Source: VILLAGE GARDENS, JANUS YOUTH PROGRAMS, INC. submitted to
CSA PARTNERSHIPS FOR HEALTH
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
TERMINATED
Funding Source
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1006979
Grant No.
2015-33800-24194
Project No.
OREW-2015-05275
Proposal No.
2015-05275
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Program Code
LN.C
Project Start Date
Sep 1, 2015
Project End Date
Aug 31, 2019
Grant Year
2015
Project Director
Soebroto, K.
Recipient Organization
VILLAGE GARDENS, JANUS YOUTH PROGRAMS, INC.
707 NE COUCH ST
PORTLAND,OR 97203
Performing Department
Village Gardens
Non Technical Summary
The Community Supported Agriculture Partnerships for Health Project is an innovative, youth driven community-based food delivery initiative to enable diverse, low-income individuals living in multiple Portland, Oregon neighborhoods to meet their food needs by increasing distribution channels, expanding community outreach, leveraging federal nutrition assistance and incentive programs and promoting comprehensive responses to local food access through youth farm programs. Areas focused on are defined by high poverty rates, large concentrations of non-English speaking residents and people of color, limited service infrastructure and limited access to fresh, affordable food. The project builds on partnerships between Janus Youth Programs/Village Gardens and Zenger Farm, academic institutions; businesses and government agencies through a youth-driven approach to increase/improve the self-reliance of communities in providing for their food needs while stimulating economic growth, strengthening local food systems and improving health. The project will also reach into Portland's downtown adult, low-income senior/homeless area.Designed to improve health/food security of low-income area through multi-sector partnerships, the project: Increases the capacity of low-income youth farmers to provide healthy food to their community through creative marketing/health promotion strategies/partnerships; Creates replicable/best-practice model for community-led vegetable CSA prescription/education program; Increases healthy food buying power of SNAP participants through SNAP match programs and SNAP payment for vegetable CSAs; Reduces barriers to accessing/utilizing healthy food through peer nutrition/cooking education; and builds capacity of low-income people to advocate for longterm systemic changes in food/health systems by evaluating project outcomes, disseminating results, and making a case for Prescription CSA programs with policy-makers/health care providers.
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
30%
Applied
50%
Developmental
20%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
8062123101050%
7036099101050%
Goals / Objectives
Goals: Designed to improve the long-term health and food security of low-income community members through innovative, multi-sector partnerships, goals of the CSA Partnerships for Health project include: 1) Increase the capacity of low-income youth farmers to provide healthy food directly to their community through creative marketing and health promotion strategies and partnerships. 2) Create replicable/best-practice model for community-led vegetable CSA prescription and education program. 3) Increase the healthy food buying power of SNAP participants through SNAP match programs and SNAP payment for CSAs. 4) Reduce barriers to accessing and utilizing healthy food through peer nutrition and cooking education and support. 5) Build capacity of low-income leaders to advocate for long term systemic changes in our food and health systems by evaluating project outcomes, disseminating results, and making a case for Prescription CSA programs with policy-makers and health care providers.Project Objectives include: 1) 100 youth farmers build skills in food production and management of a Community Supported Agriculture Farm by grant year 4. 2) 125 households increase their health and access to fresh vegetables by receiving CSA prescriptions from their local health clinics. 3) 2,500 pounds of certified organic food is utilized by an empowerment based "soup kitchen" café each year, linking low-income youth producers and urban homeless food-insecure adults. 4) 675 low-income people increase their understanding of healthful nutrition and healthy food preparation, better improving utilization of healthy food acquired through prescriptions, SNAP match, and CSA participation by year 4. 5) 90% of participants improve fruit/vegetable consumption knowledge/attitudes/self-efficacy/behaviors.
Project Methods
Project Efforts are focused in three activity areas: youth-led community supported agriculture; community supported agriculture prescription program; community chefs, cooking, and peer support.Youth-led Community Supported Agriculture100 youth will plan, plant, market and harvest a 21-week CSA program for market rate customers and sliding scale SNAP customers.Youth partner with Sisters of the Road Café in developing a restaurant CSA partnership and connect youth producers and homeless consumers through 15 volunteer exchanges each year.Explore replication of FW youth leadership program in SE Portland/create a replication plan by year four.Community Supported Agriculture Prescription ProgramProvide 10-20 Food Works youth-produced CSA shares to North Portland Health Center clients who receive CSA prescriptions each year.Provide 20 Zenger Farm CSA shares to Mid County Health Center clients receiving CSA prescriptions each year.Provide reduced-cost CSA shares, with weekly payment options to reduce cost barriers to participation and allow for SNAP purchase of CSA shares at both sites.Document lessons learned and create replication manual to be utilized by other clinics and CSA farm partnerships.Community Chefs, Cooking, and Peer Health SupportSupport 85 youth farmers to also build their understanding of healthy food choices through a summer cooking series.Implement 40 Cooking for CSA Success workshops to build scratch cooking skills and knowledge.Empower 24 local community leaders as Community Chefs through demonstrations and Kitchen Commons cooking sessions to delivery 192 workshops over a 4-year period.Connect CSA prescription participants with community health workers to provide peer mentorship and support and engage community health workers as Community Chefs.Project Evaluation will be conducted by the Village Gardens Evaluation Advisory Group, evaluators from the Community Capacitation Center and project partners. Annual participant surveys and focus groups with youth, CSA members, and cooking group participants will measure the extent to which respondents self-report that they eat more fruits and vegetables, are better able to provide food for their families, spend less time meeting family food needs, eat more food produced locally, are more involved in their neighborhood, know people from different cultures and backgrounds, are better leaders, feel like they can make more of a difference, increase confidence in food preparation skills, increase ability to cook from scratch, feel they are healthier, and have tried new foods. Program Activity Record Sheets will track # of youth participants, # of CSA share members, # of people in CSA households, # of cooking volunteers, # of cooking classes and workshops, # of cooking demos, # of demo participants, # of Community Chefs trained, # of Community Health Workers supporting other participants, # of evaluation meetings and attendees, # of replication models developed, and # of returning CSA members each year. CSA and Production Record Sheets will track # of CSA shares delivered each week, # lbs of produce delivered to Sisters of the Road, and total # lbs of food provided through CSA shares.

