Progress 09/01/15 to 11/30/17
Outputs
Target Audience:Our primary target audience is SNAP participants in Missoula, Lake, and Flathead counties in Montana. We have primarily reached this audience through the administration of our Double SNAP Dollars program, a collaborative SNAP incentive program which was formed as a result of funding from this grant project. We also reach this audience by offering cooking classes for low-income residents in each of the three counties of this grant. Our other target audience is local growers. We continue to reach this audience by offering DSD at locations which offer local produce (farmers' markets, food co-op, and CSA's), which increases their market potential. Changes/Problems:1. A minor change was made to the strategy originally outlined in goal 3, outcome 1: Based off feedback from stakeholders and partners, we determined that specific workshops would not be as effective in reaching farmers with information about marketing to low-income consumers. In fact, farmers spoke about their SNAP customers as behaving and being just like any other customer. Likewise, survey responses from SNAP customers indicate many of the same food preferences as those in other income brackets (fresh, healthy, good quality foods). Instead, we focused these efforts on creating a marketing for low-income customers guide included in CFAC's Planning for On-Farm Success Curriculum. Over 900 people have attended these workshops over a 4-year span and over 750 people access this resource on our website. In addition, we created a food access outreach plan that has been presented and distributed at three farmers market manager meetings with 42 attendees representing 17 different farmers markets around Montana. Both farmers and SNAP customers have expressed that the farmers market is the best place to make connections between these groups of local food stakeholders. This effort focuses on providing assistance for farmers markets to more readily serve low-income customers, in turn helping to connect more farmers with low-income customers. 2. Due to higher demand for the traditional CSA model and a lack of resources to coordinate an additional type of CSA, a "basics box" CSA was not created. We find that CSA farmers are being creative in their offerings and intentionally added various types of CSAs to our Double SNAP incentive program to offer a variety. These included quarter shares and market shares where customers could pick what they liked. 3. We did not add as many additional Double SNAP retailers as originally planned due to higher than expected demand and limited funding. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project enabled us to train 6 SNAP recipients in the basics of the Double SNAP Dollars program and outreach methods. These individuals led their own outreach efforts with support from CFAC and the rest of the team, giving them sense of self efficacy and trust. See goal 1, outcome 1 for more information. We have also provided training resources to 42 farmers market representatives to make them more effective in their outreach regarding food assistance programs such as SNAP EBT, WIC, and Double SNAP. See Goal 3, outcome 1 for more information How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Yearly results of the Double SNAP program have been disseminated via personal mailings, on social media, and via our website. We have also written op-ed pieces about the program and visited our congressional offices in DC to discuss results of the program. Results are also shared in multi-stakeholder meetings of coalitions based on improving nutrition and ending childhood hunger. Tool-kits and other resources created as a result of this project have been disseminated via listservs, on our website, and at conferences or meetings. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Goal 1: Outcome 1: 5 individuals were recruited as SNAP Ambassadors on the Double SNAP Street in year 1 and 4 individuals in year 2; 3 of them returned from the previous year. Team members reached approximately 100 vendors with clarifiedinformation about the Double SNAP program and members estimated reaching over 350 direct people in two separate communities, as well as hanging over 50 flyers at community spots.In interviews, team members expressed profound benefits from participating in this group , both personally and professionally, "I joined the Street Team as a challenge for myself. It was my first job ever, in my entire life. I consider myself to be not a people person, and am socially awkward and suffer from significant social anxiety...Now, I have the first elevator speech of my life. I'm able to talk to people about something now. The Street Team has benefited me socially because I've gotten less anxious about talking to people. I'm still transitioning from 'girl who hides at her house all the time' to 'person who has to make professional commitments,' but now I feel like I have credentials to network with people, determine my own future, and make my own job in local food." Outcome 2: This committee has ranged from 20-24 members throughout the two years of this grant. On average, each committee meeting has about 10 attendees. Participation on this committee has enabled the sharing of successes to improve community food security initiatives, particularly in four separate communities. For example, the Double SNAP incentive program has flourished in the region from this collaboration; cooking classes that focus on healthy, local ingredients and selfsufficiency skills have been initiated in two additional communities; and American Indian-specific initiatives were conducted to improve meaningful outreach to that demographic Outcome 3: 15 SNAP recipients participated in focus group discussion about the incentive program and future marketing