Progress 06/01/16 to 12/31/19
Outputs
Target Audience:The Double Up Food Bucks (DUFB) program was offered to SNAP beneficiaries at a total of 183 locations in over 80 communities (more than 110 zip codes) in Kansas and Missouri during the program implementation period between June 2016 and December 2019. The program was implemented in rural, suburban and urban communities in eastern Kansas, the Kansas City Metro area, west central Missouri, the St. Louis metro area and the central and southern parts of Missouri. Some of the communities where the program was offered, such as Kansas City, Kansas; Kansas City, Missouri; St Louis, Missouri and Emporia, Kansas have more diverse populations with higher percentages of Latino residents, Black residents, and Asian residents. The Kansas Department of Children and Family Services and the Missouri Department of Social Services provided the number of SNAP households living in the zip codes where locations were offering the Double Up Food Bucks program. Although we do not know how many unduplicated beneficiaries were reached throughout the three-and-a-half-year program implementation period, more than 400,000 SNAP recipients are estimated to have gotten information about the program through a mailing that was sent directly to SNAP households each year. The Double Up Heartland Collaborative broadened the reach beyond the zip codes receiving the mailing by working with community partners such as safety net clinics, Public Health Departments, WIC clinics, food pantries, hospitals, schools/preschools/community colleges, libraries, senior centers, work force development agencies, public housing facilities, and others to get the word out to SNAP beneficiaries. Changes/Problems:Three major types of challenges arose during program implementation: Weather. In 2018 and 2019, weather presented significant challenges for the local growers selling at farmers markets and to grocery stores in the Double Up Heartland service area. Cold, wet springs made it difficult for crops to be planted and often, if the farmers were able to get seeds/plants in the ground, the weather would prevent them from growing. In the spring of 2019, flooding made it difficult to connect more local growers to grocery stores, such as the southeastern Kansas stores who were looking to expand their locally grown selection. Local growers did not have quantities of produce to provide to the grocery stores. Technology. Schnucks and Price Chopper stores dealt with technology challenges for most of the program implementation period. Originally, Schnucks tried to implement the incentive program as a coupon, but in the end, was not able to get the coupon to print. After that, they offered the program in connection with a digital coupon program called Schnupon, which customers could sign up for online. The program did not have a significant reach with SNAP customers, which made incentive earning and redemption challenging. In the middle of 2018, Schnucks adopted a loyalty program and tied Double Up Food Bucks to it. This loyalty program contributed to the rapid success of the program in the Schnucks stores. Prior to the 2016-2019 program implementation period, Price Chopper had a loyalty system that could implement the Double Up Food Bucks program easily and in a way that provided great flexibility to the customer. Customers could choose to redeem the same day that they earned or to save their incentive for another day. In early 2016, the Balls Price Chopper stores changed loyalty systems. The new system was not as flexible as the previous one. Customers could no longer earn and redeem on the same day. In addition, there was no way for cashiers to know if a customer had Double Up Food Bucks from a previous shopping day that could be applied to their purchase. Receipts still showed if the customer had earned and redeemed, but the balance was not updated in real time. In June 2019, the entire Price Chopper group went to a different loyalty platform. This platform allows for greater messaging to the customer at the checkout station and provides prompts for cashiers so they can remind customers who have earned Double Up Food Bucks. However, the receipts still do not report balances in real time and the incentive cannot be redeemed the same day that it is earned. Awareness and understanding of the program. Raising awareness of the Double Up Food Bucks program to SNAP customers and ensuring understanding of the program was challenging. A variety of communication activities were used to get the message about the program directly to SNAP recipients. However, some SNAP recipients cycle on and off the SNAP program, so reaching an ever-changing population was difficult (see a description of communication efforts below). In addition, through evaluation surveys and phone conversations with SNAP customers, as well as conversations with community service providers, the Double Up Heartland Collaborative learned that the incentive program can be confusing for many customers at first. One factor customers found confusing was that the program wasn't implemented the same way at farmers markets and grocery stores. At farmers markets the program was token based, with Double Up Food Bucks tokens given as a match when SNAP tokens were purchased. Many SNAP customers had never been to a farmers market before, and if they have, they may not have been aware that they could use their SNAP benefit at the market. The process of purchasing tokens and identifying which vendors take the different tokens was new for many customers, and that process required explaining. At grocery stores, the incentive tracked digitally on a loyalty card/account, given as a coupon or voucher, or provided as a discount at the time of purchase of fresh vegetables and fruits. Customers were often confused about how they received the incentive at the grocery store, and some wondered if the incentive would go back on their EBT card. Over the years, in many of the stores, training overall and specifically for cashiers has improved so they are better able to explain the program to customers. Also, the Collaborative has honed the messaging and signage for the program to try to address the issues that confused customers as much as possible. Having an information telephone number and email address that people could use to ask questions was very helpful. A final awareness and understanding challenge was the limited locations that the program was offered. Although the Collaborative was excited about the growth in the number of locations that took place, customers often wondered why the program was not offered at more places in their community. In our efforts to recruit community partners across the states of Missouri and Kansas to help promote Double Up Food Bucks, partners occasionally mistakenly sent out information to areas where the program was not provided. