Performing Department
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Non Technical Summary
With the high rate of poverty and compounding factors, including limited transportation and limited land access, food insecurity is an increasing concern across Southwest Virginia. The core goal of this project is to address the widespread lack of access to healthy, nutritious food for people experiencing poverty, school-age children, and others who are food insecure. To accomplish this goal, ASD will use its mobile food trailer, Menu with a Mission, to provide direct access to food for vulnerable populations, workforce development opportunities for those interested in working in the food system, and by establishing a community presence to promote local food and local farmers.To measure our impact, ASD will track reinvestment into the local economy, our local farmers, and the future of farming. By measuring the amount of money spent on local food, the outcomes for our workforce development program, and the presence of the trailer at events in the region, ASD will show the impact of the project on our community food system. Through completing these goals ASD will address the core mission of this project: Improving access to high quality, fresh, healthy, local food for our community in Southwest Virginia.
Animal Health Component
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Research Effort Categories
Basic
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Applied
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Developmental
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Goals / Objectives
c. Project Goals and Intended OutcomesThis food trailer represents the intersection of three current ASD initiatives, meeting several of our goals.Providing support to farmers and producers: We strengthen the regional food supply chain with a network of about 40 small, regional farmers through our food hub, aggregating and distributing produce. To date, we have assisted farmers in selling more than $30 million of produce and value-added products to wholesale grocers/produce brokers. Farmers and food entrepreneurs needing a certified kitchen on-site for small-scale value-added production can reserve the trailer to eliminate the need to transport for canning and then transport it back again for sales. Entrepreneurs who want to enter the food truck market can test their menu in a reasonably-priced, rentable food trailer business incubator. We create markets, provide training and equipment, and connect farmers to new opportunities to increase their business.Healthy food access for low-income communities: ASD has a number of programs supporting this initiative, such as Farm-to-School procurement, providing fresh local produce to just under 4,000 students within four school districts; grower programs providing training, tools, seeds, mentorship, and more for people who want to grow food; and a number of community gardens - in schools, clubs, and civic locations - where anyone can get fresh produce any time. We also provide food demonstrations, nutrition courses, and support food charities, including 30 food pantries we serve.Economic and workforce development opportunities: In addition to the economic support we provide the region through our work with farmers, we also have a workforce development program called Groundwork. This program provides paid, on-the-job training combined with education and personal support for people with barriers to employment. This program has four career pathways for trainees to earn food industry certifications; learn the basics of entrepreneurship; attend classes on essential skills; financial literacy; Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; and career development; access the food industry network, and job shadowing opportunities, internships, and other opportunities.Qualitative and quantitative metrics defining success for this project include the following:7 Community-hosted events attended (April Fork and Cork, May Trail Days, June Juneteenth Tazewell, July Highlands Festival, August Tri Pride, September Rhythm and Roots, October Fall Fling)4 Private events attended on farms (canning harvests, farm-to-table dinners, cottage industry value-added production, etc.)4 Private events in various locations TBD (weddings, birthdays, corporate events, etc.)16 Events hosted per year at schools and childcare centers (gardens, central kitchen, cafeteria, etc.)12 ASD events hosted per year (at ASD's new farm, food hub, Designated Food Deserts, etc.)12 Paid trainees learning food production (6 requested in budget, 6 from program income or other sources)6 Types of training curriculum offered (ServSafe Handler, ServSafe Manager, Essential Skills, DEI, Financial Literacy, Good Agricultural Practices)4 Participating school districts in year one (potentially expanded to all 11 SWVA districts later)16 Products developed in the kitchen (hot or raw meals, value-added products, school meals, take-and-bake, seasonal products, products for families, products for festivals or events)3 Farmers or food entrepreneurs incorporate value-added production into their small business3 New businesses started in our mobile kitchen (one per year)3600 School children with access to local food (four districts to start, expanding to 7 more later)2500 Pounds per year local produce purchased to supply the food trailer$10,000 Per year spent on local agriculture products to supply the food trailerThe short-term goal of this project is to build on the foundation of an effective workforce development program coupled with farmer and school networks to create a food trailer increasing access to locally grown, fresh, healthy foods for low-income populations. The food trailer will provide for multiple needs with social enterprise opportunities built into the project. Because we are generating additional revenue streams for farmers, entrepreneurs, and our own Groundwork program, it can quickly become self-sustaining. By capitalizing on the region's rich culture, this viable business model allows trainees and entrepreneurs to benefit from costly infrastructure facilities, hands-on training, and the opportunity to perfect their business model with support and minimal risk.This project will have several benefits throughout the region. We will increase local food production and manufacturing, provide farmers with access to larger markets and higher profit margins, and strengthen the agriculture economy. People will consume more fresh, local produce, thereby improving health outcomes long term. The mobile kitchen will accommodate and incubate new social enterprises and support food entrepreneurs. We will reduce the distance between the producer and the consumer, reducing the cost of production and distribution by bringing the kitchen to the farm for special events as one of our strategies for promoting sustainable agriculture practices.Expected outcomes are to strengthen the local food supply chain, increase local food production to provide farmers with higher profit margins, and create opportunities for food based entrepreneurship among all of the populations we serve. Because our region is primarily rural, the mobility of this kitchen is key to its success. Recent challenges to the food supply chain from COVID and flooding indicate the need to be as self-reliant as possible and create a vibrant local food system to mitigate any potential crisis. Our strategy is to prepare now for a potential problem by ensuring Appalachians have access to what we need to feed our own people with the food we grow and produce ourselves.
Project Methods
EffortsCertifications including ServSafe Handler, ServSafe Manager, and Essential Skills will be completed in partnership with RACE1 Adult Education through formal classroom or virtual classroom instruction. DEI, PACES, and other training will be completed in virtual classrooms with a community partner. Applied learning through hands-on practicum experiences will connect concepts learned in classroom instruction with the practice needed to develop lasting, transferable, marketable skills. ASD's emphasis on workforce development through practical applications of agriculture education presents a unique solution to the food supply chain challenges exacerbated by the critical farmer shortage.Evaluation?The evaluation plan for this project is to measure student knowledge with surveys to identify goals and gaps in learning to determine skills needed to achieve those goals. Groundwork will provide a pre- and post-program needs assessment to evaluate skills baselines for a chosen career path, familiarity with career needs, and to identify any personal needs such as childcare or housing insecurity. Additionally, trainees will complete a baseline reading and mathematics assessment through an external partner. The post-program needs assessment will also include providing trainees with the chance to provide feedback on services provided that were related to their careers, the benefits of those services, and what might be done to improve service provision in the future.Additionally, for each Cohort, demographic information will be collected from students including age, race, ethnicity, income and education background, ACE score, and veteran status on a voluntary basis. Data throughout their time in the program including interactions with staff, attended training and sessions, completed education hours, leadership on projects, and external factors such as additional employment will be collected. All of this data, once anonymized, will be shared with our partner University for evaluation.A full report of the evaluation findings will be shared with staff of the program upon completion by our University partners. These changes will help to inform program structure, track outcomes, and provide information to inform a replicable model of success.Beyond Workforce Development progress, we evaluate food access by tracking several related metrics. To see the outcome on local farmer connections, ASD will track expenditures on purchases to support local farmers, track farmer attendance at related events, keep track of any value-added production from local farmers, and record the number of private events attended on farms and with local farmers as a target audience. To gauge outcomes on food access, ASD will track the amounts of food distributed into the school system, the number of children impacted by the program, and the food distributed at community and private events. To assess the impact on the local food system holistically, ASD will track the development of new businesses related to the project, and the number of new entrepreneurs completing the Groundwork Program.