efforts and 5 people participated on the street team. We continued to inform marketing techniques based off street team member and customer feedback in end of year surveys. For example, year 2 materials were developed to be more graphic, rather than text-heavy and we created American-Indian specific materials. Goal 2: Outcome 1: A comprehensive outreach plan has been created that includes grassroots advertising as well as traditional social media and website marketing. Thousands of brochures have been distributed to over 100 organizations throughout Flathead, Lake and Missoula counties. These organizations range from public health depts, OPAs, food banks, child care centers, to organizations focused on particular populations such as American Indians, Seniors, and disabled individuals. Each organization reaches hundreds of clients.Online advertising focuses on use of Facebook and a program website. The Facebook page as 358 Likes, with 357 followers. The website has approximately 1,000 users to date. Estimated reach between all these sources would be 5,358 throughout the course of the grant period, resulting in 3000 individuals using the DSD SNAP incentive program at local food retailers to date. Outcome 2: Overall, 40 classes were held with 583 participants. Topics ranged from cooking ethnic dishes to gardening, canning, and making vegetable noodles. The total number is a little short of our original goal, but we found that it was difficult to garner attendance during the summer months; it was particularly difficult to reach SNAP participants specifically. We found offering SNAP incentives for classes or free meals helped attract more attendance. Goal 3: Outcome 1: 1 food access summit was held in Missoula, with over 100 attendees who learned more about food resources available in the community, particularly local food and cooking classes. Two resources were created to help local farmers and farmers markets better understand how to market to low-income customers. Outcome 2: 1 "Meet-your-CSA-grower event was held with 7 attendees. Conversation mainly focused on answering local food questions, such as the difference between Organic and Homegrown, a local organic lable. A second workshop was not organized due to lackluster engagement from CSA customers and farmers in the first. Rather, a three-fold increase in SNAP customers at our CSA partner indicated that cost was the major factor inhibiting many SNAP recipients from purchasing a CSA - the ability to use Double SNAP to purchase a CSA made the biggest difference. One DSD customer who purchased a CSA explained that for her, the CSA was not only an opportunity to eat and learn with her children about fresh, local produce, but also to engage with a supportive community: "Something that would have felt out of reach, irresponsible to sign up for, was suddenly within my reach. I can have the best [produce] that's out there. Another aspect of a CSA that's wonderful is feeling part of a community. It makes me feel connected and cared about. I care about you, you care about me. Also, I discovered new vegetables and how to cook them, and it was a fun surprise for my kids." Outcome 3: The three resources that have been created to better connect farmers and low-income consumers for increased purchase and consumption of local products are the following: "Segmenting Your Market: Selling to Low-Income Consumers" marketing guide, included in the Planning for On-Farm Success curriculum managed by CFAC; "Developing a Food Access Plan for your Market" guide, distributed at farmers market manager resource meetings; "Planning a Food Access Summit in your Community" guide, which will be distributed by the statewide coalition Montana Partnership to End Childhood Hunger. This guide details the planning process and implementation of a food access summit planned by the food access committee. The goal of the summit was to make low-income residents more aware of the food resources available to them, particularly local food. Goal 4: Outcome 1: 7 farmers markets, 3 CSAs, and 1 grocery store participated in Double SNAP Dollars, with 3124 total SNAPcustomers. Overall, we exceeded our goal for SNAP recipients served. We found that the demand for this program was so great that we could not keep up with it and add additional retailers at the same time. We made the decision to fully support our original DSD partners in order to build off lessons learned and create a stronger foundation for the program. As a result, funding was limited to add a large amount of new retail sites which is why we fell short of the number of outlets offering DSD. Outcome 2: Overall, 36 families received a CSA through the Double SNAP program; In the first year, participation increased almost 300% increase from Double SNAP participation in 2015. In year 2, we added two additional CSAs to the DSD program that had alternate models. Outcome 3: Collectively, EBT sales at DSD locations increased by 32% in the first year and 11% in the second year. Over the two year span, this represents a 44% increase in SNAP sales for farmers. Goal 5: Outcome 1: A guide for grassroots, peer-to-peer marketing: A Case Study of the Double SNAP Street Team, Missoula, Montana was created to share with community groups across the nation interested in implementing peer-to-peer marketing programs. A wealth of materials exist, particularly from national orgs like Wholesome Wave, on how to run an incentive program. We decided to focus our energy on creating a training guide so that DSD can be easily replicated in other communities across Montana, rather than a broader educational toolkit about implementing SNAP incentives. Outcome 2: Resources have been distributed via listservs that have over 600 members; on CFAC's facebook page that has 2,176 likes; on our website, with 754 visits on the webpage; and at more intimate training and networking events to 42 individuals.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/16 to 08/31/17
