Healthy Neighborhoods Rewards Program: Improving Eating Habits Through Incentivized Behavioral Changes in NYC

As part of City Harvest’s Healthy Neighborhoods initiative, the organization requested that the SIPA Capstone team design a rewards program with the goal of incentivizing participants to develop healthier food habits and particularly increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables. This request stems from their observations of rising rates of diet-related diseases and limited access to fresh and affordable healthy food in Healthy Neighborhoods communities.

Amongst the existing economic, structural and cultural barriers to healthy eating in lower income communities, the team identified time, cost and perception of healthy eating as the three main barriers with the potential to be influenced by community based activities. To address these challenges, the team opted to design a program with the objective of incentivizing healthy food choices and the goal of directly addressing these barriers.

The design of the rewards program was based on the concept that participants earn points for engaging in healthy activities. The team selected a pilot site and identified targeted demographics and beneficiaries to limit scope and ensure impact.

The final proposal consisted of three main interventions and ensuing activities. A website and corresponding app was proposed to serve as the program’s main platform, which allowed for each intervention and/or activity to be implement independently but also work together cohesively as an integrated whole. Membership, rewards and community engagement schemes were also developed as supporting elements. The team also created an outcomes assessment framework as an additional component of the program to help City Harvest measure and evaluate impacts.