Progress 04/01/15 to 03/31/19
Outputs
Target Audience:During this project period, we expanded our Fresh Creds program to two additional stores in our network - Supermercado La Raza, a small grocery store located in Ashland, an unincorporated community in Alameda County, which contains an extensive produce department and offers a wide selection of Latinx grocery items in Alameda County; and Mi Carnal, a small bodega-style market located in the Fruitvale neighborhood in East Oakland, which also caters to a large Latinx and immigrant community. The American Community Survey indicated that 20% of Ashland households had income below $25,000 with an overall poverty rate of 19.3%, with no major grocery stores located within its boundaries. Nearly half of all individuals in Ashland are Hispanic or Latino, with approximately one in three residents who were born outside of the United States. Because access to full-service grocery stores in Ashland is limited, many residents are forced to travel as far as San Leandro, Hayward, or Castro Valley to purchase basic necessities at affordable prices. Moreover, many residents do not have access to cars, and traveling to these grocery stores via public transportation is particularly difficult for the elderly and families with young children. For these reasons, Supermercado La Raza was an ideal store partner to bring Fresh Creds to. While Fruitvale contains more food access destinations, by comparison, there is no other grocery store in the community besides Mi Carnal that currently offers nutrition incentive benefits. The target population that Mandela engages in this neighborhood experience higher rates of poverty than other parts of Oakland and Alameda County. Furthermore, lack of healthy food and beverage outlets are part of the legacy left behind by decades of systematic disinvestment in this lowincome Oakland community, with 34% of residents who either disagreed or strongly disagreed that it is easy to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables in or near their neighborhood. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Mandela Partners plans to publish the results of the Samuels Center data report on its website in Fall 2019. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
During this project period, we maintained the suite of customized Fresh Creds marketing materials that were introduced to our network during the 2017-2018 project period. We also expanded and strengthened our Fresh Creds outreach strategy through a number of new partnerships with mission-aligned community-based organizations in Oakland and Ashland/Cherryland. One notable partnership we developed was with two "Food Farmacies" hosted by La Clinica de La Raza and Native American Health Center, both located in Fruitvale. At these events, residents were given vouchers to purchase produce at our regular produce stands where we currently accept EBT. Another partnership we cultivated was with the Manzanita Recreation Center, located in San Antonio, where we were able to promote nearby stands at La Escuelita Elementary and Garfield Elementary, as well as nearby corner stores Sky Market, A&G, and Wah-Fey. In response to last year's listening session at a subsidized housing complex in Ashland, an unincorporated part of Alameda County, we expanded Fresh Creds to a larger grocery store in the community, Supermercado La Raza. We also brought Fresh Creds to another small grocery store, Mi Carnal, located in Fruitvale, based on feedback from regular customers at our produce stand at La Clinica. We chose to explore partnerships with small grocery stores because residents expressed a need and interest in being able to access benefits at this kind of retail environment. Lastly, the Samuels Center produced a final data report on the Bites to Balance program at Highland Hospital during this reporting period. Statistically significant findings were observed for the following three variables from pre- to post-class: 1) A significant improvement in the participant-reported trying of new vegetables. 2) A significant improvement in the participantreported confidence in knowing how to prepare healthy meals and snacks on a budget. 3) A significant improvement in the participant-reported confidence in being able to stop eating something that they know is not good for them. No significant or notable changes were observed from pre- to post-class for BMI (slight reduction), or in the participantreported purchase of whole milk, healthier foods, reading of nutrition labels, use of shopping lists, planning and cooking meals high in fiber, knowledge and ability to get the recommended amount of weekly physical activity, nor in the frequency of drinking sodas or eating fast food, high fiber foods, dark greens, and sweets. Similarly, no statistical or meaningful changes were observed in how many dinners in a typical week participants' reported preparing at home, how many times a week, on average, respondents reported eating out, and the reported servings of fruits and vegetables consumed in a typical day.