Outputs
Target Audience:Our primary target audience is SNAP participants in Missoula, Lake, and Flathead counties in Montana. We have primarily reached this audience through the administration of our Double SNAP Dollars program, a collaborative SNAP incentive program which was formed as a result of funding from this grant project. We also reach this audience by offering cooking classes for low-income residents in each of the three counties of this grant. Our other target audience is local growers. We continue to reach this audience by offering DSD at locations which offer local produce (farmers' markets, food co-op, and CSA's), which increases their market potential. Changes/Problems:1. A minor change was made to the strategy originally outlined in goal 3, outcome 1: Based off feedback from stakeholders and partners, we determined that specific workshops would not be as effective in reaching farmers with information about marketing to low-income consumers. In fact, farmers spoke about their SNAP customers as behaving and being just like any other customer. Likewise, survey responses from SNAP customers indicate many of the same food preferences as those in other income brackets (fresh, healthy, good quality foods). Instead, we focused these efforts on creating a marketing for low-income customers guide included in CFAC's Planning for On-Farm Success Curriculum. Over 900 people have attended these workshops over a 4-year span and over 750 people access this resource on our website. In addition, we created a food access outreach plan that has been presented and distributed at three farmers market manager meetings with 42 attendees representing 17 different farmers markets around Montana. Both farmers and SNAP customers have expressed that the farmers market is the best place to make connections between these groups of local food stakeholders. This effort focuses on providing assistance for farmers markets to more readily serve low-income customers, in turn helping to connect more farmers with low-income customers. 2. Due to higher demand for the traditional CSA model and a lack of resources to coordinate an additional type of CSA, a "basics box" CSA was not created. We find that CSA farmers are being creative in their offerings and intentionally added various types of CSAs to our Double SNAP incentive program to offer a variety. These included quarter shares and market shares where customers could pick what they liked. 3. We did not add as many additional Double SNAP retailers as originally planned due to higher than expected demand and limited funding. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project enabled us to train 6 SNAP recipients in the basics of the Double SNAP Dollars program and outreach methods. These individuals led their own outreach efforts with support from CFAC and the rest of the team, giving them sense of self-efficacy and trust. See goal 1, outcome 1 for more information. We have also provided training resources to 42 farmers market representatives to make them more effective in their outreach regarding food assistance programs such as SNAP EBT, WIC, and Double SNAP. See Goal 3, outcome 1 for more information How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Yearly results of the Double SNAP program have been disseminated via personal mailings, on social media, and via our website. We have also written op-ed pieces about the program and visited our congressional offices in DC to discuss results of the program. Results are also shared in multi-stakeholder meetings of coalitions based on improving nutrition and ending childhood hunger. Tool-kits and other resources created as a result of this project have been disseminated via listservs, on our website, and at conferences or meetings. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Goal 1: Outcome 1: 5 individuals were recruited as SNAP Ambassadors on the Double SNAP Street in year 1 and 4 individualsin year 2;3 of them returned from the previous year. Team members reached approximately 100 vendors with clarified information about the Double SNAP program and members estimated reaching over 350 direct people in two separate communities, as well as hanging over 50 flyers at community spots. In interviews, team members expressed profound benefits from participating in this group , both personally and professionally, "I joined the Street Team as a challenge for myself. It was my first job ever, in my entire life. I consider myself to be not a people person, and am socially awkward and suffer from significant social anxiety...Now, I have the first elevator speech of my life. I'm able to talk to people about something now. The Street Team has benefited me socially because I've gotten less anxious about talking to people. I'm still transitioning from 'girl who hides at her house all the time' to 'person who has to make professional commitments,' but now I feel like I have credentials to network with people, determine my own future, and make my own job in local food." Outcome 2: This committee has ranged from 20-24 members throughout the two years of this grant. On average, each committee meeting has about 10 attendees. Participation on this committee has enabled the sharing of successes to improve community food security initiatives, particularly in four separate communities. For example, the Double SNAP incentive program has flourished in the region from this collaboration; cooking classes that focus on healthy, local ingredients and self-sufficiency skills have been initiated in two additional communities; and American Indian-specific initiatives were conducted to improve meaningful