Progress 09/01/15 to 08/31/19

Outputs
Target Audience:Village Gardens' target audience are residents of an area of North Portland in Multnomah County Oregon. The median household income in this area is $36,250 annually (compared with $50,229 in Oregon or $52,511 in Multnomah County). This neighborhood is characterized by diversity - 54% of residents are White, 19% are Black or African American, 3.6% are Asian, 2% are American Indian, 1.6% are Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, and 12.8% identify as some other race. 83.4% of residents identify English as their primary language, 6.3% speak mostly Spanish, and 9.6% speak primarily another language. Village Gardens collected demographic and survey data from participants. The largest number of participants identify as African or African American (36%). 26% identify as white, 18% as Latino/Hispanic, 12% as Multiracial, 3% as Native American/Alaska Native, and 1% as Asian. 4% of participants did not provide racial/ethnic information. The majority of participants identify English as their primary language (84%). 15% identify Spanish as primary and 10% identify some other language. About half of participants indicate that they live in single person households (52%). 40% indicate that at least one child lives in their home, with 4 children being the average for homes where children were present. Village Gardens and Zenger Farm together reached a target audience of low-income, food-insecure adults and youth residents of affordable-housing communities in North Portland and Southeast Portland. 347 low-income members of the community were recruited by North Portland and Mid-County Health Centers to receive a CSA prescription share for 23 weeks during the 2016-2019 seasons. These recipients were referred by health center clinicians, and were determined to be in need of affordable fresh vegetables, able to get to and from the clinic produce pick-up site and had the time and skills to cook and prepare fresh vegetables. These 347 participants are part of a multi-partner city wide initiative serving over 600 low-income community members at nine neighborhood health centers over four years. During the project period, 93 youth were employed. Food Works youth and Zenger farm hosted seasonal vegetable recipe tastings at local Health Centers are reached over 1,400 people. Participants received recipes, were able to taste and sample different vegetable preparations and ask staff, youth and interns questions about new seasonal vegetables. Changes/Problems:One major change during the project period was the scale of farming that the youth program supported in the final year. Food Works youth transitioned from managing a 2.5-acre farm to supporting the community garden based in Oregon's largest affordable housing neighborhood and growing on 1/3 acre of farmland. Although the youth grew less food, they benefited from growing and distributing food directly in their own neighborhood. Food Works has long sought to balance the youth leadership component of the program with the oversight, cost and year-round maintenance of a large organic farm. At times, the seasonal requirements of the farm have compromised time dedicated to impactful youth mentorship, education and feedback. Food Works explored opportunities to work at a neighborhood scale as a way for youth to build more context and have more time for reflection/learning. The Youth were integrated into the food programs in the neighborhood including a community garden, orchard and grocery store. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? At Village Gardens, Community Kitchen Leaders are mentored and supported to in turn, mentor new participating community members. Zenger Farm provides paid opportunities for community cooks to lead cooking workshops at the farm. Along with agricultural trainings, Food Works youth learn basic job skills, conflict resolution, giving feedback, marketing and customer service. Youth are in leadership positions and are part of making decisions and mentoring new youth. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Best practices and outcomes from the project were shared at the first annual Veggie Rx summit hosted in parallel to the Oregon Community Food Systems Network's annual convening in 2018 that welcomed organizations from across the state. A photovoice project was open to participants, funders, and partners in fall of 2018. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Increase the capacity of low-income youth farmers to provide healthy food directly to their community through creative marketing and health promotion strategies and partnerships. Food Works employed 93 youth during the project period. These youth coordinated sales of produce at farmers markets, local grocery stores and at a clinic site CSA pickup. Youth were employed during the academic year to participate in farm, business and program planning for the season. Summer youth hosted 25 weekly vegetable tastings and recipe sharing to introduce new vegetables to the community. In addition to hands on gardening, Food Works youth are employed and trained to work at a Village Market, a neighborhood grocery store providing incentives and discounts for fresh local produce. Food Works youth helped with membership recruitment for the incentive program and worked to display and stock the produce section. Food Works youth directly provided a 23-week CSA to 45 low-income households. Food Works youth donated 2,599 pounds of produce to various partners including the Oregon Food Bank. Food Works provided 2,348 pounds of produce for Village Market, a neighborhood nonprofit grocery store that provides incentives and discounts for fresh local produce. Food Works youth provided 3,850 pounds of organic produce to Sisters Of The Road, a non-profit café serving people experiencing homelessness and poverty. Food Works sold 592 pounds of produce to New Seasons Market, a large local grocery chain. Create replicable/best-practice model for community-led vegetable CSA prescription and education program The CSAP4H collaborative formed a leadership group and subcommittees (evaluation, clinic, farms, education) to help coordinate all the details of the project. Additional funding allowed the collaborative to hire a Program Manager to oversee and coordinate the partnership. The Program Manager was crucial in helping reach out to new funders and partners. This positions was vital in coordinating between multiple organizations and partners from different sectors (nonprofits, health care, and farmers). Evaluation for the 2018 season included a photovoice project and focus groups to further inform best practices for the program while highlighting the community perspective. CSAP4H partners agreed to a standard of practice and service for the program. These best practices continue to be evaluated at the end of each season. Increase the healthy food buying power of SNAP participants through SNAP match programs and SNAP payment for CSAs. Food Works and Zenger Farm provided shares to 347 CSA members through a partnership with the North Portland Health Center and Mid-County Health Center. Participants paid $5/week for their share using SNAP benefits. The value of the vegetable shares ranged between $20-$25 weekly. Village Market nonprofit grocery store is employing Food Works youth and selling produce grown by neighborhood youth and gardeners. The market provides a 30% discount on all fruits and vegetables for all SNAP customers. Additionally, every time a customer spends $50 in SNAP benefits, they receive $5 of free produce. This program has provided almost $39,000 in free fresh produce to SNAP customers. Reduce barriers to accessing and utilizing healthy food through peer nutrition and cooking education and support. Cooking leaders at Village Gardens were hired from the community to provide tasting at CSA pickups and host monthly Community Kitchen Workshops based on a popular education model of skill sharing and bringing out the knowledge of the group. Along with Food Works youth, Cooking Leaders hosted 33 recipe tastings at CSA pickups at North Portland Health Clinic and 24 cooking workshops on site to build nutrition literacy throughout the year. Food Works youth picked a vegetable of the week, created a recipe and cooked a meal for a weekly community potluck. The potluck and shared meal was open to anyone in the neighborhood and took place in the gazebo in the community garden. Zenger Farm trains community chefs and hosted workshops, tastings and demonstrations throughout the year to build peer-to-peer nutrition education. These recipe demonstrations have reached 1,358 people overall. Build capacity of low-income leaders to advocate for long-term systemic changes in our food and health systems by evaluating project outcomes, disseminating results, and making a case for Prescription CSA programs with policy-makers and health care providers. Both Village Gardens and Zenger Farm continue to work directly with youth and adult community members to build leadership skills. Evaluation of the project, by Betty Izumi - a professor in the OHSU-Portland State University School of Public Health, showed that 88 percent of members reported improvements to their health and 86 percent report they have learned new ways to prepare vegetables. Evaluation showed that the biggest impact of the CSAP4H project was on social cohesion for participants. Participants also reported eating more vegetables and trying new items.