Publications
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Progress 04/01/18 to 03/31/19
Outputs
Target Audience:During this project period, we expanded our Fresh Creds program to two additional stores in our network - Supermercado La Raza, a small grocery store located in Ashland, an unincorporated community in Alameda County, which contains an extensive produce department and offers a wide selection of Latinx grocery itemsin Alameda County;and Mi Carnal, a small bodega-style market located in the Fruitvale neighborhood in East Oakland, which also caters to a large Latinx and immigrant community. The American Community Survey indicated that 20% of Ashland households had income below $25,000 with an overall poverty rate of 19.3%, with nomajor grocery stores located within its boundaries.Nearly half of all individuals in Ashlandare Hispanic or Latino, with approximately one in three residents who were born outside of the United States.Because access to full-service grocery stores in Ashland is limited, many residents are forced to travel as far as San Leandro, Hayward, or Castro Valley to purchase basic necessities at affordable prices. Moreover, many residents do not have access to cars, and traveling to these grocery stores via public transportation is particularly difficult for the elderly and families with young children. For these reasons, Supermercado La Raza was an ideal store partner to bring Fresh Creds to. While Fruitvalecontains more food access destinations, by comparison, there is no other grocery store in the community besides Mi Carnal that currently offers nutrition incentive benefits.The target population that Mandela engages in this neighborhood experience higher rates of poverty than other parts of Oakland and Alameda County. Furthermore, lack of healthy food and beverage outlets are part of the legacy left behind by decades of systematic disinvestment in this low-income Oakland community, with 34% of residents who either disagreed or strongly disagreed that it is easy to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables in or near their neighborhood. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Mandela Partners plans to publish the results of the Samuels Center data report on its website in Full 2019. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
During this project period, we maintained the suite of customized Fresh Creds marketing materials that were introduced to our network during the 2017-2018project period. We also expanded and strengthened our Fresh Creds outreach strategy through a number of new partnerships with mission-aligned community-based organizations in Oakland and Ashland/Cherryland. One notable partnership we developed was with two "Food Farmacies"hosted by La Clinica de La Raza and Native American Health Center, both located in Fruitvale. At these events, residents were given vouchers to purchase produce at our regular produce stands where we currently accept EBT. Another partnership we cultivated was with the Manzanita Recreation Center, located in San Antonio, where we were able to promote nearby stands at La Escuelita Elementary and Garfield Elementary, as well as nearby corner stores Sky Market, A&G, and Wah-Fey. In response to last year's listening session at a subsidized housing complex in Ashland, an unincorporated part of Alameda County, we expanded Fresh Creds to alarger grocery store in the community, Supermercado La Raza. We also brought Fresh Creds to another small grocery store,Mi Carnal, located in Fruitvale, based on feedback from regular customers at our produce stand at La Clinica. We chose to explore partnerships with small grocery stores because residents expressed a need and interest in being able to access benefits at this kind of retail environment. Lastly, the Samuels Center produced a final data report on the Bites to Balance program at Highland Hospital during this reporting period. Statistically significant findings were observed for the following three variables from pre- to post-class: 1)A significant improvement in the participant-reported trying of new vegetables. 2) A significant improvement in the participant-reported confidence in knowing how to prepare healthy meals and snacks on a budget. 3) A significant improvement in the participant-reported confidence in being able to stop eating something that they know is not good for them. No significant or notable changes were observed from pre- to post-class for BMI (slight reduction), or in the participant-reported purchase of whole milk, healthier foods, reading of nutrition labels, use of shopping lists, planning and cooking meals high in fiber, knowledge and ability to get the recommended amount of weekly physical activity, nor in the frequency of drinking sodas or eating fast food, high fiber foods, dark greens, and sweets. Similarly, no statistical or meaningful changes were observed in how many dinners in a typical week participants' reported preparing at home, how many times a week, on average, respondents reported eating out, and the reported servings of fruits and vegetables consumed in a typical day.