outreach to that demographic Outcome 3: 15 SNAP recipients participated in focus group discussion about the incentive program and future marketing efforts and 5 people participated on the street team. We continued to inform marketing techniques based off street team member and customer feedback in end of year surveys. For example, year 2 materials were developed to be more graphic, rather than text-heavy and we created American-Indian specific materials. Goal 2: Outcome 1: A comprehensive outreach plan has been created that includes grassroots advertising as well as traditional social media and website marketing. Thousands of brochures have been distributed to over 100 organizations throughout Flathead, Lake and Missoula counties. These organizations range from public health depts, OPAs, food banks, child care centers, to organizations focused on particular populations such as American Indians, Seniors, and disabled individuals. Each organization reaches hundreds of clients. Online advertising focuses on use of Facebook and a program website.The Facebook page as 358 Likes, with 357 followers. The website has approximately 1,000 users to date. Estimated reach between all these sources would be 5,358 throughout the course of the grant period, resulting in3000individuals usingthe DSD SNAP incentive program at local food retailers to date Outcome 2: Overall, 40 classes were held with 583 participants. Topics ranged from cooking ethnic dishes to gardening, canning, and making vegetable noodles. The total number is a little short of our original goal, but we found that it was difficult to garner attendance during the summer months; it was particularly difficult to reach SNAP participants specifically. We found offering SNAP incentives for classes or free meals helped attract more attendance. Goal 3: Outcome 1: 1 food access summit was held in Missoula, with over 100 attendees who learned more about food resources available in the community, particularly local food and cooking classes. Two resources were created to help local farmers and farmers markets better understand how to market to low-income customers. Outcome 2: 1"Meet-your-CSA-grower event was held with 7 attendees. Conversation mainly focused on answering local food questions, such as the difference between Organic and Homegrown, a local organic lable. A second workshop was not organized due to lackluster engagement from CSA customers and farmers in the first. Rather, athree-fold increase in SNAP customers at our CSA partner indicated that cost was the major factor inhibiting many SNAP recipients from purchasing a CSA - the ability to use Double SNAP to purchase a CSA made the biggest difference. One DSD customer who purchased a CSA explained that for her, the CSA was not only an opportunity to eat and learn with her children about fresh, local produce, but also to engage with a supportive community: "Something that would have felt out of reach, irresponsible to sign up for, was suddenly within my reach. I can have the best [produce] that's out there. Another aspect of a CSA that's wonderful is feeling part of a community. It makes me feel connected and cared about. I care about you, you care about me. Also, I discovered new vegetables and how to cook them, and it was a fun surprise for my kids." Outcome 3: The three resources that have been created to better connect farmers and low-income consumers for increased purchase and consumption of local products are the following:"Segmenting Your Market: Selling to Low-Income Consumers" marketing guide, included in the Planning for On-Farm Success curriculum managed by CFAC; "Developing a Food Access Plan for your Market" guide, distributed at farmers market manager resource meetings;"Planning a Food Access Summit in your Community" guide, which will be distributed by the statewide coalition Montana Partnership to End Childhood Hunger. This guide details the planning process and implementation of a food access summit planned by the food access committee. The goal of the summit was to make low-income residents more aware of the food resources available to them, particularly local food. Goal 4: Outcome 1:7 farmers markets, 3 CSAs, and 1 grocery store participated in Double SNAP Dollars, with 3124 total SNAP customers. Overall, we exceeded our goal forSNAP recipients served. We found that the demand for this program was so great that we could not keep up with it and add additional retailers at the same time. We made the decision to fully support our original DSD partners in order to build off lessons learned and create a stronger foundation for the program. As a result, funding was limited to add a large amount of new retail sites which is why we fell short of the number of outlets offering DSD. Outcome 2: Overall, 36 families received a CSA through the Double SNAP program; In the first year, participation increased almost 300% increase from Double SNAP participation in 2015. In year 2, we added two additional CSAs to the DSD program that had alternate models. Outcome 3: Collectively, EBT sales at DSD locations increased by 32% in the first year and 11% in the second year. Over the two year span, this represents a 44% increase in SNAP sales for farmers. Goal 5: Outcome 1: A guide for grassroots, peer-to-peer marketing: A Case Study of the Double SNAP Street Team, Missoula, Montana was created to share with community groups across the nation interested in implementing peer-to-peer marketing programs A wealth of materials exist, particularly from national orgs like Wholesome Wave, on how to run an incentive program. We decided to focus our energy on creating a training guide so that DSD can be easily replicated in other communities across Montana, rather than a broader educational toolkit about implementing SNAP incentives. Outcome 2: Resources have been distributed via listservs that have over 600 members; on CFAC's facebook page that has 2,176 likes; on our website, with 754 visits on the webpage; and at more intimate training and networking events to 42 individuals.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/15 to 08/31/16
