WW International, a global wellness company powered by the world's leading commercial weight management program, with WW Good, its charitable foundation, and alongside its leading partners, announced the Healthy Living Coalition, an alliance for action and solutions focused on improving food systems and helping close nutrition gaps that disproportionately impact underserved communities.
As part of its mission, the Healthy Living Coalition aims to activate 100 new corporate voices and resources in its first year towards shared solutions and goals that tackle this crisis. Among those part of the program is The Vitamin Shoppe.
The private and non-profit sector leaders, alongside experts and voices from business, science, and local communities, will join forces to drive progress under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals with a particular focus on its goal of Zero Hunger. By investing resources to accelerate innovative solutions, the Healthy Living Coalition will focus on:
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Improving availability of nutritious food by making good food available, accessible and affordable to underserved communities, partnering with organizations on the front lines, and creating new infrastructure that gets good food to communities who need it the most.
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Making nutritious food a priority by providing nutrition education and resources for healthy living to people in need, and partnering with companies that drive systemic change.
Last year, an estimated 25.9%1 of the global population experienced moderate to severe food insecurity, living without regular access to safe, nutritious and sufficient food. The current global pandemic has magnified underlying inequities in access to nutritious food. It is also expected to increase levels of malnutrition in all forms - from nutritional deficiency to obesity - across the most vulnerable households2. Malnutrition is making these groups more susceptible to the devastating effects of COVID-193. In the US, 1 in 9 people4 lived in food-insecure households in 2019, and according to Feeding America, that number could rise to 1 to 6 people5 as a result of the pandemic.
Within the first 60 days, the HLC will conduct a review of its members' impact and set measurable benchmarks for success, which will be updated with the ongoing addition of new partners. Member companies and organizations aim to accelerate the democratization of healthy living and the provision of good food for those in need by:
Providing direct relief in the form of financial or brand resources to those struggling with nutrition insecurity.
Joining or starting a campaign to educate the public of the issues surrounding malnutrition and food insecurity, and raise awareness of solutions and ways to help.
Providing strategy and scale to new solutions that create equitable access to good food.
Developing a unified set of principles that helps businesses globally measure their impact on The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of achieving Zero Hunger.
"At WW, we believe that healthy living is a human right and that everyone deserves access to basic nutrition," says Mindy Grossman, CEO of WW. "Our global promise is to help those in need and continue our commitment to democratize wellness but we recognize that we can't do it alone. As a company built on the power of community, we have the responsibility to work together to break down barriers of access and become a pipeline for solutions to collectively impact the health trajectory of the world."
"I'm excited to see the launch of the Healthy Living Coalition. It brings a new and diverse set of voices and actors committed to accelerating action on SDG2. SDG2 promises good food for all by 2030 and we have a very long way to go to get there. SDG2 advocacy, strengthened by new disruptive players and a strong evidence-base, can drive the scale of change we need to transform our food systems to deliver Good Food for All." says Paul Newnham, Director of the SDG2 Advocacy Hub.
"The shared challenges we are facing in this unprecedented time truly clarify the importance of health and wellness for all of us—as well as the urgent responsibility we have to help one another,” says Sharon Leite, CEO, The Vitamin Shoppe. “The Vitamin Shoppe has long been committed to helping people become their best selves, and equitable access to quality nutrition, including essential nutrients, is a fundamental aspect of that mission. Now is the time to accelerate our industry's collective imperative to combat malnutrition at every level and we are proud to help lead this meaningful effort."
Visit healthylivingcoalition.org to learn more about the Healthy Living Coalition.