Recently, Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA), along with PHA Honorary Chair Michelle Obama and Higher Ground Productions, announced that the ‘Pass the Love w/ Waffles + Mochi’ campaign has surpassed its goal of distributing one million healthy meals to families facing food insecurity around the country. The announcement was made today during Mrs. Obama’s appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, where she discussed the ‘Pass the Love’ campaign, which provided families with meal kits featuring recipes and ingredients inspired by the Netflix series Waffles + Mochi. Earlier this year, PHA and local partner Focus: HOPE distributed 264,000 healthy meals to 5,500 Detroit families in need as a part of the campaign.
“Hey, Detroit! You know, thanks to your support, we’ve made a difference in the lives of so many families through our ‘Pass the Love’ campaign,” said First Lady and PHA Honorary Chair Michelle Obama in a video posted to PHA’s YouTube Channel. “With our friends at Focus: HOPE, we delivered 264,000 meals to 5,500 families in the Motor City, helping us exceed our goal of distributing a million meals to families in need across the country. And we couldn’t have done this without you. So, whether you passed out meal kits or talked to your neighbors about healthy eating, I want you to know how grateful I am, and I hope you’ll keep passing the love. Thanks again.”
‘Pass the Love’ distributions began in the spring of 2021, serving families in Atlanta, Cleveland, Detroit, Philadelphia, and Fresno. Meal kit distributions took place over four weeks and were structured to build the capacity of local nonprofits in those cities. Socially conscious food service organization Genuine Foods sourced and assembled the meal kits, including high-quality ingredients and recipes inspired by Waffles + Mochi, enabling families to create meals that are fun, fast, and affordable to replicate.
PHA has partnered with Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) to evaluate the impact of the ‘Pass the Love’ campaign in uplifting food-insecure families, teaching new cooking skills, and fostering healthier habits. Through focus groups, surveys, and interviews, CHOP will look at how the program impacted the ease and enjoyment of cooking at home for participating families in select partner cities. CHOP’s research will culminate in a report and set of recommendations expected later this year.
Mrs. Obama will participate in PHA’s Virtual Food Equity Summit on Wednesday, May 18th at 1pm ET to celebrate the campaign and speak about its impact with Nancy E. Roman, PHA’s President and CEO. Registration is free and open to the public at www.phasummit.org
Sample Pass the Love Meal Kit Recipes are Available HERE
Images of Pass the Love Meal Kits are Available HERE
Images of Pass the Love Distributions are Available HERE
“We’re thrilled to have been able to provide a million nutritious meals to families across the country through the ‘Pass the Love’ campaign as we work toward making Food Equity a reality,” said Nancy E. Roman, President and CEO, Partnership for a Healthier America. “While we may have distributed one million meals, more importantly, we’ve had the opportunity to work with partners and innovators to create solutions that make access to affordable, quality food a long-term reality for families in need.”
“We were thrilled to be part of the ‘Pass the Love’ initiative in Detroit,” said Portia Roberson, CEO, Focus: HOPE. “Food access and equity are important parts of our mission, and we’re grateful that we were able to play a role in reaching Pass the Love’s million meal milestone by delivering nutritious food to families across metro Detroit.”
‘Pass the Love w/ Waffles + Mochi’ leveraged the show, its characters, and Mrs. Obama to meaningfully shift our food culture toward more affordable, fun, at-home meals for families of every income level. Through the meal kit distribution program, PHA targeted communities with the highest levels of childhood poverty, as identified by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
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About Partnership for a Healthier America
Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA) is the premier nationwide nonprofit working to create lasting, systemic changes that transform the food landscape in pursuit of health equity. PHA develops evidence-based approaches that are implemented in partnership with the private sector, nonprofits, and government, leveraging PHA’s assets and the partner’s knowledge to accelerate the pace of transformation. For more information, visit www.ahealthieramerica.org
With support from inaugural partners Walmart and Blue Apron, PHA was able to raise awareness of food equity issues and provide more than one million meals through Pass the Love branded meal kits to families in food insecure communities around the country. Additional funding has been provided by Bounty, the American Cancer Society, and individual donors around the country. Pass the Love meal kits were provided for free thanks to financial support from partners and donors.