Publications


    Progress 09/01/17 to 08/31/18

    Outputs
    Target Audience:Village Gardens and Zenger Farm reached the target audience of low-income, food-insecure adult and youth residents of affordable-housing communities in North Portland and Southeast Portland. 100 low-income members of the community are recruited to receive a CSA prescription share for 23 weeks during the 2018 season. These recipients were referred by the North Portland and Mid-County Health Centers and were determined to be in need of access to fresh vegetables, able to get to and from the produce pick-up site at the clinics and have the time and skills to cook and prepare fresh vegetables. This is an overall increase from 50 shares in 2016 and 95 shares in 2017. These 100 participants are part of a multi-partner citywide initiative serving 251 low-income community members at nine neighborhood health centers. 27 youth were employed during the 2017 growing season. 8 youth leaders participated in the Food Works academic year program and on the youth advisory board. 11 youth are hired for the 2018 summer season, with 4 of the youth being first-year Food Works participants learning valuable gardening and leadership skills. Village Gardens and Food Works youth hosted 11 seasonal vegetable recipe tastings at the North Portland Health Center and reached 282 individuals. Zenger Farm hosted 40 cooking workshops, vegetable tastings and demonstrations and served 1,358 people. Participants received recipes, were able to taste and sample different vegetable preparations and ask staff, youth and interns questions about new vegetables. During the 2017 season, Food Works provided 958 pounds of produce at Village Market, a healthy corner store serving 400 customers a day and where SNAP recipients receive 30% off organic fruits and vegetables. 959 pounds of youth-grown certified organic produce was donated to the local food bank. The youth provided 3,600 pounds of produce through CSA shares to 15 patients at the North Portland Health Clinic. Food Works youth are employed at Village Market where customers receive Good Food Points. Good Food Points translate into $5 free produce for every $20 spent using SNAP or WIC benefits. Since September, over $10,000 in free fruits and vegetables have been earned by Village Market customers using their Good Food Points. 2,210 pounds of organic produce was delivered to Sisters of the Road, a local nonprofit café, serving people experiencing homelessness, linking low-income youth producers and urban homeless food-insecure adults. Changes/Problems:One major change for the project is the scale of farming that the youth program will support moving forward. Food Works youth are transitioning from managing a 2.8-acre farm to supporting the community garden based in Oregon's largest affordable housing neighborhood. Although the youth will grow less food, they will benefit from growing and distributing food directly in their own neighborhood. Food Works has long sought to balance the youth leadership component of the program with the oversight, cost and year-round maintenance of a large organic farm. At times, the seasonal requirements of the farm have compromised time dedicated to impactful youth mentorship, education and feedback. Food Works is exploring opportunities to work at a neighborhood scale as a way for youth to build more context and have more time for reflection/learning. The youth will be integrated into the food programs in the neighborhood including a community garden, orchard and grocery store. Youth are also working with Mudbone Grown (a nearby farm providing apprenticeships to farmers of color) to provide vegetables for the CSA shares. Youth are volunteering on the farm, hosting the clinic pick-up site and will continue to host vegetable tastings and demonstrations in the neighborhood and for CSA participants. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Along with trainings and workshops on growing food, cooking, nutrition, retail, marketing and customer service, Food Works youth also learn basic job skills, conflict resolution, consensus decision making and facilitation and how to give and receive feedback. Zenger Farm provides paid opportunities for community cooks to lead cooking workshops, demonstrations and tasting at the farm and during CSA share pick up. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Results from the first and second season of the partnership have been shared with new funders and has helped to secure additional funding. The high demand for subsidized CSA shares at additional neighborhood clinics requires additional funders to support the project. Best practices and outcomes from the project were shared at the first annual Veggie Rx summit hosted in parallel to the Oregon Community Food Systems Network's annual convening. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Both organizations will continue with CSA distribution, produce donation, sharing of nutrition materials, on-site cooking demonstration highlighting seasonal produce and leadership development. Evaluation for the 2018 season will provide qualitative results and also serve to highlight the voices of participants. Evaluation consultants are developing a Photovoice project which will provide cameras for CSA participants to take photos and share their stories. A series of focus groups for both English and Spanish speaking participants will provide insight on the outcomes and barriers in the program. Participant recommendations and ideas will serve to improve the overall project.