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Subrecipient partners provided training to farmers market managers regarding the incentive program. The training included information about data collection, record keeping and reimbursements, and signage and promotion of the program. Partners have also provided technical assistance to farmers markets when they have experienced issues with the EBT machine or other challenges that have affected the DUFB program. Partners continued conversations with management teams from the grocery stores to discuss elements such as increasing the amount and variety of locally grown produce in their produce departments; DUFB signage in the stores; training for staff members; changes being made to their IT systems that could maximize the success of the program; and the need to monitor DUFB activity closely as some of the grocery programs began to reach their budgeted incentive redemption amounts. The Project Director for the Double Up Food Bucks Heartland program and the lead evaluator attended three Project Director meetings hosted by the USDA, NIFA division. At these annual meetings, valuable information was learned about the status of the Nutrition Incentive Program at the federal level. In addition, grantees from around the country shared their program experience, successes and challenges. In addition, the members of the Collaborative attended Convenings hosted by Fair Food Network for all programs across the country implementing a Double Up Food Bucks program. Valuable resources were shared between all the different programs. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Quarterly reports have been created throughout the project implementation period and shared with funders. Each year an annual report was created and a Final FINI report has been developed and shared with the local and regional funding organizations, as well as other interested organizations. Partners have had conversations with funders periodically to review the progress of this program. In addition, members of the Double Up Heartland Collaborative have presented the results of the program at meetings with community partners who are involved in food systems work and nutrition education in Missouri and Kansas. Annual evaluation reports have been produced and shared with funders and partners. A final evaluation report will be shared as well. Highlights from the evaluation activities have been shared with stores and farmers market managers so they can see the impact and feedback regarding the program. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Goal: The goal of this project is to increase the purchase of fresh produce by low-income Kansas and Missouri consumers participating in SNAP by providing incentives at the point of sale. Eating a diet rich with fresh vegetables and fruits is generally accepted as a practice that will lead to good health. People who live on limited incomes often are challenged by this practice because fresh produce is often expensive and a good selection of quality fresh produce is not available in retail stores located in low-income neighborhoods. The Double Up Food Bucks Heartland (DUFB)incentive program began in June 2016 to increase the accessibility to fresh fruits and vegetables for recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP or food assistance) in Kansas and Missouri. Partnering organizations came together to create the Double Up Heartland Collaborative. These organizations included: Mid-America Regional Council (MARC), Cultivate KC, Douglas County, Kansas, Fair Food Network, West Central Community Action Agency, East West Gateway Council of Governments in St Louis, and the University of Kansas Medical Center. The Collaborative worked with farmers and grocery stores to implement to incentive program. In 2016 the incentive was offered in 60 locations, and by the beginning of 2019, the program had expanded to 163 locations. One hundred eighty-three locations offered the program in over 80 communities at some point during program period.The Collaborative partners provided reporting tools for the locations to report data. The Collaborative also worked to raise awareness about the program through a variety of methods. Information about the progress DUFB was making to increase the access of SNAP beneficiaries to fresh vegetables and fruits was gathered through transaction data from the participating locations and evaluation data. The transaction data shows that over $3.25 million in DUFB was earned/distributed and nearly $2.5 million was redeemed by SNAP customers (77% redemption). Over 350,000 transactions occurred at the participating locations. SNAP participants reported being able to afford more vegetables and fruits because of the DUFB program, which increased their consumption of vegetables and fruits and reduced their intake of unhealthy snacks. SNAP shoppers with food insecurity and poor health benefited more than SNAP customers who were more food secure. Objective 1. Expand the number of farmers markets from 23 to 68 in Kansas and Missouri which offer a SNAP incentive program to increase the amount of fruits and vegetables purchased. Objective 2. Expand the number of grocery stores from five to 117 in Kansas and Missouri which offer a SNAP incentive program to increase the amount of fruits and vegetables purchased. During the entire program implementation period, June 2016-December 2019, the Collaborative worked with a total of 183 locations to offer the program. These locations are in communities from Salina, Kansas to St. Louis, Missouri and from St. Joseph, Missouri to Pittsburgh, Kansas. Of these, 102 locations are grocery stores and 81 are farmers markets. Table 1 breaks down the locations by type and by geographical area: Table 1 Type of Location St. Louis Metro Central and Southern Missouri West Central Missouri KC Metro Eastern Kansas Totals Farmers Markets 9 16 6 22 28 81 Grocery Stores 79 2 0 16 5 102 Totals 73 17 6 34 21 183 Objective 3. Communicate with