Source: OUR NEIGHBORS' TABLE, INC. submitted to
FOOD AND NUTRITION SECURITY THROUGH COLLABORATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
ACTIVE
Funding Source
OTHER GRANTS
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1030415
Grant No.
2023-70447-39544
Cumulative Award Amt.
$400,000.00
Proposal No.
2023-00448
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Jun 1, 2023
Project End Date
May 31, 2027
Grant Year
2023
Program Code
[LN.C]- Community Foods
Recipient Organization
OUR NEIGHBORS' TABLE, INC.
194 MAIN STREET
AMESBURY,MA 01913
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Reliable access to healthy foods every day is a human right, no matter what town you live in. This project seeks to achieve a food secure region in Massachusetts' Lower Merrimack Valley Communities (LVMC) in our Pilot Communities by 2029 and to provide a model and technical assistance to expand that status to the greater LVMC. This funding is requested to support ONT and its coalition of partners to addresses the inefficiencies and gaps of the food safety net in our region by providing critical infrastructure that will allow 27 agencies to operate more efficiently, building collective capacity to supply low-income households and communities with healthy, local food.In our region, there are numerous networks of food safety net programs - more than 30 free grocery distribution points and more than 25 prepared meal sites -who work daily to provide food to 35,000+ food insecure individuals. Simultaneously, this region is also home to an abundance of large and small farms, six food manufacturers, and seven food distributors as well as two regional food banks who can provide a steady supply of foods. Despite the existing need and resources to meet the need, the lack of critical infrastructure creates a "final mile" barrier to getting food into the hands of people who need it.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
70460991010100%
Knowledge Area
704 - Nutrition and Hunger in the Population;

Subject Of Investigation
6099 - People and communities, general/other;

Field Of Science
1010 - Nutrition and metabolism;
Goals / Objectives
To be achieved by the collective of the regional Food Security Advisory Group, Seacoast Food Providers and ONT:Project Goal 1: Ensure adequate infrastructure for the existing food safety net to provide consistent, reliable access to adequate food to support a healthy lifestyle of its 35,000+ individuals currently experiencing food insecurity. Objectives include:1. By early 2023, the Hub will be fully operational with established member structures work flows, inventory management2. By end of 2023, the Hub will provide daily storage, refrigeration and logistics to support adequate food supply to the existing network of organizations providing free groceries and meals to food insecure individuals.3. The Lower Merrimack Valley Communities (LMVC) will report annual increase in food distribution, specifically fresh foods requested by those served.4. By 2025, the LMVC will integrate annual Hunger Vital Signs testing to measure individual changes in food security levels.Project Goal 2: To establish collective strategy and accountability to create and measure community- and household-level food security.1. By early 2023, we will complete a 3-year strategic plan (2023-2025) stating clear, measurable goals, success metrics and activities2.By September of 2023, all partners will be trained on the STABLE TABLE Model and will develop integrated tools to capture and track success metrics in every program. All Pilot Community partners will implement evaluation against STABLE TABLE by end of 2024.3. By the end of 2025, we will have developed a catalog of best practices that apply to different populations (ex: age, culture, etc) that can be shared and replicated in surrounding communities.
Project Methods
As a collective, the Lower Merrimack Valley Communities (LMVC) partners will collect and compile data that will measure both community level and individual/household food security. Data will measure program activities, utilization and outputs as well as impact, i.e. reports of food security. A 2019-20 pro bono consulting engagement with Analysis Group (Boston, MA) analyzed and provided recommendations for data collection and is reflected in our Data Plan.Types of DataLMVC activities/outputs - Quantitative Data will be collected from participating LMVC food access agencies to capture1) outputs of the current and expanding network of food access via poundage of food and frequency of distribution.2) utilization data, i.e. number of unique and duplicated people served, including demographic data when available.This data is originated at and is the proprietary property of each LMVC agency. The method of collection at the agency level may vary and will be evaluated by ONT for reliability and data points will, whenever possible, be kept consistent with other current data used by the state, funders, and food banks.Community-level Food Security - Both qualitative and quantitative data will be utilized to measure performance against STABLE TABLE metrics within each distinct city/town, across the Pilot Communities, and as roll-out expands, across the LMVC.Our Neighbors' Table STABLE TABLE model for food secure communities consists of three pillars:Local Resources that provide Availability, Accessibility, Quality + Quantity, Flexibility, Seamlessness, and Sustainability.Public Programs to connect individuals and families to Federal assistance programs they are eligible for.Community Involvement to include Awareness, Acceptance, Action, and Commitment.Existing data samples from the US Census/Community Surveys, Feeding America and Greater Boston Food Bank will provide ongoing aggregate measurements of community level food insecurity.Quantitative activity data will capture the local food support system and evaluate it against the STABLE TABLE characteristics for effectiveness. Existing quantitative data available through the Food Bank of Western MA and MA Department of Transitional Assistance will be used for utilization of SNAP in each community; enrollment data from the Pilot Communities to measure participation/reach of school meals programs. Qualitative data will capture partner and customer feedback for challenges and effectiveness.Individual/Household Food Security - Qualitative and quantitative data will be used to measure baseline and changes in levels of food security reported at the individual and household levels. Using the Hunger Vital Signs™ as the data collection tool, agencies will collect reports.The Hunger Vital Signs™ tool has been validated by Children's HealthWatch researchers and recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. This tool asks two simple questions:In the past 12 months, we worried whether our food would run out before we got money to buy more.Within the last 12 months, the food we bought just didn't last and we didn't have money to get more.Clients/customers are asked to choose "often true, sometimes true, never true, or don't know/refused."Households are at risk of food insecurity if the response is "often true" or "sometimes true" to either or both statements.The frequency, method and storage of this data collection will ultimately be determined by the capacity of each agency. Data will be provided in aggregate form to ONT for ongoing tracking. Individual/household identifying information will not be shared with ONT. For correlational purposes, ONT will encourage and provide technical assistance to support collection of demographic information as well as establish intervals for collecting information. At a minimum, agencies will be asked to collect Hunger Vital Signs™ responses from a significant sample of their clientele on an annual basis.Operational Feedback from people experiencing food insecurity and the community at-large - Qualitative and quantitative data will be collected on an annual basis through interviews, open-ended customer surveys from those utilizing existing services; further every 3 years, the Pilot Communities will collect qualitative data from people experiencing food insecurity through community forums, individual interviews, and broadly administered surveys.

