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DC Health says modest cuts to Produce Plus and Joyful Food Markets will be covered by other federal food programs; grocery pilot delayed to July
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Summary
The mayor's FY26 proposal reduces Produce Plus and Joyful Food Markets line items by $50,000 each; DC Health said it will use USDA emergency food programs and pending grants to cover gaps and asked the Council to consider multi-year funding for the grocery membership pilot delayed until July.
The Committee on Health asked DC Health about several food-access items in the FY26 proposed budget during the June 16 oversight hearing.
Line-item reductions and mitigation: The committee noted a $50,000 cut to Produce Plus and a $50,000 cut to Joyful Food Markets. DC Health said the Produce Plus gap will be mitigated by pursued USDA Farmers Market Promotion grants and that Joyful Food Markets could be supplemented using the agency's USDA emergency food assistance (TEFAP) distribution mechanisms because Joyful Food Markets are eligible TFAP distribution sites.
Impact: Chair Henderson highlighted that $50,000 in Produce Plus equates to roughly 200 additional participants and that $50,000 for Joyful Food Markets equates to about 4,166 bags of produce — meaning small local line-item changes can have measurable impacts on participants.
Grocery Access Pilot delay and recommendation: The grocery membership pilot funds were appropriated in October but DC Health will distribute memberships starting July 1 due to contracting and legal steps. The agency said monthly membership funds will be provided for a full year to participants, but the late start compresses evaluation time. DC Health recommended multi-year funding and said it would prefer to include the local line item in FY26 so the pilot can run longer and yield more robust data.
Produce Plus administration and TFAP: DC Health said it is actively applying for federal grants that could offset local cuts, and that TFAP and other federal or private grant opportunities are part of the agency's mitigation strategy.
Ending: The committee asked DC Health to confirm grant applications and provide a recommendation on whether the Council should restore the pilot line items in FY26 to enable multi-year evaluation.