up to 400,000 low-income SNAP recipients in Kansas and Missouri to inform them of the incentive program offered by farmers markets and grocery stores. During the past three and a half years of implementing DUFB, it was clear that communicating information about the DUFB program to SNAP customers is critical for the success of the program. Each year, the Collaborative worked with the MO Department of Senior Services and the KS Department of Children and Families to prepare a mailing that went to every SNAP household in the zip codes that included a DUFB location. Over 423,000 brochures were sent to SNAP customers in over 80 communities. The Collaborative utilized many other approaches to get word out about the program over the years including signage, printed materials distributed through community agencies and social media. Objective 4. Establish and maintain administrative support structures to operationalize the collaborative implementing the SNAP incentive program. MARCand the partners involvedcreated a committee that meets regularly called the Double Up Heartland Collaborative. The Collaborative included: MARC, Cultivate KC, Fair Food Network, Douglas County (2016-2017), the University of Kansas Medical Center, and East-West Gateway Council of Governments. This group met every month to discuss the status of the program at the various locations throughout Kansas and Missouri. In addition, the group planned for communications and outreach, strategies for streamlining data collection, and reviewed findings from the evaluator teams which were interviewing customers at the locations. MARC's Public Affairs Department provided most of the support regarding the design and production of communications materials including signs, print ads, social media ads, posters, brochures, transit ads, etc. Fair Food Network provided the support for the Double Up Heartland website, www.doubleupheartland.org and for the data collection portal where market managers and coordinators enter data. MARC staff provided the administrative oversight for both programmatic and financial data that is submitted by subrecipients working with farmers market managers and grocery stores, and contracted organizations, such as the large chain grocery stores. MARC staff monitored the overall budget and the expenditures on incentives, administration, communications, evaluation, and other costs. Objective 5. Establish and implement an evaluation plan which includes activities to assess the progress of the incentive program at the participating farmers markets and grocery stores. MARC has contracted with the University of Kansas Medical Center's Research Institute to conduct an overall evaluation of the program. The evaluation team was led by Dr Cheryl Gibson. She had students conduct evaluation activities in the Kansas City area. Due to the large geographical scope of the program, Dr Gibson coordinated with two additional teams, the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas to evaluate the eastern Kansas locations and St Louis University to evaluate the locations in St Louis, central and southern Missouri. Evaluation activities included environmental scans of selected locations, customer intercept surveys, vendor surveys, interviews with farmers market managers, cashiers and grocery store directors. During 2016-2019, 678 SNAP customers and 219 farmers market vendors were surveyed. Additionally, 54 farmers market managers, 24 grocery store cashiers and 12 grocery store directors were interviewed. A total of 241 environmental scans were conducted at farmers markets and 181 grocery store environmental scans were conducted.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Valentine H, Harvey S, Landfried L, Craven T, Brock G, Gibson C. Customer Response to a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Nutrition Incentive Program at Farmers Markets. Poster presented at the 2017 Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo; Oct. 21 24, 2017; Chicago, IL.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Valentine, H., Harvey, S., Landfried, L., Lee, J., Marti, C., Woff, K., Gibson, C. A., Nutrition 2018, "Food insecurity among Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants and its relationship with fruit and vegetable intake and health-related quality of life," American Society for Nutrition, Boston, MA, United States. (June 2018).
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Progress 06/01/19 to 12/31/19
Outputs
(N/A)
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1. and Objective 2. How it Worked in 2019 The Double Up Food Bucks Heartland incentive program operates differently at grocery stores and farmers markets. Here's how it worked in 2019: Farmers Markets The customer buys SNAP tokens with their EBT card at the market booth that has the EBT machine. The SNAP tokens can be used to purchase any SNAP-eligible item. The customer receives a matching amount of Double Up Food Bucks tokens (up to $25 per day). Double Up Food Bucks tokens can be used to purchase any fresh vegetables and fruits. The customer shops with their tokens. Grocery Stores In the produce department, the customer buys fresh vegetables and fruits with their EBT card. The amount spent on fresh vegetables and fruits is tracked as earned Double Up Food Bucks on their store rewards or distributed as a DUFB coupon. Small grocery stores sometimes choose to provide the earned incentive as an immediate discount. The next time the customer shops at the store, they will have their earned Double Up Food Bucks to spend on ANY fresh fruits and vegetables. The locations are spread throughout the eastern part of Kansas (between Salina, Kansas City and Pittsburg), the Kansas City Metro area, central and southern Missouri, and the St Louis metropolitan area. The locations serve rural, suburban and urban areas. Several of the farmers markets and grocery stores are in areas where access to healthy food is challenging. The following table shows the numbers of farmers markets and grocery stores in each region. Region Farmers Markets Grocery Stores Eastern Kansas 19 5 Kansas City Metro 16 14 West Central Missouri 5 0 Central & Southern Missouri 15 2 St Louis Metro 7 5 Totals 63 26 TOTAL LOCATIONS 91 The locations stopped implementing the program on October 31, 2019 or before, if their site closed at an earlier date. This ending date was put in place in order to allow enough time for documentation