Non Technical Summary
Our project, Community-Based Solutions for Food Access, is designed by New London Community Meal Center as a two-pronged approach toward a food system for all and includes community-based strategic planning. This project will meet the immediate need for healthy and nutritious CT Grown products through our mobile market, while at the same time broadening our network and resources through the Nourishing Networks education component, while at the same time collecting datain order to create a sustainable and vibrant local food system for all.

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
703	6099	3020	100%

Knowledge Area
703 - Nutrition Education and Behavior;

Subject Of Investigation
6099 - People and communities, general/other;

Field Of Science
3020 - Education;

Goals / Objectives
Our project, Community-Based Solutions for Food Access, Is designed by New London Community Meal Center as a two-pronged approach toward a food system for all and includes community-based strategic planning. This project will meet the immediate need for healthy and nutritious CT Grown products while at the same time broadening our network and resources in order to create a vibrant local food system for all.Goal 1:To design a unique mobile market food access model to increase access to fresh, Connecticut-grown foods for residents of New London and Groton, while expanding market opportunities for a minimum of six local farmersObjective 1.1: To implement a Veggie Van evidence-based model at our current DINE mobile produce distribution in New London.Objective 1.2: To pilot the same model at a second location across the river in Groton at the Community Center Wellness Hub in partnership with Ledge Light Health District and the Town of Groton Parks and Recreation Department.Objective 1.3: Raise $25,000 to $50,000 per year to continue to subsidize the purchase of CT Grown products for community members.Our DINE mobile market (DMM) will implement the Veggie Van evidence-based intervention designed to address multiple dimensions of access to fresh produce for communities, including availability, affordability, accessibility (geographic and financial), and accommodation. The University at Buffalo Veggie Van Training Center (UB VVTC) will work with us on implementation. Our weekly DMM locations are already identified. They are places in the community where residents are comfortable and regularly visit. The DMM will increase buying power through food assistance benefits, including SNAP, offering produce bundles that encourage purchasing, and facilitating food education (e.g., nutrition lessons, tastings, and cooking demos). This goal aligns with all three of the NIFA CFP short-term goals, as well long-term goal one.Goal 2:To facilitate education and learning about local food among 60-90 persons in New London County.Objective 2.1: To launch the Nourishing Networks curriculum at three unique community sites in New London County.Objective 2.2: To continue to support cohorts and projects that arise from NN.The first two Nourishing Networks (NN) locations for this project have been identified as Yellow Farmhouse and Long Table Farm. Through three two-hour sessions, NN will educate a community of stakeholders on the root cause of food insecurity, and then move on to identifying barriers to food access and developing strategies to improve access. This project will be unique as it will amplify the voices of people who live and work in the communities most impacted by food insecurity and those who are more affluent. Participants will be empowered to plan and facilitate their food access projects or become involved in a strategy that aligns with a strategy they identified as a cohort. By creating these cohorts of community members trained in Nourishing Networks, this objective supports CFP goals and objectives.Goal 3: To have a strategic plan for continued food access programs in place by September 2028.Objective 3.1:NLCMC and partners will collect data from DMM and NN.Objective 3.2: Additional partner and community feedback will be gathered.Objective 3.3: Build capacity by both maintaining and growing strong partnerships with 2- 4 additional community stakeholders.

Project Methods
The evaluation for the DMM and the final evaluation for strategic planning will use a combination of both qualitative and quantitative data. The data collected for NN will be qualitative. The final evaluation which will inform our strategic plan will document the progress of DMM & NN, points of success, identify areas for improvement along with additional strategies, and implement the required changes based on individual data and evaluations for these two projects. A combination of empowerment evaluation and utilization focused evaluation strategies will also be leveraged in this final evaluation phase. Such an evaluation approach will ensure (a) the program inputs, activities outputs and outcomes align with the overarching goal of building a sustainable equitable community food system, (b) intended process and outcomes measures are documented and measured, respectively, (c) data collection efforts are tailored to the contextual and contemporary capacity of the various stakeholders, and (d) unexpected developments or influences from the external environment can be leveraged or responded to, respectively. Survey design and training for the mobile market will be done by UB VVTC. DMM surveys will be led by PA and NLCMC staff with assistance from the LLHD/FJAT (on site surveys and Spanish language surveys) and the NN data collection will be led by PA with assistance from YF staff.