Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
The planto revitalize the food landscape of Mingo County, WV, aligns seamlessly with USDA/NIFA's mission to foster food security and promote sustainable agriculture. This project will seek to do so by achieving the following:1) Development of a Food Hub: Central to our initiative is the creation of a food hub within the existing infrastructure of Facing Hunger Food Bank's warehouse. By dedicating 40% of the warehouse space to this cause, we will facilitate the aggregation, storage, and distribution oflocally grown produce. Equipped with cold storage capabilities, the hub will serve as an essential resource for local farmers, allowing them to preserve their harvest's integrity and extend its marketability. This arrangement also includes the unique opportunity for farmers to sell theirproduce directly to the food bank, thus reinforcing the charitable food system within our community. Furthermore, the food hub will serve as a centralized location for large distributors, thereby attracting them into the region and providing smaller markets with unprecedented access to a wider variety of goods.2) Commercial Processing Kitchen: The establishment of a commercial processing kitchen will act as a catalyst for value addition. This facility will be pivotal in transforming raw agricultural commodities into frozen and shelf-stable products. Our partnership with Project HealthyKids/Healthy Kids Inc. will ensure that these products not only support our charitable food system but also contribute to creating medically tailored meals for vulnerable populations, addressing both food insecurity and nutritional deficits in one stride.3) Expanding Blue Acre Aquaponics: Our collaboration with Blue Acre Aquaponics aims to double their production capacity, which will have a ripple effect on local food availability. By increasing the output of fish, greens, and strawberries, we anticipate that this non-profit social enterprise will substantially augment the supply of fresh produce to local markets such as Blue 52 and Post 49. Furthermore, the surge in production will bolster the food bank's distribution network and Project Healthy Kids/Healthy Kids Inc.'s capacity to deliver medically tailored meals to those in need.In Mingo County, where economic disparities and geographic isolation present unique challenges to food access, this project is not merely an enhancement of the current food system--it is a necessary evolution. The "Mingo County Food Forward Foursome: Sow to Store" project willserve as a model of community resilience and innovation in food systems.
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: Create a sustainable food system that is inclusive of farmers, charitable food systems, and food enterprises that work together to make healthy and nutritious food available in Mingo, Co. WV, while bringing nutrition incentive programs, such as Summer Feeding, SNAP Stretch, Medically Tailored Meals, and Kids Market @ the Store, to more regions in the county that make the food culturally appropriate and affordable.Objective 1. Enhance local food security and reduce food waste through processing and preserving fresh, locally grown produce. (CFP aligned goal: Increase self-reliance of communities in providing for the food needs of the community)Outcome 1: Establish a processing kitchen within the Facing Hunger Food Bank Warehouse in Mingo County, to process and freeze 20,000 pounds of overabundant, local produce available for purchase at local markets, for use in school breakfast and lunch programs, and for distribution through food bank programs to improve food access in Mingo County during years 3-4 of the project. (CFP aligned goal: Promote comprehensive responses to local food, food access, farm, and nutrition issues)The Processing Kitchen will:Create 6 quality jobs.Source produce from 10 local farms.Process 10,000 pounds of produce per year.Distribute produce through multiple streams.Processed produce distributed through the charitable food system.Processed produce distributed to local retail stores such as Blue52.Processed produce distributed to Healthy Kids Inc. to be made into from scratch, locally sourced meals for child care centers, Summer Feeding Programs, substance abuse recovery centers.Objective 2: Strengthen food infrastructure and support local agriculture by developing a sustainable food hub, including community-use cold storage and an aggregation/distribution model to increase food access. (CFP aligned goal: Promote comprehensive responses to local food, food access, farm, and nutrition issues)Outcome 2: Launch food hub and provide access to a cold storage facility at FHFC warehouse in Mingo County to be used by 10 farmers and local food enterprises in an effort to improve the local food aggregation and distribution network. See Mingo County Food Hub Business Plan in Appendix A.The Cold Storage Facility will:Engage the agriculture and food entrepreneurship community by conducting 3 facility tours.Partner with 10 local farmers to utilize the cold storage facility.Facilitate 5 buyers agreements between Blue52 and local farmers.Facilitate 10 buyers agreements with FHFB and local farmers.Facility 3 buyers agreements between Healthy Kids Inc local farmers.Objective 3: Promote healthy eating in Mingo County through Blue52 and Post 49 Market sourcing a variety of nutritious food options, providing nutrition education, conducting outreach for community members who meet SNAP eligibility guidelines, and being a Summer Feeding Site. (CFP aligned goal: Meet the food needs