to be submitted and reimbursement payments to be made to both vendors and markets. Incentives Earned and Redeemed - From June 2019 to October 2019, $501,468 were distributed in Double Up Food Bucks. $644,301 Double Up Food Bucks were redeemed for fresh vegetables and fruits; a 128% redemption. This redemption percentage is considerably higher than in years past. Part of the increase is due to a greater awareness of the program in the Kansas City grocery stores. The Price Chopper stores implemented a new loyalty system in June 2019 which provided cashiers with screen prompts and provided customers with visual reminders on the screens at the registers. In addition, the redemption rate likely went up during this reporting period because the locations were letting customers know that the deadline for redeeming Double Up Food Bucks for 2019 was October 31, 2019. Customers were more aware, and they wanted to make sure they redeemed their Double Up Food Bucks. The actual amounts earned and redeemed are much higher than the previous years as well. Objective 3. Communicate with up to 400,000 low-income SNAP recipients in Kansas and Missouri to inform them of the incentive program offered by farmers markets and grocery stores. Past experience with incentive programs has made it clear that communication to the SNAP/food assistance participants is key to the success of the program. The following communications strategies were used during this reporting period: Signs: A variety of different types of signs have been created for both farmers markets and grocery stores to let customers know how the program works, where to go at the markets to purchase tokens, what the different kinds of tokens can buy, and which items at the grocery stores are local. Mailings: Nearly 77,000 letters and brochures were sent out in 2019 to SNAP recipient households (reaching over 165,000 people) living in zip codes where Double Up Food Bucks locations are located. The Kansas Department of Children and Family Services and the Missouri Department of Social Services assisted in the effort to get the word out directly to SNAP recipients. In addition, letters and brochures were distributed to community service providers, community centers, educational institutions, safety net clinics, health departments, WIC clinics, workforce development agencies, housing assistance organizations and others to spread awareness about this program in the community. Print Media: For select populations, print advertisement (newspaper advertisements and circular advertisements) was purchased. Ads were placed in Crawford County, Kansas and Allen County, Kansas print media outlets to provide additional promotion for the Double Up Food Bucks program in those counties. Social Media: Facebook ads were used to communicate to the portion of the SNAP beneficiaries who are comfortable using computers or mobile devices. Targeted Facebook ads were purchased to specifically promote the sites in Crawford and Allen counties. In addition, an app called Propel was used. The app uses geocoding data about each of the locations offering Double Up Food Bucks and alerts SNAP recipients on their mobile devices when they are close to a participating location. Objective 4. Establish and maintain administrative support structures to operationalize the collaborative implementing the SNAP incentive program. Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) and the collaborating partners for the Double Up Food Bucks program have created a committee that meets regularly called the Double Up Heartland Collaborative. This group meets almost every month to discuss the status of the program at the various locations throughout Kansas and Missouri. In addition, the group discusses plans for communications and outreach, strategies for streamlining data collection, and reviews findings from the evaluator teams which interview customers at the locations. MARC's Public Affairs Department provides most of the support regarding the design and production of communications materials including signs, print ads, social media ads, posters, brochures, transit ads, etc. Fair Food Network provided the support for the Double Up Heartland website, www.doubleupheartland.org and for the data collection portal where market managers and coordinators enter data. MARC staff provides the administrative oversight for both programmatic and financial data that is submitted by subrecipients working with farmers market managers and grocery stores, and contracted organizations, such as the large chain grocery stores. MARC staff monitors the overall budget and the expenditures on incentives, administration, communications, evaluation, and other costs. Objective 5. Establish and implement an evaluation plan which includes activities to assess the progress of the incentive program at the participating farmers markets and grocery stores. MARC has contracted with the University of Kansas Medical Center's Research Institute to conduct an overall evaluation of the Double Up Heartland incentive program. The evaluation team is led by Dr Cheryl Gibson. She has a team of students who conduct evaluation activities in the Kansas City area. Due to the large geographical scope of the program, Dr Gibson coordinates with two additional teams, one at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas to evaluate the eastern Kansas locations, and the other at St Louis University to evaluate the locations in St Louis, central and southern Missouri. Evaluation activities in this reporting period included environmental scans of selected locations, customer intercept surveys, vendor surveys, and interviews with farmers market managers and grocery store employees. In 2019, 277 SNAP customers and 81 farmers market vendors were surveyed. Additionally, 24 farmers market managers, 12 grocery store cashiers and six grocery store directors were interviewed. A total of 57 environmental scans were conducted at farmers markets and 61 grocery store environmental scans were conducted during this reporting period.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Dominguez, L., Foster,K., Marsh, J., Valentine, H., Gibson, C.A., American Public Health Association Annual Meeting & Expo, "Economic impact of a nutrition incentive program on local farmers and food producers," American Public Health Association, Philadelphia, PA, United States. (November 2019)
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Progress 06/01/18 to 05/31/19