Outputs
Target Audience:Our primary target audience is low-income communities in a four-county region of western Montana: Missoula, Ravalli, Lake and Flathead. We have reached this target audience in several ways: · through nutrition incentive programs at farmers' markets, CSAs, or food co-ops within these counties so residents on SNAP recipients can afford to buy more fresh, local produce. · through cooking classes that teach skills for cooking fresh and local foods while providing a forum to talk about the local food system and food shopping challenges and strategies · by engaging low-income residents in program development and marketing campaigns for local food and incentive programs. We also target organizations that work on food access initiatives throughout western Montana, as well as local growers. We reach food access organizations by convening regular committee meetings in which the organizations take part. We reach local growers by implementing incentive programs at locations which offer local produce (farmers' markets, food co-ops, and CSA's). We also seek feedback from local growers about the administration and significance of incentive programs they are a part of. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Street team members are refining life and job skills, such as working on a team, being self-directed and accountable, and administrative reporting How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? A year-end report on DSD is being created and will be shared informally with anti-hunger, health, and partner organizations to highlight the program's successes What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Next year, we plan to recruit 5 additional street team members, including a couple in the communities of Polson and Whitefish. We will use lessons learned from our experience this year with the Missoula team to structure the teams for next year. By spreading the teams out to more communities, we will also be able to provide street team members with more collaboration opportunities. Several low income community members and DSD participants have already offered to advocate for the DSD program in the Flathead. This winter we will strategize on the most effective format to hold workshops between SNAP customers and local farmers. This winter we will also work with the remaining street team members to compile several marketing strategies geared towards low-income consumers. Team members will have the opportunity to present some of these strategies at farmers' market meetings 4 CSA's and an organization that sells local food through a farm stand and mobile markets have expressed interest in joining the DSD initiative. CFAC will develop a partner agreement and MOUs so all partners have shared expectations of what being a part of DSD entails. CFAC will recruit another retail location to join DSD CFAC will partner with NCAT, a state-wide local food organization that also offers incentives, to recruit farmers' markets to join DSD Using data from 2016, we will share survey information during a round table discussion at a "Free the Seeds" event in the Flathead. We will bring together growers and SNAP recipients to discuss ways to engage more low-income eaters in our local food system. We will use that meeting to create actions step for the 2017 market season. 2017 cooking classes in Polson, Whitefish and Missoula are being planned
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Goal 1, Outcome 1, Accomplishments In year 1, five DSD customers were recruited for the Double SNAP Street team and were trained on the specifics of the Double SNAP program in mid-June. Due to life circumstances, two members had to leave the street team through the course of the season, leaving three members on the team at the end of the season. These three members have been actively engaged and have expressed interest in remaining on the team next year. They also plan to participate in food access committee meetings through the winter. Activities that the street team engaged in throughout the season include: orienting new customers to how the incentive program works and all the locations that offer it; informing their networks about the incentive program (including centers for seniors and disabled people, homeless shelters, the YWCA, University students); organizing a recipe collection to help customers use more of their fresh produce; hand out end-of-season surveys. So far, the team estimates they have reached over 200 direct people, in addition to putting up flyers at 20 different locations. ??Goal 1, Outcome 2, Accomplishments The food access committee currently has 24 members, representing 13 different organizations in Missoula, Polson and Whitefish (including Missoula Food Bank, Missoula Urban Indian Health Center, the Missoula health department, farmers' markets, a farmer cooperative, community development organizations, and dining services at the University of Montana). This committee meets semi-monthly to discuss current and future activities of this project and to promote regional collaboration. Three projects have already been initiated through relationships made in this committee Goal 1, Outcome 3, Accomplishments 15 SNAP recipients participated in focus group discussion about the incentive program and future marketing efforts 101 Missoula Food Bank clients completed a survey about their health needs and perspectives on healthy foods Our marketing and outreach campaign was informed by the feedback we received from the focus group and food bank surveys. 