Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Banco de Alimentos de Puerto Rico ,Inc.'s (BAPR) mission is to distribute food, as well as to provide good nourishment to the population in need, by increasing the purchase of local fruits and vegetables by NAP participants in Puerto Rico. This will be achieved by providing a financial incentive with the purchase of fruits and vegetables from local NAP approved vendors to be used in the acquisition of food products at BAPR. The NAP participating Agencies will present the proof of purchase of fruits and vegetables (receipt from local NAP Approved retailer) to BAPR and they will receive a $0.50 credit for every dollar spent to receive SNAP/NAP eligible foods at the BAPR. The following is also necessary:1. Certified NAP participating commerce, must be listed by the Department of Family / ADSEF2. Detailed receipt indicating commerce, date, time, and payment method3. A minimum of ten dollars ($10.00) must be spent on fruits and vegetables4. Payment method must be the Family CardBAPR currently works with 22 agencies around the Island that take care of food insecure, poverty-stricken older adults and underserved populations. These agencies use individuals NAP benefit cards for the purchase of food products, to purchase food that they prepare to feed their participants breakfast, lunch, and dinners daily. These agencies have a tight budget and must make the most of their purchases. For this reason, fresh produce is often overlooked as produce has experienced rising prices and generally has a short shelf life.
Animal Health Component
50%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
50%
Developmental
50%
Goals / Objectives
We designed this program to understand the depth of racial disparities and geographic variations of the food insecurity driver. Goals:• Address systemic racism impact on food insecurity. By disaggregating hunger by drivers, we will overcome the gap. Data will allow us to find the root causes of disproportional hunger in Puerto Rico.• Identify food insecurity barriers to access nutritious food: lack of awareness of food assistance options, social stigma around asking for help, and physical access, among others.• Understand how COVID-19 has impacted the unprecedented need for food of elderly, children, and underserved population in rural areas. Identify the significant racial disparities in food insecurity that existed before the pandemic.Design a food program to embed equity, diversity, and inclusion in the process as well as the increase in the consumption of fruits and vegetables --not just food distribution.We knew having disaggregated insights into the drivers of food insecurity could lead to a new food resource allocation and food program development. We hope this program will direct agency work on ending hunger and combating racial inequity drivers in rural communities.Data built from the food program participants will leverage our agency's capacity to respond to individuals, families, and community urgent needs. We hope those learnings spotlight the work of agencies fighting to end hunger and combat racial inequity in its key drivers. This data will also be used to measure the success of the program if these activities increase the consumption of the fruits and vegetables from local farmers.We envision continuing to build upon this work: disaggregating more variables by race and ethnicity (more key drivers, consequences of food insecurity, and solutions to it).BAPR can provide, accessible, SNAP/NAP eligible items such as:1. Fruits and vegetables;2. Meat, poultry, and fish;3. Dairy products;4. Breads and cereals;5. Other foods such as snack foods and non-alcoholic beverages; and6. Seeds and plants, which produce food for the household to eat.A secondary and important goal of this grant is to help local farmers promote the purchasing and consuming of their products. Puerto Rico has a rich local agriculture: lettuce, tomatoes, avocados, onions, corn, oranges, guava fruit, bananas, plantains, pineapple, mushrooms, etc. All NAP participating businesses offer these products. This award will not only help food insecure individuals obtain and consume more fruits and vegetables, but it will also help local farmers sell and promote their crops.The Food Bank of Puerto Rico has been offering fresh fruits and vegetables for free for over four years. We have seen that not many pantry visitors take advantage of this gift as they do not know how to prepare these foods or are not accustomed to them. This GUSNIP incentive will be a great way for us to continue our food education. We look forward to providing free nutrition pamphlets, information of our Programs and Services, government aid, fruit and vegetable coloring books and a nutrition focused children's story book for free to program participants. We believe this is a great way to encourage families to eat more fruits and vegetables as the children will become more accustomed to these products. We understand that NAP funds are limited for families, that fresh produce shelve life is extremely limited and these products tend to be pricey. We also understand that it is a great risk for these families to experiment with foods that might be new to their diet as it would represent a major loss of income for them if it turns our they or their children do not like them. This is why this program would be so beneficial to NAP participants in the island. By creating a credit that will stretch their dollar in the Food Bank, participants will feel inclined to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables in NAP participating business. Participants will also receive educational material with their food purchases in the Food Bank of Puerto Rico to ensure that program participants:1. Understand the importance and nutritional value of fruits and vegetables in their daily diet.2. Learn how to grow/cultivate their own fruits and vegetables.3. Know the benefits that are available to them through the local and federal government and through our Programs and Services.With this grant, we wish to stretch NAP participants dollar while ensuring a proper intake of fresh fruit and vegetables while serving large populations and avoiding any transportation issues that may arise. In Puerto Rico public transportation is extremely unreliable and many beneficiaries do not get to use aid that is available to them because of the hassle of the inconvenience of transportation. Also, currently gasoline prices are the highest they have been since the pandemic, for many, what they may deem as a modest incentive is not enough to cover the cost of transportation.Residents of the agencies that will be participating in this program receive the Family Card with PAN benefits. Legally, the agencies can and do use residents NAP benefit card to make purchases for their 3 daily meals and snacks. By limiting this program to agencies we ensure a high volume of participants while mitigating transportation issues most beneficiaries would have to come to the Food Bank of Puerto Rico physically and claim their credit incentive.By working with receipts from approved NAP retailers, we will be able to work with all NAP participating businesses. It is required by law in Puerto Rico that each proof of purchase indicates the chosen payment method for all articles. When making a purchase with the Family Card, the receipt will not only confirm the articles that were purchased with said card, but it will also confirm the payment method for all ineligible articles in the same transaction. This will provide proof of proper use of funds.This program will run until the allocated funds are used in their entirety.Banco de Alimentos Puerto Rico will keep all original purchase receipts for our compliance reports and our transparency processes. A NAP purchase has to be made in a participating commerce in order for the agencies to claim their credit for GUSNIP eligible foods in the Food Bank of Puerto Rico.We are aware we need IRB approval for this award. As soon as we receive local approval, we will go through the IRB approval process. We will abide by the GUSNIP requirements.
Project Methods
Food Credit:Banco de Alimentos Puerto Rico will keep all original purchase receipts for our compliance reports and our transparency processes. A NAP purchase has to be made in a participating commerce in order for the agencies to claim their credit for GUSNIP eligible foods in the Food Bank of Puerto Rico.Banco de Alimento will require a signature from all participating ageny personnel that will be using their credit as confirmation of services renderd.Our Data Entry/ Program Evidence and Compliance Officer will be in charge of verifying and retaining all evidence and proof of purchase for purchase receipt redemption, creating detailed invoices for all purchased foods with credit.Our Program Director will oversee all programmatic, fiscal and final reports for program completion and compliance.Agencies must be in compliance with Banco de Alimento Puerto Rico, Feeding America, Puerto Rico local government and USA Federal goverment requirements to operate legally and in good standing.Food education:We will be providing free nutrition pamphlets, information of our Programs and Services, government aid, fruit and vegetable coloring books and a nutrition focused children's story book for free to program participants. We believe this is a great way to encourage families to eat more fruits and vegetables as the children will become more accustomed to these products.Banco de Alimento will require a signature from all participating ageny personnel that will be receiving the aformentioned food education material as confirmation of services renderd.