Outputs
Target Audience:The number of possible SNAP recipients served varied during this reporting period due to the changing numbers of locations participating throughout the year. The Kansas Department of Children and Family Services and the Missouri Department of Social Services provided numbers of households receiving SNAP benefits in the zip codes containing one or more Double Up Food Bucks locations during the spring of 2018 and 2019. The breakdown of zip codes, communities, households and people targeted in each year are as follows: Spring 2018 - SNAP Recipients in Zip Codes Served State Zip Codes with Locations Communities with Locations # of SNAP Households in the Zip Codes Spring 2019 Estimated # of People in Zip Codes Receiving SNAP Kansas 27 21 19,210 41,302 Missouri 90 56 118,902 255,639 Total 117 77 138,112 296,941 Spring 2019 - SNAP Recipients in Zip Codes Served State Zip Codes with Locations Communities with Locations # of SNAP Households in the Zip Codes Spring 2019 Estimated # of People in Zip Codes Receiving SNAP Kansas 26 22 18,913 40663 Missouri 45 31 57,931 124,552 Total 71 53 76,844 165,215 In order to reach out to the SNAP recipients living in proximity to locations where the program was being offered, a variety of communications activities were undertaken. These communications activities included a direct mailing to SNAP households in each of the zip codes where the program was being implemented, social media ads, transit ads, radio spots, print ads, brochures, and signs (these activities are described further in the accomplishments section). Community partners such as public health departments, hospitals, WIC clinics, libraries, safety net clinics, food pantries, hospitals, schools, work force development agencies, public housing authorities, community colleges, etc. were provided information about the program. Many of these partners requested copies of the brochures so that they could provide them to their clients/constituents. Changes/Problems:One major change implemented this reporting period was in the grocery store incentive model. In June 2019, SNAP customers in grocery stores could earn Double Up Food Bucks when they purchased ANY fresh vegetables or fruits. They were no longer required to purchase locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables to earn the incentive. The Collaborative still wanted to maintain a focus on locally grown produce in the grocery stores so Collaborative members worked with the grocery stores before the change to make sure that the grocers were still committed to purchasing and selling locally grown produce. The Collaborative members also worked with the grocers to identify a set of measures that the grocers would report quarterly which would describe the locally grown produce activity in the stores. The conversation identified two different categories of data: 1. Data regarding the produce purchased by grocers from local vendors; and 2. Data regarding the locally grown produce purchased by customers from the participating grocers. As the conversation with grocers progressed it became clear that many grocers would have difficulty providing the data in the second category because locally grown produce does not generally have its own tracking number. The Collaborative has worked with the grocers to collect the following data measures each quarter: Volume by either pounds or units of locally grown items purchased. Dollar % of locally grown produce purchased compared to all produce purchased. The number of the different types of locally grown items purchased by the grocer. The number of local vendors purchased from each month. Conversations with the grocers about these measures will continue to explore ways to best collect and present the data so that the impact of locally grown produce in grocery stores can be adequately presented. The Balls Price Chopper stores have agreed to explore the second group of data to determine the feasibility and the amount of burden related to collecting and reporting the following: The dollar sales amount of locally grown produce. The dollar sales amount of non-locally grown produce. The dollar sales amount of locally grown produce purchased with SNAP/EBT. The dollar sales amount of non-locally grown produce purchased with SNAP/EBT. In the Balls Price Chopper stores in the Kansas City metro area, another challenge continued to be the inability of the point-of-sale systems to send certain types of data (i.e., legal tender type) to the loyalty system in real time. At the time of purchase the point-of-sale system doesn't share information about the type of payment with the loyalty system, so the loyalty system does not know when a SNAP customer is using their EBT card to purchase fruits and vegetables. Thus, the loyalty system doesn't readily add the incentive to a customer's account and show the earned incentive on the bottom of the customer's receipt. The incentives earned are added to customer accounts at the end of the day to be used by the shopper on a future shopping trip. Therefore, the customer may not realize that they have earned Double Up Food Bucks until the next time they shop at Price Chopper. A final challenge for both farmers markets and grocery stores in 2018 proved to be the weather. The weather in the spring of 2019 was wet and unusually cold which prevented crops from being planted on time. Many of the early crops either did not get planted or did not do well because of this and thus farmers did not have a product to sell at the markets or to grocery stores until later in the summer. Some markets struggled to get vendors to come to the market and several markets closed early for the season due to a lack of vendors. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Subrecipient partners provided training to farmers market managers regarding the incentive program. The training included information about: data collection, record keeping and reimbursements; and signage and promotion of the program. Partners have also provided technical assistance to farmers markets when they have experienced issues with the EBT machine or other challenges that have affected the DUFB program. Partners continued conversations with management teams from the grocery store chains to discuss elements such as increasing the amount and variety of locally grown produce in their produce departments; DUFB signage in the stores; training for the cashiers, produce department staff and customer service staff members; and the changes being made to their IT systems that could maximize the success of the program. