Performing Department
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Non Technical Summary
Our goal is to increase access to fresh, wholesome, food for all Georgians while contributing to the local food economy. Through our Georgia Fresh for Less program, we match each federal nutrition assistance dollars spent at our partner farmers markets and farms with an additional dollar to spend on fruits and vegetables, leveraging existing government food nutrition programs to encourage shopping at local food outlets and improve the health of participating SNAP recipients. In short, GF4L directly aligns with the GusNIPgoal to increase the purchase of fruits and vegetables among low-income consumers participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by providing incentives at the point of purchase.
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
GOAL 1: Support Georgia SNAP recipients, small farmers, and local economies by increasing the accessibility and purchase of fresh, healthy, and locally grown fruits and vegetables by SNAP shoppers at locally-owned and operated food outlets.1.1: Achieve $1,339,506 of local fruit and vegetable incentive redemptions at 80 Partner Sites, a 34% cumulative increase in total incentive activity by the end of Year 3.1.2: Expand SNAP shopper's access to the GF4L program by adding approximately 15 new Partner Sites: 1) 50% or more should be high-priority sites, and 2) one or more should participate in the SNAP OPP and have delivery capabilities.1.3: Design and test innovative incentive technologies with select GF4L Partner Sites to increase participant ease of use and relieve accessibility barriers.GOAL 2: Increase SNAP shopper participation in the GF4L program by utilizing proven and effective marketing and outreach strategies and leveraging community partnerships serving target populations.2.1: Increase the cumulative number of new SNAP shoppers to 14,935 by the end of Year 3, which is a 41% increase over 2022.2.2: Increase incentive redemption rates at established Partner Sites in the Northeast Georgia region by an average of 25% by end of Year 3.2.3 Convene the Community Advisory Coalition (CAC) to inform organizational marketing and outreach priorities, tools, and tactics through facilitated, participatory discussions.?GOAL 3: Build partner capacity and connectivity through technical assistance, convenings, trainings, and resource development and dissemination, using an equity-centered and stakeholder-informed framework.3.1: Provide stakeholder-informed technical assistance and training to build capacity and support program operations, administration, promotion, compliance, and quality.3.2 Convene the Stakeholder Advisory Group (SAG) to identify gaps in GF4L-related resources, skills, and tools and to inform development of new resources and peer-to-peer learning opportunities.3.3: Host five annual training sessions and convenings for Partner Sites using both virtual and in-person formats, including the GF4L Network Gathering.
Project Methods
Working with a highly-qualified external evaluator, WWG will conduct both a process and outcome evaluation to assess the successes, challenges, and lessons learned in developing and implementing the project as well as project impact. WWG has demonstrated considerable experience and sufficient capacity to evaluate both the process and outcomes of the GF4L program.To evaluate outcomes, WWG conducts an annual partner market survey and customer evaluation survey and will add social network analysis in 2022 to determine the extent to which the SAC, CAC, partner trainings, and other offerings impact connectivity, access to resources, and the local food system statewide. Process evaluation includes incentive program data collection on SNAP customers' participation, utilization, and produce consumption vis-a-vis the number of new customers and dollars spent on fresh fruits and vegetables. This data, plus data on new Partner Sites, will be used to evaluate the impacts of 1) adding a SNAP OPP Retailer partner 2) developing the Northeast regional outpost, and 3) expanding to high-priority sites.The GF4L evaluation is participatory, equity-centered, and grounded in WWG's values of local-mindedness, partnership, and inclusivity. One indicator of 'equitable food-oriented development' (Equitable Food-Oriented Development Collaborative, 2019) is community ownership, and WWG aims to achieve this through the inclusion of program participants and partners in evaluation design, data collection, and interpretation and communication of results. The SAG and CAC will be engaged in both the process and outcome evaluation to define program measurement and success using methods in line with WWG's and GusNIP's goals and values. This approach also provides opportunities to integrate equity into the evaluation process and can include sharing information and power with program participants, redefining success in terms of participant needs and values, and providing opportunities to surface and address contextual factors that may affect program impact. GF4L Stakeholder Advisory Groups identify effective strategies, gaps in service, and opportunities for further improvement and break down barriers to answering those questions. CAC members are most commonly recruited through WWG's Community Ambassador's outreach and engagement efforts. Throughout development of the Northeast program outpost, WWG will recruit members from new communities to diversify representation. Members receive stipends of $35 to $50 for participating in CAC activities. Stipend amounts vary by activity. SAG membership is voluntary, and stipends are provided on an as-needed basis, most often to those whose work is otherwise uncompensated (ie. volunteer farmers market managers).The current evaluation plan builds upon previous efforts, namely focus groups composed of Partner Site representatives and program participants in 2021 and themes from initial CAC meetings.