Universal Food Pilot Offers Promising New Strategy to Battle Food Insecurity
Posted by Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity on September 1, 2026
A year-long pilot in Colorado provided no-cost groceries to people in Denver and Del Norte, aiming to help people struggling to make ends meet — even if they aren’t eligible for SNAP. For our latest exclusive, Spotlight spoke recently with Colorado Food Cluster CEO and Founder Kristen Collins and principal Strategy Advisor Jack Becker about the program, the learnings from the pilot, and what might come next. “We are the only entity that has explored a truly operational universal food program where participating community members can shop at their neighborhood store and select healthy food items at no cost,” said Collins. “Other items like sodas or unhealthy foods are out-of-pocket costs and the participants have to pay for those. There were no income requirements. The eligibility was based off access to the store, and they did have to reside in the zip code or an adjacent zip code of the participating grocery store.”
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