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Quarterly summary reports and an Annual Report for the 2018 calendar year have been created and shared with the local and regional funding organizations, as well as other interested organizations. Partners have had conversations with funders periodically to review the progress of this program. In addition, members of the Double Up Heartland Collaborative have presented the results of the program at meetings with community partners who are involved in food systems work and nutrition education in Missouri and Kansas. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?In the next reporting period, the Double Up Heartland Collaborative will continue to work with farmers markets and grocery stores that have been participating during the last three years and will add several new locations (4 grocery stores and 4 farmers markets). NOTE: some of the existing outlets, several farmers markets and all of the Schnucks grocery stores will not be continuing into the 2019 growing season. Recruitment of new locations has tapered since this is the last year of this grant and funding is not as abundant as it has been for the past two years. A communications plan has been developed for the upcoming report period. Communications efforts will include the same types of activities that were implemented in past years including a mailing that will be sent directly to current SNAP beneficiaries, social media ads, and print ads. Evaluation activities will also continue in a similar manner as in the past two years.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1 and 2. The Double Up Food Bucks Heartland incentive program operates differently at grocery stores and farmers markets. Here's how it worked in 2018 and continues into 2019: Farmers Markets The customer buys SNAP tokens with their EBT card at the market booth that has the EBT machine. These tokens can be used to purchase SNAP-eligible items. The customer receives a matching amount of Double Up Food Bucks tokens (up to $25 per day). Double Up Food Bucks tokens can be used to purchase any fresh vegetables and fruits. The customer shops with their tokens. Grocery Stores (NOTE: The incentive model changed in June 2018. Prior to this, customers were required to purchase locally grown produce to earn DUFB.) The customer buys fresh vegetables and fruits with their EBT card. The amount spent on fresh vegetables and fruits is tracked as earned Double Up Food Bucks on their store rewards or distributed as a DUFB coupon. The next time the customer shops at the store, they will have their earned Bucks to spend on ANY fresh fruits and vegetables. Between June 2018 and May 2019 the number of locations participating varied at different times. The following table shows several snapshots during this reporting period: Location June 2018 December 2018 May 2019 Farmers Markets 69 63 62 Grocery Stores 82 96 28 Total 151 159 90 Changes Over Time Juneto December 2018, several farmers markets closed and a couple discontinued the program. In October Schnucks purchased 19 Shop 'n' Saves and transitioned most of them to Schnucks stores. Octoberto December 2018 Schnucks brought the acquired stores onto the program, introduced a new rewards program which DUFB is connected to, and they continued to implement the new grocery model (any fruit and vegetable earns DUFB = DUFB can be redeemed on any fruit and vegetable). These elements dramatically increased DUFB earned and redeemed In January the amount of DUFB earned in the Schnucks stores went over the amount budgeted for that retailer. They notified customers of a cutoff date for earning. Customers were notified that redemptions would need to occur by February 8th. By this date, redemptions exceeded budgeted amount by $72,000. Schnucks honored those redemptions. A few smaller grocery stores in Eastern Kansas and St Louis joined the program in 2019. The locations are spread throughout the eastern part of Kansas (between Salina, Kansas City and Pittsburg), theKC Metro, central and southern Missouri, and the St Louis area. The locations serve rural, suburban and urban areas. Several the farmers markets and grocery stores are in areas where access to healthy food is challenging. The following table shows the numbers of farmers markets and grocery stores in each region and how the numbers have changed throughout this reporting period. Region Points in Year Farmers Markets Grocery Stores Eastern KS Jun-18 19 2 Dec-18 20 3 Jun-19 18 6 KC Metro Jun-18 20 14 Dec-18 16 14 Jun-19 16 14 West Central Jun-18 6 0 Dec-18 6 0 Jun-19 5 0 Central & Southern MO Jun-18 15 2 Dec-18 14 2 Jun-19 15 2 St Louis Metro Jun-18 9 64 Dec-18 7 77 Jun-19 8 6 Totals Jun-18 69 82 Dec-18 63 96 Jun-19 62 28 Incentives Earned and Redeemed - From June 2018 to May 2019, approximately $2,166,948 were earned/distributed in DUFB. Of those, approximately $1,343,467 DUFB were redeemed for fresh vegetables and fruits; a 62% redemption which is lower than the 2017-2018 year (76% redemption rate) and the 2016-2017 year (65% redemption rate). The actual amounts earned and redeemed are dramatically higher than the previous years. Objective 3. Past experience with incentive programs has made it clear that communication to SNAP/food assistance participants is key to the success of the program. The following communications strategies were used during this period: Signs: A variety of signs have been created for farmers markets and grocery stores to let customers know how the program works. Mailings: Over 138,000 letters and brochures were sent out in 2018 to SNAP households (reaching nearly 297,000 people) in zip codes where DUFB outlets are located. The KS Department of Children and Family Services and the MO Department of Social Services assisted in the effort to get the word out directly to SNAP recipients. In addition, letters and brochures were sent to community service providers, community centers, educational institutions, safety net clinics, health departments, WIC clinics, workforce development agencies, housing assistance organizations and others to spread awareness about this program in the community. Print Media: For select populations, such as the Spanish-speaking community in Kansas City, print advertisement was purchased. Ads were also placed in Pittsburg, Kansas print media outlets to provide additional promotion to theDUFB program at three sites in that area. Social Media: Targeted Facebook ads were used to communicate to the portion of the SNAP beneficiaries who are comfortable using computers or mobile devices. In addition, an app called Propel was used in both Kansas andMissouri. The app uses geocoding data about each of the locations offeringDUFB and alerts SNAP recipients on their mobile devices when they are in close proximity to a participating location. Bus Ads, etc.: In Kansas City, St Louis and Lawrence, Kansas, transit ads were purchased. The ads in the Kansas City area ran on the outside of the buses throughout the metro. The ads in St Louis were placed on both the outside of buses and at transit stops. The ads in Lawrence, Kansas were inside the buses above the seating areas. Objective 4. Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) and the collaborating partners for the DUFB program have created a committee that meets regularly called the Double Up Heartland Collaborative. This group meets almost every month to discuss the status of the program throughout Kansas and Missouri. In addition, the group discusses communications and outreach, strategies for streamlining data collection, and reviews findings from the evaluator teams. MARC's Public Affairs Department provides the majority of the support regarding the design and production of communications materials including signs, print ads, social media ads, posters, brochures, transit ads, etc. Fair Food Network provides the support for the website, www.doubleupheartland.org and for the data collection portal where market managers and coordinators enter data. MARC staff provides the administrative oversight for both programmatic and financial data that is submitted by subrecipients working with farmers market managers and grocery stores and also contracted organizations, such as the large chain grocery stores. MARC staff monitors the overall budget and the expenditures on incentives, administration, communications, evaluation, and other costs. Objective 5. MARC has contracted with the University of Kansas Medical Center's Research Institute to conduct an overall evaluation of the Double Up Heartland incentive program. The evaluation team is led by Dr Cheryl Gibson. She has a team of students who conduct evaluation activities in the Kansas City area. Due to the large geographical scope of the program, Dr Gibson coordinates with two additional teams, one at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas to evaluate the eastern Kansas locations, and the other at St Louis University to evaluate the locations in St Louis, central and southern Missouri. Evaluation activities in this reporting period included environmental scans of selected locations, customer intercept surveys, vendor surveys, market manager surveys and grocery store directors. In 2018, 152 SNAP customers were interviewed, 16 farmers market vendors, 2 farmers market managers, 12 grocery store cashier and six grocery store directors were surveyed/interviewed. In addition, 44 environmental scans were conducted at farmers markets and 58 grocery store environmental scans were conducted during this reporting period.
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Progress 06/01/17 to 05/31/18
Outputs
Target Audience:By June 2017, the Double Up Food Bucks Heartland incentive program was operating in 144 locations (78 grocery stores and 66 farmers markets) in 136 zip codes and 83 different communities/cities. These locations are spread throughout the eastern part of Kansas (between Salina, Kansas City and Pittsburg), the Kansas City Metro area, central and southern Missouri, and the St Louis metropolitan area. The locations serve rural, suburban and urban areas. A number of the farmers markets and grocery stores are located in areas where access to healthy food is challenging. The Kansas Department of Children and Family Services and the Missouri Department of Social Services reported that, in the spring of 2017, 148,582 households (representing an estimated 319,451 persons) were benefiting from SNAP in the 136 zip codes with DUFB locations. According to the Food Research and Action Center, in FY2017, the Average Monthly Participation in the SNAP program in Kansas was 233,778 and in Missouri it was 758,918 (total = 992,696 persons). Given those numbers, the Double Up Food Bucks Heartland program had the potential of reaching approximately 32% of the SNAP recipients in Kansas and Missouri. The breakdown of zip codes, communities and people targeted by state is as follows: State Zip Codes with Locations Communities with Locations # of SNAP Households in the Zip Codes Spring 2017 Estimated # of People in Zip Codes Receiving SNAP Kansas 37 26 24,482 52,636 Missouri 99 57 124,100 266,815 Total 136 83 148,582 319,451 In order to reach out to the SNAP recipients living in proximity to locations where the program was being offered, a variety of communications activities were undertaken. These communications activities included a direct mailing to SNAP households in each of the zip codes where the program was being implemented, social media ads, transit ads, radio spots, print ads, brochures, and signs (these activities are described further in the accomplishments section). Community partners such as public health departments, WIC clinics, libraries, safety net clinics, food pantries, hospitals, schools, work force development agencies, public housing authorities, community colleges, etc. were provided information about the program. Many of these partners requested copies of the brochures so that they could provide them to their clients/constituents. Changes/Problems:Although the Double Up Food Bucks program saw improvement in most locations during 2017, markets and grocery stores still experienced some challenges that likely curbed the success of the program. The main challenge experienced by some of the farmers markets was related to EBT machines malfunctioning. Possible limiting factors for the program in the Missouri Schnucks stores in 2017 included: Limited amounts and varieties of locally grown produce available in the stores. Signage was not consistently placed in all of the participating stores so that in some stores, customers had a difficult time knowing which items were eligible. Training of store personnel sometimes did