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? Increase the capacity of low-income youth farmers to provide healthy food directly to their community through creative marketing and health promotion strategies and partnerships. Food Works employed 19 youth during the 2017 summer growing season. These youth coordinated sales of produce at farmers markets, local grocery stores and at a clinic site CSA pick up. Summer youth hosted 11 weekly vegetable tastings and recipe sharing to introduce new vegetables to the community. 8 youth were employed during the academic year to participate in farm, business and program planning for the 2018 season. In addition to hands-on gardening, Food Works youth are employed and trained to work at a Village Market, a neighborhood grocery store providing incentives and discounts for fresh local produce. Food Works youth helped with membership recruitment for the incentive program and worked to display and stock the produce section. Food Works provided a 23-week CSA share to 36 households including 15 subsidized shares to low-income households. Food Works youth donated 959 pounds of produce to various partners including the Oregon Food Bank in the 2017 season. In 2017, Food Works provided 958 pounds of produce for Village Market, a neighborhood nonprofit grocery store that provides incentives and discounts for fresh local produce. Food Works youth provided 2,210 pounds of organic produce to Sisters Of The Road, a non-profit café serving people experiencing homelessness and poverty. Food Works sold 592 pounds of produce to New Seasons Market, a large local grocery chain. Create replicable/best-practice model for community-led vegetable CSA prescription and education program The CSAP4H collaborative formed a leadership group and subcommittees (evaluation, clinic, farms and education) to help coordinate all the details of the project. Additional funding allowed the collaborative to hire a Program Manager to oversee and coordinate the partnership. The Program Manager has been crucial in helping reach out to new funders and partners. They have also been vital in coordinating between multiple organizations and partners from different sectors (nonprofits, health care and farmers). Evaluation for the 2018 season will include a photovoice project and focus groups to further inform best practices for the program while highlighting the community perspective. Increase the healthy food buying power of SNAP participants through SNAP match programs and SNAP payment for CSAs. Food Works youth farm provided 23-week CSA shares for 21 households at market rate and 15 CSAs to CSAP4H members at $5 per week. Zenger Farm provided shared to 80 CSA members a partnership with Mid-County Health Center. Village Market nonprofit grocery store is employing Food Works youth and selling produce grown by neighborhood youth and gardeners. The market provides a 30% discount on all fruits and vegetable for all SNAP customers. Additionally, every time a customer spends $20 in SNAP, they receive $5 of free produce. This program has provided almost $11,000 in free fresh produce to SNAP customers. Reduce barriers to accessing and utilizing healthy food through peer nutrition and cooking education and support. Cooking leaders at Village Gardens are hired from the community. Along with Food Works youth, they hosted 11 recipe tastings at every other CSA pick up at North Portland Health Clinic. Food Works youth pick a vegetable of the week, create a recipe and cook a meal for a weekly community potluck. The potluck and shared meal is open to anyone in the neighborhood and takes place at the gazebo in the community garden. Zenger Farm trains community chefs and hosts workshops, tastings and demonstrations throughout the year to build peer-to-peer nutrition education. Build capacity of low-income leaders to advocate for long-term systemic changes in our food and health systems by evaluating project outcomes, disseminating results, and making a case for Prescription CSA programs with policy-makers and health care providers. Both Village Gardens and Zenger Farm continue to work directly with youth and adult community members to build leadership skills. Evaluation of the project, by Betty Izumi - a professor in the OHSU-Portland State University School of Public Health, showed that 88 percent of members report improvements to their health and 86 percent report they have learned new ways to prepare vegetables.