Publications
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Progress 04/01/17 to 03/31/18
Outputs
Target Audience:During this project period, we continued to expandour Fresh Creds program to more of the small corner stores in our network. We opened service at another neighborhood store in East Oakland, Siete Amigos. This store has been a fixture in the community for decades and is located nearby churches, schools, and several large housing complexes - making it the ideal store for outreaching to more low-income community members. There are a total of 41,886 residents living within 1 mile of this new store in our network, and East Oakland is a predominantly African American and Latino/Hispanic community. Changes/Problems:As we continued to expand our Fresh Creds incentive program, including bringing on board new stores and developing outreach activities, we realized that we needed to add to our internal staff capacity to administer the program at Mandela. For that reason, we hired a program coordinator to specifically coordinate the incentive program, as well as serve as the main point of contact with Highland Hospital, where we have a long established partnership but where on-site manpower was essential for completing certain program goals. We have submitted a budget modification request to reflect this change, as we will be redirecting funding from other areas of our budget for this award to cover the additional personnel and associated costs for bringing this new position on board. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?During our listening session, we were sure to engage and outreach Fresh Creds to communities of interest, namely low-income residents in Ashland and Cherryland. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will continue to outreach to residents and regular customers of our partner stores that use their EBT benefits to purchase fruits and vegetables. As we still have some incentive budget remaining for the following project year, we will continue to also enroll new stores in our partner program, so that we can reach more potential customers in new neighborhoods.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
During this project period, we developed a suite of customized marketing materialsfor each of the stores in the Fresh Creds program. We focused our efforts during this year on outreach to customers and residents in the neighborhoods nearby each store, and found that marketing materials were a useful venue for on-site outreach. Previously, we had depended heavily on word-of-mouth and on cashiers to inform customers who were using EBT benefits to purchase fruits and vegetables; but we found that we needed a more reliable form of on-site outreach that was targeted to customers who regularly shopped for fruits and vegetables at partner stores but had not yet been informed of the Fresh Creds program. We hired a graphic designer and designed large vinyl banners for several of the stores in our program, so that customers would be informed even from just looking at the exterior façade of the stores. We also developed point-of-purchase marketing materials so that as customers are finishing their EBT purchases they are alerted to the 50% incentive. As another outreach strategy, we held a listening session at a subsidized housing complex in Ashland, an unincorporated part of Alameda County where we are exploring the idea of bringing the Fresh Creds program to a larger grocery store in the community. Not only were we able to gauge community reception to our involvement with that particular store, which has been in the community for several decades but recently had an ownership change, but also helped us to outreach to participants and let them know about other venues and our produce stand network where they could currently receive the incentive program.
Publications
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Progress 04/01/16 to 03/31/17
Outputs
Target Audience:During this reporting period, we expanded our incentive program ("Fresh Creds") to better serve more EBT customers at our network of small corner stores in West and East Oakland. Of the 10 corner stores that we work with through our Healthy Retail Network programming (twice-weekly produce delivery and sales, marketing support, shelf-stable grocery merchandising), 5 of them are currently participating in the Fresh Creds program, and are able to provide their low-income customers with discounts for the purchase of fresh, frozen, canned, or dried fruit or vegetable items without additives. Since we perform a rigorous census- and neighborhood-level vetting process when choosing corner stores to partner with - including percent of low-income low-food-access residents, proximity of other nearby grocery outlets, and observeable characteristics of the relationship between customers and store staff - there is a demonstrable community need in the locations where we prioritize our food retail work. To date, the census tracts within which our corner stores are located areidentified as Vulnerable Populations in Alameda County, of a total population of 91,222,there are 30,858 residents below 100% FPL, or 34.25%. A total of 24,196 or 26.52% ofAfrican Americans reside in the target census tracts. Children age 0?17 living in povertytotal 12,125, or 47.42%. The population age 25 or over without a high school diploma is21,050 or 38.63%. Further, an average of 29.6% of tract households in the census tracts our network stores are located in are currently receiving SNAP benefits. This presents an opportunity to meet target households where they do a bulk of their daily shopping - namely, at their neighborhood corner store. By complementing the Fresh Creds incentive program with the previously-existing produce delivery and marketing service, we are able to provide an affordability incentive that stimulates demand for these products at the stores. During this reporting period, there were a total of 745 Fresh Creds transactions throughout the corner store network; additionally, there were 2,727 transactions at the Mandela Foods Cooperative - a larger, full-service grocery store - and 584 transactions at Mandela MarketPlace-staffed weekly pop-up produce