In an effort to reduce food insecurity, Virtua Health is introducing its Eat Well Mobile Grocery Store at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, April 16, as part of a $1.5 million, state-funded effort to improve people’s health in Burlington and Camden counties. The mobile store will be introduced at Virtua Willingboro Hospital main entrance on Sunset Road in Willingboro.
Included in this initiative is Virtua’s first mobile “Food Farmacy,” scheduled to launch this summer starting in Atlantic and Gloucester counties.
These vehicles will bring Virtua’s heath fleet to six, three of which focus on food.
Funding of $1.5 million from the State of New Jersey went toward the purchase of the two new vehicles (at $500,000 each) and upcoming renovations to Eat Well’s distribution center, as well as food inventory and staff support.
The introduction of the Mobile Grocery Store will include tours of the 40-foot grocery store on wheels, stocked with fresh food and other items. Virtua said prices at the grocery store average 40% to 50% below local retail prices. The program accepts SNAP benefits.
The new Eat Well Mobile Grocery Store will replace the original vehicle – a refurbished NJ Transit bus launched in 2021 – with a custom-designed truck with a more user-friendly layout and more spacious interior. It also contains a semi-private space for health screenings and consultations.
Virtua said 94% of mobile store customers report increased fruit and vegetable consumption and 88% said that they prepare more nutritious meals because of the mobile grocery store. The program had more than 7,500 transactions in 2024 and has grown significantly each year. In total, Virtua said its Eat Well programs completed more than 47,000 transactions last year, an 8.6% increase over 2023.
State Sen. Troy Singleton will speak at the event along with other community leaders and Virtua officials.
Also planned this summer is Virtua’s Eat Well Mobile Food Farmacy, which will be a traveling version of Virtua’s brick-and-mortar Food Farmacies in Camden and Mount Holly. It will initially stop at Virtua primary care offices in Hammonton (Atlantic County) and Washington Township (Gloucester County).
The Food Farmacy program serves people referred by their Virtua primary care provider due to both food insecurity and a chronic disease, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, or heart disease. The Mobile Food Farmacy will provide medical nutrition therapy and free groceries that are “medically tailored” for the patient’s individual health needs.