    Publications


      Progress 09/01/16 to 08/31/17

      Outputs
      Target Audience:Village Gardens and Zenger Farm has had success in reaching the target audience of low-income, food-insecure residents of affordable-housing communities in North Portland and Southeast Portland. 95 low-income members of the community are recruited to receive a CSA prescription share for 23 weeks during the 2017 season. These recipients were referred by North Portland Health Clinic and Mid-county clinic and were determined to be in need of access to fresh vegetables. The CSAs are provided by Food Works (15) and Zenger Farm (80). This is an overall increase from 50 shares in 2016. Sisters of The Road is receiving weekly deliveries of produce to serve up to 250 people a day who are experiencing homelessness. Produce deliveries for the 2016 season, went through early November and totaled 1,640 pounds of certified organic produce. 30 youth were employed during the 2016 growing season. 10 youth leaders participated in the Food Works academic year program with an additional 20 youth hired on for the 2017 season. Village Garden provided year round cooking workshops led by Community Cooking Leaders that use skill sharing and popular education to build participant nutrition literacy. During the 2016 season, 1090 pounds of produce was sold at Village Market, a healthy corner store, where SNAP recipients receive 30% of these certified organic fruits and vegetables. Village Market welcomes up to 400 customers a day from the surrounding affordable housing neighborhood. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? At Village Gardens, Community Kitchen Leaders are mentored and supported to in turn, mentor new participating community members. Zenger Farm provides paid opportunities for community cooks to lead cooking workshops at the farm. Along with agricultural trainings, Food Works youth learn basic job skills, conflict resolution, giving feedback, marketing and customer service. 10 of the youth are in leadership positions and are part of making decisions and mentoring other youth. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Results from the first season of CSA P4H have been invaluable in sharing with potential new funders. The high demand for subsidized CSA shares at additional neighborhood clinics requires additional funders to support the project. Results have also been shared for the recruitment of new partners (farms, clinics). What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Both organizations will continue with CSA distribution, produce donation, sharing of nutrition materials, on-site cooking demonstration highlighting seasonal produce, Community Kitchen Workshops and leadership development through the end of the 2017 CSA season.