stands. Changes/Problems:In meeting NIFA requirements for external evaluation of our incentive project, we brought on a local evaluation firm with expertise in food systems assessment and a long track record of working with community-based partners in documenting community-level changes to healthy food access. Our project intent was to not only document and assess the effictiveness of our incentive delivery/redemption system but also to provide evaluation and assessment for our hospital partners seeking to analyze health outcome data from the patients participating in the pilot nutrition education/incentive redemption project. Over the course of the project's implementation, providers realized the difficulty of not only tracking the same patients longitudinally over the course of their care in the hospital's clinics, but also the difficulty in seeing any measureable change in biometric indicators(blood glucose, fasting glucose, cholesterol, BMI, and others) over participation in such a short time. Mandela MarketPlace's staff coordinator worked with hospital staff to pull medical record information, both electronic and paper, and developed a screening pathway to integrate our internalprogram requirements (current recipient of SNAP/CalFresh) with the biometric level cutoffs the clinicians wanted to affect. Our external evaluation team was not equipped to measure long-term biometric data, and we pivoted the project team to ensure that that data was being collected and stored appropriately; now that would be the responsibility of the Mandela MarketPlace staff coordinator, while the external evaluation team was contracted to focus primarily on redemption-level data. This shift ensured that we maintained fidelity to NIFA's evaluation aims, while also being accountable to program partners. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Mandela MarketPlace's staff coordinator for the project has had the opportunity to develop her skills and interest in evaluation, in partnership with hospital clinicians who are guiding the clinical and health outcome data collection piece of the project. Through working alongside patient care providers and medical assistants, as well as utilizing online clinical data management trainings and courses, she is creating a comprehensive suite of data collection, storage, and analysis skills in-house. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Fresh Creds redemption data is routinely reported through Mandela MarketPlace's participation in the NIFA-funded national evaluation led by Westat. In addition, monthly totals are reported to corner store and Mandela Foods Cooperative staff and owners, and graphic representation of redemption trends are given to each store owner at the beginning of each month. Conference presentations have included redemption data, both total dollar amounts as well as the number of transactions made and individual customers reached. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the following reporting period, we intend to do the following: Continue increasing outreach effortsto local schools, community centers or neighborhood meetings. Expand retail network and produce stands to better serve the patient participants. Collect and analyze patient health outcome data, to point to the health impact of participation in the overall partnership project with Highland Hospital Adult and Pediatric clinics. The program involves a 2-3 month commitment to attend nutrition and dietetic workshops, cooking classes and recipe demonstrations, and enrollment in the incentive program to receive the produce incentive when patients shop at participating retailers.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
During this project period, Mandela MarketPlace staff worked to encourage increased use of the incentive program ("Fresh Creds") to both more qualified households near the corner stores in the Healthy Retail Network, as well as encourage increased awareness from store owners and staff of eligible items for the redemption of the incentive. The first aim was accomplished through varied outreach methods, including: point-of-purchase marketing materials and signage throughout the store, taste testings and nutrition demonstrations highlighting eligible items at the stores and produce stands, and partnering with nearby community institutions (schools, health clinics, community centers or neighborhood groups) to outreach during events or on-site with their client base. Mandela MarketPlace employed a graphic designer to develop a suite of marketing materials for installation in the stores, with message testing and approval from store staff and customers. In addition, customized price tags were created and placed on individual items (such as canned fruit or vegetable items) and as shelf talkers highlighting an entire product category (such as additive-free juices or smoothies). The second aim was accomplished through intesifying our training method for store staff and creating user experience-guided updates to the online redemption application. There is an initial training period that introduces staff to the incentive program and redemption technique via the Fresh Creds online app, and then there have been periodic refresher trainings or onboarding for new staff members. However, Mandela staff recommended an intensification of the training process, including developing a walkthrogh module to walk store staff around the store to highlight the variety of eligible items, and also adding a customer category to the application's redemption system to allow for de-identified purchase tracking. The latter development came about after feedback gathered from store staff pointing to the difficulty of redemption on the retailer end when specifically tying the purchase tracking to a specific customer account. Working with the app developer, we created a new system to faciltiate high-speed purchase redemptions without tying the purchase to a specific customer account/name.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Chakrabarti, Trisha. Specific Technology for Creative Access: Mandela MarketPlace's Fresh Creds Program. Presentation at SPUR Making Healthy Food More Affordable Panel. July 19, 2016.