Progress 06/01/23 to 05/31/24

Outputs
Target Audience:The Hub's target audience includes the residents and service organizations of 17 cities and towns including Amesbury, Andover, Boxford, Georgetown, Groveland, Haverhill, Lawrence, Merrimac, Methuen, Newbury, Newburyport, North Andover, Rowley, and Salisbury. Eight of these communities qualify as Massachusetts Environmental Justice neighborhoods in which: the annual median household income is not more than 65% of the statewide annual median household income; minorities comprise 40% or more of the population; 25% or more of households lack English language proficiency; or minorities comprise 25% or more of the population and the annual median household income of the municipality in which the neighborhood is located does not exceed 150% of the statewide annual median household income. During this period, the project served 12 Opportunity Zone neighborhoods, which are economically distressed communities in need of investment. There are 32,000 food-insecure individuals living within the Hub's service area. Accordingly, ONT convened the Lower Merrimack Valley Food Coalition (LMVFC) to improve efficiencies in food storage, distribution, and strategic planning across the Lower Merrimack Valley. By empowering partner organizations across the Lower Merrimack Valley, ONT leveraged its capacity building efforts to support residents in historically disinvested communities During this time, the LMVFC distributed 290,000 meals monthly, averaging just 9 meals per food-insecure person. As more food becomes available through the food safety net, ONT will significantly increase outputs through the Hub and its partners. 100% of ONT's constituents qualify as low to moderate income individuals in accordance with TEFAP screening criteria, while the racial demographic of Essex County is 85% White, 22% Hispanic, and 7% Black/ African American. Changes/Problems:Prior to June of 2023, all of ONT's planning meetings with partners were conducted via Zoom, which made conceptualization difficult at times. Once partners were given the opportunity to tour in person, the planning process became much more streamlined. Most importantly, the Hub experienced significant delays due to municipal and site-related challenges, which pushed the groundbreaking to August 2023 and major construction completion to May 2024. Despite these setbacks, relevant committees continued the planning process and prepared for the opening of the Hub. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?In preparation for the opening of the Hub, ONT has offered heavy machinery training and licensing for key staff members. To prepare for increased program operations at the Hub, ONT recruited and onboarded 235 community volunteers during the reporting period. Stable Table training across LMVFC communities has not yet begun due to project delays. Hub training will be taking place in August 2024. These trainings will include Hub storage/ inventory, on site scheduling, and more. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?ONT's Director of Communications regularly releases "Hub Update" Newsletters and media releases across our constituency to share progress on construction, fundraising goals, how to get involved with the project, and more. Furthermore, the Lower Merrimack Valley Food Coalition meets regularly to share collective progress and develop communication strategies. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the next reporting period, Our Neighbors' Table will fully operate the Seacoast Regional Food Hub. Opening the Seacoast Regional Food Hub will allow ONT to make significant progress towards our project goals after facing municipal delays in 2023.? ONT is working to finalize the measurable indicators and metrics for the Stable Table Model. These metrics will help us monitor and evaluate our collective progress. Training on this tool will be rolled out in the second year of the grant period. In September, the Hub will implement on-site partner storage. This will enhance capacity for local food providers who may lack access to ample storage space. In October and November, the Hub will expand community surplus food procurement. This expansion will increase efforts to source surplus food from local retailers and farms. These key steps will strengthen the Hub's support of the LMVFC and improve the availability of fresh, locally sourced food during the second year of the project. ONT will publish and distribute an SFP partner report after conducting site assessments in 2023.This report will provide insights into each site's operations and help identify areas for improvement.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? ONT's GBFB cross-dock is now operational, and in the first three months, we have distributed 364,682 pounds of food from GBFB to nine regional partners across 17 communities. We are on pace to exceed our projection of distributing 2.2 million pounds of food in the third year of Hub operations. ONT completed the aforementioned 3-year strategic plan (2023-2025) stating clear, measurable goals, success metrics and activities. This strategic plan is the framework as we enter a critical 5 year phase to complete our goal of establishing universal food access across our region. ONT will continue to convene the Lower Merrimack Valley Food Coalition, which met in June, October, and February of the reporting period. During these three meetings, ONT facilitated discussions among LMV partners and reached out to individual sites for further engagement. Greater Boston Food Bank Cross Dock: Our Neighbors' Table began utilizing the Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB) to accept/ distribute two deliveries per week to partner organizations. The cross dock has made food readily available to 9 organizations across 17 communities in Massachusetts, and distributed 364,682 pounds of food since May 2024.

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