increased consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables.” Tune in to episode 75 of The Produce Mom’s Podcast here: https://www.theproducemoms.com/2019/11/20/episode-75-brighter-bites-ceo-rich-dachman/
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About THE PRODUCE MOMS®
THE PRODUCE MOMS, led by Lori Taylor, is a community of passionate fresh produce advocates with a mission to inspire everyone, especially children, to eat more fruits and vegetables. THE PRODUCE MOMS educates consumers about fresh produce, introduces them to produce brands, engages the produce industry with consumers in inspiring conversations, and promotes public policy to protect and increase the availability of fresh produce at American schools. TheProduceMoms.com Join the #ProduceChallenge Today!
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. Each week families and teachers participating in Brighter Bites receive two bags containing approximately 50 servings of eight to 12 different fresh produce items along with nutrition education materials and a recipe sample to see how good fresh produce tastes. Since 2012, Brighter Bites has provided more than 25 million pounds of produce and 100,000s of nutrition education materials to more than 275,000 individuals (including teachers) in Houston, Dallas, Austin, New York City, the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area, and Southwest Florida. To learn more visit BrighterBites.org.