      Impacts
      What was accomplished under these goals? Increase the capacity of low-income youth farmers to provide healthy food directly to their community through creative marketing and health promotion strategies and partnerships. Food Works employed 10 youth during the academic year to participate in farm, business and CSA planning for the 2017 season. Food Works has hired 10 Crew Leaders and is about to hire an additional 10 Summer Crew First-time Food Works youth for the 2017 season. Food Works is providing a 23-week CSA share to 37 households including 15 subsidized shares to low-income households. Food Works youth provided 1,720 pounds of produce to the Oregon Food Bank in the 2016 season. In 2016, Food Works provided 1,090 pounds of produce for Village Market, a healthy corner store, where SNAP recipients receive 30% of these certified organic fruits and vegetables. Food Works youth provided 1,641 pounds of organic produce to Sisters Of The Road, a non-profit café serving people experiencing homelessness and poverty. Create replicable/best-practice model for community-led vegetable CSA prescription and education program The CSA P4H collaborative has formed a leadership group and subcommittee advisory structure for the 2017 season. A draft manual and educational materials have been produced. CSA P4H partners have agreed to a standard of practice and service for 2017 CSA participants based on lessons learned in 2016. These best practices will be evaluated following the 2017 season and determined to be adaptable or replicable for other sites. Increase the healthy food buying power of SNAP participants through SNAP match programs and SNAP payment for CSAs. Food Works youth farm is providing 23-week CSA shares for 22 households at market rate and 15 CSAs to CSA P4H members at $5 per week. There are 80 members of Zenger's CSA signed up through the partnership with Mid-County CSA who will receive CSA shares for $5 per week. Reduce barriers to accessing and utilizing healthy food through peer nutrition and cooking education and support. Cooking leaders at Village Gardens are hired from the community. They host monthly Community Kitchen Workshops based on a popular education model of skill sharing and bringing out the knowledge of the group. Cooking leaders are scheduled to host 14 recipe tastings at every other CSA pick up at North Portland Health Clinic. Village Gardens has hosted monthly community cooking sessions to build nutrition literacy throughout the year. Zenger Farm is committed to hosting recipe tastings at CSA picks up throughout the 2017 season. Build capacity of low-income leaders to advocate for long-term systemic changes in our food and health systems by evaluating project outcomes, disseminating results, and making a case for Prescription CSA programs with policy-makers and health care providers. Both Village Gardens and Zenger Farm continue to work directly with community members to build leadership skills. Evaluation showed that the biggest impact of the CSA P4H project was on social cohesion for participants. Participants also reported eating more vegetables and trying new items. For the 2017 season, social cohesion (ex; farm tour, end of season

      Publications


        Progress 09/01/15 to 08/31/16

        Outputs
        Target Audience:Village Gardens and Zenger Farm has had success in reaching the target audience of low-income, food-insecure residents of affordable-housing communities in North Portland and Southeast Portland. 30 Food Works youth have been employed through the Community Supported Agriculture Partnerships for Health Project (CSA P4H). Beginning in September 2015, 10 youth participated in the academic-year farm, business, and leadership planning to ensure a successful production year. In June 2016, an additional 20 summer crew youth (aged 14-18) were hired to support the farm's agricultural CSA production and distribution goals. 10 of the summer crew youth are attending weekly cooking/nutrition workshops. Beginning in June 2016, Sisters Of The Road is receiving weekly deliveries of produce to serve up to 250 people a day who are experiencing homelessness. 52 low-income members of the community are receiving a CSA prescription for 23 weeks. These recipients were referred by North Portland Health Clinic and Mid-county clinic and were determined to be in need of access to fresh vegetables. The CSAs are provided by Food Works (12) and Zenger Farm (40). 14 community residents attended a demonstrations chef training and two have hosted cooking demonstrations at CSA pickup sites. 5 community chefs, all of whom are neighborhood residents, were hired as Community Kitchen Leaders and Demonstration Host Leaders. Additionally, one on these community chefs is a trained Community Health Worker. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Village Gardens hosted a Cooking Demonstration Host training in partnership with Oregon Food Bank with 14 attendees. Community Kitchen Leaders are mentored and supported to in turn, mentor new participating community members. Along with agricultural trainings, Food Works youth learn basic job skills, conflict resolution, giving feedback, marketing and customer service. 11 of the youth are in leadership positions and are part of making decisions and mentoring other youth. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Results will not be disseminated until the project has been completed and evaluated. Evaluators from Portland State University have conducted pre-season surveys with all CSA P4H participants and those on the waitlist. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Both organizations will continue with CSA distribution, produce donation, sharing of nutrition materials, on-site cooking demonstration highlighting seasonal produce, Community Kitchen Workshops and leadership development through the end of the CSA season. A post-season survey will be conducted with all CSA P4H participants and those remaining on the waitlist.