2015 was the first year our incentive program was in place. Overall, feedback after the first year was overwhelmingly positive, although most food bank clients had not heard of the program before. Of those who used the program in 2015, they felt it was easy to understand; felt it improved their family's nutrition; and appreciated being able to afford healthy foods and local foods. Of those who hadn't used the program they reported being interested in using it in 2016. More than half of the respondents who reported not using the program said they did not eat as many fruits and vegetables as they would prefer to and that they had a health issue that more fruit and vegetable consumption could help with. The focus group reiterated much of these findings. Participants also reported wanting more education about fresh food, such as nutrition information, and more information about food preparation, preservation, and recipes so they could more effectively use all the extra fresh produce. There was also discussion about the need to get out of their own bad habits to use more fresh food in their diets and others need to step outside of their normal routine to do the same. We found that those using DSD were smart about incorporating fresh produce into their diets and budget and understood the benefits of doing so. As a result, the overall feel of the campaign is focused on fun and simplicity in order to help participants feel comfortable altering their shopping habits and encourage more to take a first step to do the same. The focus group also suggested the following implementations: posting a billboard about the incentive program on a public transportation bus; removing thefinancial cap on the value of incentives that could be distributed each market day due to limited funding. Goal 2, Outcome 1, Accomplishments: Grass-roots marketing campaign was informed by low-income consumer focus group and surveys (see Accomplishments, Outcome 3). A professional designer was hired to develop a logo for our incentive program (called Double SNAP Dollars), design a brochure, bus billboard, and set-up a website. Marketing materials include in the campaign: Brochures, new logo, website, flyers, handbills, bus billboard, Facebook page) - all launched at the end of June 2016. 2000 Brochures were distributed to 20 organizations throughout Missoula. 200 brochures were distributed to five community organizations in the Polson area. Around 400 brochures were distributed around the Flathead Valley through 6 organizations. Double Dollars Facebook page has 230 page likes between June and November DoubleDollarsMT.com website has 208 page views between June and November Held a recipe exchange event, collecting 15 recipes from incentive program customers in exchange for a free cookbook. The collected recipes are being shared via Facebook and the website. In 2015, approximately 580 SNAP recipients used DSD. With our regional brand, growth in retailers, and outreach push, that number increased to 1850, over a 200% increase. Goal 2, Outcome 2,Accomplishments: Between October 2015-October 2016, 21 cooking classes have been held in Missoula, Whitefish, and Polson, with 236 total attendees ?Goal 3, Outcome 1, Accomplishments: One street team member piloted a program where SNAP customers could put down deposits of Double SNAP Dollars with a farmer throughout the season in order to pay off a fall CSA share or a meat share. This strategy helps both customer and farmer. A number of farmers were open to trying out this program, although only one SNAP customer that we know of took advantage of it. This street team member would like to implement some changes and try it again next year. ? ?Goal 3, Outcome 2, Accomplishments: Planning is currently underway to organize a meet and greet between SNAP CSA shareholders and CSA growers over the winter, likely in February Goal 3, Outcome 3, Accomplishments: This winter we will be starting to develop some of these resources as opportunities and ideas come forth; however, these resources are expected to be fully developed and distributed towards the end of the project period, after we have two full years of experience to look back on. Goal 4, Outcome 1, Accomplishments: In 2016, 5 farmers' markets; 1 CSA; and 1 grocery store operate incentive programs under the Double SNAP Dollars name 1,850 SNAP recipients benefited from incentive programs in western Montana. This number far exceeds our two year goal Goal 4, Outcome 2?, Accomplishments: Currently 16 families receive a CSA through the Double SNAP program; this is almost a 300% increase from Double SNAP participation in 2015 (which was 6 CSA shareholders). Our CSA incentive provider is currently offering a full fall CSA share and a self-select fall CSA. Once the season is over we will compare the number of SNAP customers for each type of CSA share, as well as survey these customers to help us determine which structure is more beneficial. Feedback regarding CSA share structures will also be gleaned during the meet and greet between SNAP CSA shareholders and CSA growers, mentioned in Goal 3, Outcome 2 Accomplishments. Goal 4, Outcome 3, Accomplishments: In 2015, EBT sales at DSD locations are estimated at nearly $42,000. In 2016, EBT sales at these locations totaled $54,000. This is a 29% increase year-over-year. Goal 5, Outcome 1, Accomplishments: An initial version of this toolkit will be developed this winter, to share at regional farmers' market meetings being held in partnership with other local organizations. Feedback about the report and more experience with another season will contribute to the final edition and will be distributed more widely. Goal 5, Outcome 2, Accomplishments: nothing to report yet
Publications
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