Performing Department
Food/Produce For People
Non Technical Summary
Produce for the People is Eastie Farm's integrated approach to Community SupportedAgriculture (CSA). This project currently serves 400 East Boston residents with weekly boxes oflocal, fresh, MA-grown produce and will serve 1000 households by 2026. By offering free,affordable, and market-rate CSAs, we ensure equitable food access and destigmatize foodaid. The produce in our CSA boxes is aggregated from local urban farms and values-alignedMassachusetts farms (currently 28), prioritizing those that use regenerative methods, are led bypeople of color, and pay good wages. This project 1) increases fresh food access to acommunity that is a food desert, where there is only one grocery store to serve the 60,000residents of East Boston (which is geographically isolated by water from the greater Bostoncommunity); 2) creates economic opportunity for local farms and for East Boston residents(mostly low income and minority) whom we employ to pack and distribute the CSA; and 3)redirects dollars to the local food system, with a double impact of reducing food miles andrelated carbon emissions. This project will build on our existing CSA towards economic andecological sustainability. We will support residents with accessing food aid programs withoutstigma. We will ensure economic sustainability by increasing market rate offerings to newresidents who can both afford them and are looking for ways to integrate with the community;and by ensuring funding for low-income subscribers via partner organizations with vestedinterests.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
Goals:A food program that is economically sustainable by the organizationA program that serves the entire community regardless of economic abilities, thus integrating people across economic boundaries, thus building strength and resilience in the communityA program that effectively de-stigmatizes food insecurityA food program that strengthens the local economy and fosters a strong local food system (by supporting local farmers and creating jobs in the community)A food program that educates people of all ages about the nutritional value of food, food miles, cooking and preserving food, via in-person workshops, online forums, visits to local farms, and sharing stories.Our goal at Eastie Farm is to serve the East Boston community with fresh food access, in addition to giving the public access to green spaces, fostering food and climate literacy, sharing resources about food aid programming, and fostering community connections.The goal of this project, the Eastie Farm Integrated Community Supported Agriculture program, is to scale our current seasonal CSA project to reach over 1000 households (by 2026) with boxes of fresh, regionally-grown, seasonal produce every week of the growing season. This program reaches across socioeconomic divides by offering a tiered payment system that allows the same food to get into the hands of both food-insecure households and those with disposable income within an ultimately self-sustainable operation. Many people assume that grocery stores or food delivery services like Amazon are the only means to receive groceries. Through urban farms and CSA programs such as our Produce for the People program, feeding people is made possible otherwise. We aim to invest in more local MA and regional farms, create economic opportunities for local residents (with good, livable wages), and reduce the carbon footprint of our food. We estimate that our current CSA reduces the greenhouse gas equivalent (GGE) of driving 250,000 miles annually- this number would double as we scale our project as outlined in this 4-year model. Our economically integrated CSA aims to increasingly direct the dollars of the increasing population of East Boston with disposable income towards a healthy local economy, creating local jobs, increasing food security within a food desert, increasing revenue for local farms, and sustaining the work via market-rate CSA subscriptions. Through our cross-sector approach (partnering with property management companies, other local for-profit entities, governmental agencies, and nonprofits), we are investing in a holistic community-based local food economy that serves people of all socioeconomic backgrounds and works toward an equitable food system.
Project Methods
Timeline:We have already implemented poor man's versions of this program and have been learning from such implementations. Our methods and approach are outlined in the timeline for this project (July 2023 to June 2027) as follows:June 2023Reconciliation of existing program with the 4-year CFP: There are aspects of our current implementation that need to be adjusted to ensure a successful launch and smooth course of the 4-year project. We consider such work outside the strict confines of the project and will therefore be completing that work before the official beginning of the CFP.Examples of aspects to be reconciled:Program term and definition of financial yearCSA cost (Our current CSA bag costs are a little higher than in the budget but within the levels where we believe we can manage while keeping the CFP budget as proposed)Establish additional connections with farms - either expand the existing ones or find new ones to source the additional produce needed to fulfill the goals of the first year; Create any associated MOU's/contracts as neededFinalize the logistics of transporting/packing/distributing/delivering the additional produce, including the allocation of staff time (This includes training a new staff member)July 2023Launch CFP with year 1 goals Put a monitoring system in place for ensuring good execution, recording observations, documenting metrics and challenges, with specific attention to all data requested as part of the ongoing grant reportsWinter 2024Process 2023 experience and make any improvements as needed to ensure progress towards stated goalsCollect data and prepare grant report Hire new staff or train current staff as needed to support planned increased capacityMay - Nov 20242024 CSA SeasonExecute the program per improved implementation plan with Year 2 goals (ie increased CSAs)Use monitoring system to record data as plannedWinter 2025Process 2024 experience and make any improvements as needed to ensure progress towards stated goalsCollect data and prepare grant report Hire new staff or train current staff as needed to support planned increased capacityMay - Nov 20252025 CSA SeasonExecute the program per improved implementation plan with Year 2 goals (ie increased CSAs) Use monitoring system to record data as plannedWinter 2026Process 2024 experience and make any improvements as needed to ensure progress towards stated goalsCollect data and prepare grant report Hire new staff or train current staff as needed to support planned increased capacityMay - Nov 20262026 CSA SeasonExecute the program per improved implementation plan with Year 2 goals (ie increased Use monitoring system to record data as plannedWinter 2027Process 2024 experience and make any improvements as needed to ensure progress towards stated goalsCollect data and prepare grant report Hire new staff or train current staff as needed to support planned increased capacityMay - June 2027Part of 2027 CSA SeasonExecute the program per improved implementation plan with Year 2 goals (ie increased Use monitoring system to record data as plannedJuly 2027Finalize reportAssess status against stated goalsAssess additional work if any required to reach stated goals and work with board and potential partners/donors towards performing such additional workWhen fully successful, prepare material to share with USDA and other funders about the viability of the business, its social and environmental merit, and the work it took (and the infusion needed) to prove its viability.The primary tracking metrics for project completion are volume of produce purchases and number of recipients. The pace of both is expected to be uniform for each week, with the estimated weekly spending on produce for each week being approximately $5000 and the number of recipients being 200 for the 2023 season. In subsequent years, we anticipate an expansion of the program, with the 2024, 2025, and 2026 projections being 310, 540, and 1110 recipients respectively and the weekly expenditures being $8000, $15000, and $33000 in subsequent years.We are also working on increasing the access to the SNAP program - we offer SNAP as a method of payment, and through the state-level Healthy Incentive Program, which offers additional funds for SNAP recipients when purchasing farm produce, we are further increasing the purchasing power of low-income residents. Within the overall customer base, we are anticipating 75 low-income households in 2023, 80 in 2024, 100 in 2025, and 150 in 2026. We will assess eligibility for these boxes based on income or participation in income-restricted programs such as SNAP, Medicaid, and TANF. We will also be taking referrals for food-insecure households (for our free and discounted boxes) from the Neighborhood Health Center, the East Boston Social Center, and local Boston Public Schools (all of whom we already have partnerships with).In our labor hours calculation, we have made room for the PI to participate in the CPPCGP program evaluation, including required project data collection, and sharing with the T&TA provider annually.As previously mentioned, the produce sourced, methods and sites of pick-up and delivery, and all other aspects of the project model will be open to constant community input and feedback through surveys (seasonal) and in-person engagement (weekly). Quantitative and qualitative data will inform each iteration of the project to ensure community needs are met.?