        Impacts
        What was accomplished under these goals? Increase the capacity of low-income youth farmers to provide healthy food directly to their community through creative marketing and health promotion strategies and partnerships. Food Works Youth Farm has employed 30 youth for the 2016 season. Food Works Youth Farm is providing 23-week CSA shares to 30 households. Food Works Youth Farm has provided 698 pounds of food to Village Market, a healthy corner store, where SNAP recipients receive 30% of these certified organic fruits and vegetables. Food Works youth farm has donated 216lbs of organic vegetables to the community and Oregon Food Bank. Food Works youth have provided organic produce to Sisters Of The Road, a non-profit café serving people experiencing homelessness and poverty. Food Works youth have volunteered 2 days at Sisters Of The Road and have hosted customers from the café at the farm once. Create replicable/best-practice model for community-led vegetable CSA prescription and education program The CSA P4H collaborative has formed a working group and is in the early stages of the implementation of the model at 3 additional sites beyond last year's pilot test at Zenger Farm. A draft manual and educational materials have been produced, and evaluation protocols have been produced, approved by an IRB and are being implemented across the partnerships. Village Gardens is collaborating with a working group of the Child Nutrition Hunger Coalition to develop nutrition-education materials for community-led, culturally relevant and low literacy accessible nutrition-education materials. Increase the healthy food buying power of SNAP participants through SNAP match programs and SNAP payment for CSAs. Food Works youth farm is providing 23-week CSA shares for 16 households at market rate, 2 CSA shares at a portion of the cost with a Double-up Bucks SNAP match, and 12 CSAs to CSA P4H members at $5 per week. This represents 47% of total shares at Food Works farm using SNAP and USDA subsidy to help pay for CSAs. There are 40 members of Zenger's CSA signed up through the partnership with Mid-County CSA, and an additional 12 using SNAP benefits to pay for CSAs at Zenger Farm. This represents 56% of total shares at Zenger using SNAP or other subsidy (Knight Cancer Inst.) to help pay for CSAs. Reduce barriers to accessing and utilizing healthy food through peer nutrition and cooking education and support. 7 tasting and cooking demonstrations have been hosted by Village Gardens and 5 by Zenger Farm at CSA P4H pickup sites. Community residents are trained and hired to host these demonstrations sessions and recipes are created based on what is included in the CSA share that week. Demonstrations have reached 616 people overall and have reached CSA P4H recipients directly 125 times. Cooking leaders at Village Gardens are hired from the community. They host monthly Community Kitchen Workshops based on a popular education model of skill sharing and bringing out the knowledge of the group. Three of the Community Chefs at Zenger Farm are CSA P4H recipients who are able to inform the impact of the nutrition support. Build capacity of low-income leaders to advocate for long-term systemic changes in our food and health systems by evaluating project outcomes, disseminating results, and making a case for Prescription CSA programs with policy-makers and health care providers. The project is in the early stages and outcomes will not be evaluated until the end of the CSA season. This evaluation will begin to show whether fruit/vegetable consumption and knowledge/attitudes/self-efficacy/behaviors improve with the CSA P4H. Both Village Gardens and Zenger Farm continue to work directly with community members to build leadership skills.

        Publications