Addressing food insecurity is complicated but needed

There are several possible reasons that the produce prescription subsidy did not lead to improved clinical and health care utilization outcomes. More than half of those who received the subsidy either did not use or used less than 60% of the subsidy, suggesting that subsidies alone may be insufficient and that we need to also address other, nonfinancial barriers to food security. For example, other barriers to being able to put healthy food on the table could include not having access to a grocery store within a convenient distance or in a safe enough neighborhood, such that even with a subsidy these additional barriers cannot be overcome. Food insecurity is often a complicated problem that can be influenced by many other social factors, such as race, ethnicity, income, education, rurality, availability of child care, neighborhood walkability, and more.