of low-income individuals through food distribution, community outreach to assist in participation in federally assisted nutrition programs, or to improve access to food as part of a comprehensive service) Outcome 3a: Increase the produce variety access at the newly opened Blue52 Market in Kermit WV and provide nutrition education to 200 families to promote healthy food choices.Outcome 3b: Provide access to five breakfasts and two lunches for five days per child to families in Mingo County through the Summer Feeding Program.Blue52 Market will:Offer 7 varieties of fruits and 9 varieties of vegetables.Host nutrition for 200 families, providing $12,000 of produce vouchers, and improving nutritious food choice in participating households.Pilot the Summer Feeding Program with prepared meals from Healthy Kids Inc.Objective 4. Foster economic development and sustainable practices by supporting Blue Acre Appalachian Aquaponics in implementing sustainable food production and increasing growing capacity. (CFP aligned goal: Meet local agricultural needs related to equipment necessary for efficient operation and planning for long-term solutions. Additional CFP aligned goal: create innovative marketing activities that mutually benefit agriculture producers and low-income consumers.)Outcome 4: Double the growing capacity of Blue Acre Appalachian Aquaponics (BAA), allowing BAA to increase the amount of produce supplied to local food banks, food enterprises, and the Blue52 Market.Blue Acre Appalachian Aquaponics will:Undergo consulting and create a facility expansion plan with Regan Consulting (prior to the beginning of the award).These recommendations and plans include maximizing unused floor and vertical space, which will allow the facility to double the number of beds and area for growing. In adding additional plants to the system, close system monitoring will be required as it may take six to twelve months to fully balance the pH of the system.Engage community members by providing educational tours, showcasing the facility, and providing science-focused experiential learning opportunities to students.Implement recommendations from Regan Consulting.
Project Methods
Evaluation for this Community Food Project will include a hybrid of standard evaluation tools along with implementing the Whole Measures Methodology to gather feedback and assess project outcomes on the community and food system levels.West Virginia University Family Nutrition Program (WVUFNP) who will lead community-based evaluation efforts and the Whole Measures for Community Food Systems Evaluation. Melissa Martin will oversee the implementation of the project work plan and check in with project partners on a quarterly basis to collect and evaluate data, monitor activity progress and begin collecting information needed to produce a Case Study which will be published at the end of the grant period to showcase best practices, successes, challenges, and valuable lessons learned in developing a Food Hub angled toward community food access. Quarterly evaluation efforts will be driven by the project's logic model, workplan, and check-ins, to assess project progress toward goals and impact, engage community members, and revise project activities as needed. The quarterly evaluations will include:Formative Assessments:Process: What is working well and not so well? Is there a need for refinement of the project? Outcome: What does the data say in relation to progress toward meeting objectives and outcomes? How can we improve our results? How can we improve the food access model?Summative Assessments:Process: What parts of the food access model are critical to replicate?Outcome: Based on objective and outcome metrics, is the model worth scaling?Data Monitoring:Process: Are inputs, activities and outputs flowing smoothly and in alignment with the logic model? Are any changes needed?Partner Accountability:Process: Are all members of the partnership implementing the activities in the work plan? Are revisions needed to the work plan timeline? Are resources being utilized efficiently?Outcome: What does the data that partners provide suggest concerning progress toward objectives and outcomes?Knowledge Development:Process: What lessons are we learning from this project? What principles can be extracted across similar food access programs to inform future practices?Outcome: What metrics were met, not met, and exceeded? What was the impact of the project on participants' overall diets or health status? What was the economic impact?The West Virginia University Family Nutrition Program will conduct annual community-based evaluation efforts to evaluate the impact of the Summer Feeding Program, and Nutrition Education offered onsite at Blue52 Market and Post 49 Market, and will conduct SNAP participant surveys.WVU FNP will also lead the annual Whole Measures for Community Food Systems Evaluation. At the beginning of the grant period, an evaluation team will be established (including staff, stakeholders, and community members) and trained on the Whole Measures Methodology. The team will define Whole Measures Outcomes and will become familiarized with and modify rubrics in alignment with this project. Annually, partners and stakeholders will analyze the program through the Whole Measures CFS Evaluation tool lens, including using rubrics to evaluate the impact of the project on Justice and Fairness, Strong Communities, Vibrant Farms, Healthy People, Sustainable Ecosystems, Thriving Local Economies. These conversations and results, will inform and be included in the final Case Study Report.