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Progress 04/01/15 to 03/31/16
Outputs
Target Audience:Our target audience incudes low-income residents in West and East Oakland. West Oakland is a diverse community of about 24,000 residents. The neighborhood is significantly over the 185 percent Federal Poverty Level (FPL). Its racial/ethnic composition is 64% African American, 16% Latino, 9% Asian, 7% White, 5% other races. The latest figures from Census 2010 show that 25,019 people lived in West Oakland in 2010. The racial/ethnic composition is 50% African American, 17% Latino, 13% Asian, 15% White, 4% two or more races, and less than 1% each of American Indian, Pacific Islander, and other race. West Oakland residents suffer a diabetes rate three times higher than in the rest of Alameda County, elevated hypertension and mortality rates. West Oakland has a poverty rate double California's rate, and unemployment rate almost twice that of the Nation. Twenty-four percent of residents receive SNAP benefits, and 32% report no car in household. East Oakland, a neighborhood of nearly 88,000 residents, displays many similar characteristics to that of West Oakland. Specifically, the racial/ethnic composition is 51% African American, 38% Latino, and the remaining percentage divided amongst Asians, Whites, and others. Half of all East Oakland residents speak a language other than English at home, primarily Spanish. 43% of East Oakland residents do not have a high school degree, and the neighborhood's poverty rate varies from 20-40%. During this project period, our efforts have included developing a program in partnership with Highland Hospital, the main public-serving hospital in Alameda County, whose patients come primarily from these two neighborhoods. This program has allowed high-use patients - those meeting a Body-Mass Index threshold for obesity and receiving SNAP - to enroll in receiving the NIFA-funded incentive for purchases of eligible items. The program has expanded Mandela's Community Produce Stand program to a weekly stand on-campus at Highland Hospital, where patients are able to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables using their incentive and SNAP monies. Additionally, our partnership has created a pathway for patients from Highland Hospital to connect with existing small groceries in Mandela's Healthy Retail network of corner stores stocking eligible food items. Staff at these stores have been trained in redemption of the incentive and its use, and have had the opportunity to outreach to SNAP-recipient neighbors outside of the patient pool. Changes/Problems:As a result of initial community feedback, we decided to increase the amount of the incentive ("bonus") from 35% to 50%. In effect, this meant that instead of receiving an extra $3.00 of produce when a participant purchased $10.00 with their CalFresh card, participants now receive an extra $5.00 of produce when purchasing the same $10.00. This has lead to increased adoption of the incentive program, as well as participants reporting increased understanding of the aims of the program. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Mandela's Program and Policy Manager had the opportunity to present at several conferences and workshops related to the development of incentive programs at retail sites and locations throughout the country. These speaking opportunities and presentation of our model to other groups in the healthy food environment landscape provided a wealth of professional development growth and the advancement of her leadership skills in disseminating information about our program's model and the context of the need of a multifaceted food access program in Oakland. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Outreach for enrollment in this incentive program has been multi-layered, creating a high profile for the program within the Highland Hospital community, where registration and enrollment staff are first informed of the aims of the program and specific enrollment criteria, and then perform a primary screen to identify eligible patients. Then, providers were informed of the program and notified which of their patients to enroll in the incentive program. We received feedback that providers appreciated having tools for conversations about food access, above and beyond nutrition recommendations and dietary advising. Enrollment information and patient guidance documents have been translated to English, and nutrition classes and training about logistics of the incentive are available for Spanish-speaking patients, as well. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Improve enrollment strategies for residents in surrounding communities of healthy retail sites - increase outreach efforts to local schools, community centers or neighborhood meetings. Expand retail network and produce stands to better serve the patient participants. Explore expansion to other interested healthcare centers serving low-income patients in Alameda County.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Over the past year, we have created the Mandela/Credibles SNAP Incentive Program, a multisector, evidence-based approach to providing integrated strategies that increase purchases of locally-sourced and -grown fruits and vegetables by low-income Alameda County, California, SNAP participants through provision of Credibles, an online direct-to consumer application for use at a network of healthy retail corner store conversions and market booths operating as part of Alameda County's Mandela Health and Wealth Network. More importantly, this network supports a change in the condition of West and East Oakland's food environment. West Oakland, a community with a single full-service grocery store, lacks convenient points of access to affordable fresh produce items - now supported through a network of 7 corner stores and 7 pop-up produce stands. The FINI incentive supports an economic multiplier model of local healthy food purchases that support small store owners that have made a conscious choice to carry healthier items in their store aisles. We have begun delivery of the incentive through our Healthy Retail Network, including a two-tier incentive program that prioritizes reaching both neighborhood residents living near each point of access, as well as reaching low-income, primarily Medicare-receiving obese adult and pediatric patients of Highland Hospital in East Oakland. In order to better serve the Highland community of staff, providers, patients and neighbors, we opened a weekly produce stand on campus and expanded our small-store network to 2 additional stores in the Highland Park neighborhood. Serving a Low Income Low Access neighborhood of 24,000, our project objectives include increasing healthy food purchases by Alameda Health System hospital-referred clients through a 50% bonus on purchases of FINI-eligible fruits and vegetables, messaging and education. This collaboration among healthcare providers, public health agencies, a university, food enterprises and community benefit organizations aligns with goals and objectives of Healthy People 2020, CDC Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) initiatives, and the HHS Disparities Action Plan Goals through a Community Based Participatory Approach and measured at the individual, environmental and sectors of influence levels to provide credible evidence that explains how broad-based community collaboration have changed conditions and behaviors, leading to the increase of healthy food consumption and reduction of nutrition-related health disparities.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Chakrabarti, Trisha. Specific Technology for Creative Access: Mandela MarketPlace's Fresh Creds Program. Presentation at Wholesome Wave Transforming Food Access Conference. January 13, 2016.
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