not keep up with the turnover. Their IT system was programmed so that Double Up Food Bucks earned would be automatically redeemed on the next shopping trip if the customer purchased fresh fruits and vegetables - locally grown or non-locally grown. In the height of the locally grown season, if a customer purchased $10 of locally grown tomatoes and cabbage on one day and came back later in the week to buy $10 more locally grown vegetables and fruits, their Double Up Food Bucks from the first shopping trip would automatically be redeemed and they would not earn on locally grown produce purchased the second shopping trip.The system did not let the customer decide when they wanted to earn and redeem their Double Up Food Bucks. In the Balls Price Chopper stores in the Kansas City metro area, the challenge continued to be the inability of the point-of-sale systems to send certain types of data (i.e., legal tender type) to the loyalty system in more or less real time. At the time of purchase the point-of-sale system didn't share information about the type of payment with the loyalty system, so that loyalty system did not know when a SNAP customer is using their EBT card to purchase fruits and vegetables. Thus, the loyalty system didn't know that Double Up Food Bucks should be added to a customer's account. The customer may not realize that they have earned Double Up Food Bucks until the next time they shop at Price Chopper, because their earned DUFB will not show up on the receipt of the earning transaction. In general, feedback from customers indicated that some customers were finding it difficult to know which items in the grocery stores were locally grown and therefore, would be eligible to earn the incentive. If the signage in the stores was not clearly marking items as locally grown or if there were very few items in the produce department that were locally grown, as in the case of the Schnucks stores, then customers were confused. Some customers also were not familiar with the term "local" or "locally grown" or with the types of fresh fruits and vegetables that are likely to be grown regionally in Missouri and Kansas. Due to the challenges described in the larger grocery stores, particularly the low amounts of locally grown produce in the Schnucks stores and the overall confusion that customers were experiencing in trying to identify the eligible items, the Double Up Heartland Collaborative has decided to change the model of the grocery store portion of the incentive program. Going forward, the grocery store model will allow customers to earn Double Up Food Bucks when they purchase any fresh vegetables and fruits with their SNAP EBT card. They will be allowed to use their earned Double Up Food Bucks to purchase more fresh fruits and vegetables. The Double Up Food Bucks will be distributed to customers still through a loyalty card system or an online store account. The focus on providing greater access to locally grown vegetables and fruits will be placed on the participating grocery stores. The Double Up Heartland Collaborative is working with the grocery store chains to determine the amount of locally grown produce that they purchased in 2017. That level will be considered the baseline level. The Collaborative will then work with the grocery stores to determine a realistic goal for increasing the locally grown produce offered in their stores in the coming year(s). The grocery stores will also increase their signage of locally grown items in general so that all customers are more aware of locally grown produce. The signage will continue to include the DUFB logo so SNAP beneficiaries will be encouraged to purchase the locally grown items. Finally, the Collaborative partners will continue to work with the grocery stores to improve their IT systems when there seems to be opportunity to do so. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Subrecipient partners provided training to farmers market managers regarding the incentive program. The training included information about: data collection, record keeping and reimbursements; and signage and promotion of the program. Partners have also provided technical assistance to farmers markets when they have experienced issues with the EBT machine or other challenges that have affected the DUFB program. Partners met with management teams from the two grocery store chains to discuss elements such as increasing the amount and variety of locally grown produce in their produce departments; DUFB signage in the stores; training for the cashiers, produce department staff and customer service staff members; and the changes being made to their IT systems that could maximize the success of the program. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Two summary reports (one which covered 2016 and the first quarter of 2017 and another that covered 2017) have been created and shared with the local and regional funding organizations, as well as other interested organizations. On July 19, 2017, the Kansas City area funders gathered to hear a presentation about the successes and challenges of the Double Up program. Partners also met with an eastern Kansas funder, the Sunflower Foundation, in July to share the summary information with them. On August 19, an event was held in St Louis for the funders there. In addition, members of the Double Up Heartland Collaborative have presented the results of the program at meetings with community partners who are involved in food systems work and nutrition education in Missouri and Kansas. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?In the next reporting period, the Double Up Heartland Collaborative is going to be working with thirteen confirmed new locations (both farmers markets and small grocery stores/kiosks) which will increase the overall number of locations to 150 outlets. NOTE: some of the existing outlets, primarily farmers markets, will not be continuing in 2018. In addition, collaborative partners have been in ongoing conversations with other locations, which are currently in the process of getting the various elements needed for program implementation in place. A communications plan has been developed for the upcoming report period. Communications efforts will include the same types of activities that were implemented in 2017 including a mailing that will be sent directly to current SNAP beneficiaries, social media ads, print ads, and transit ads. In 2017, the Propel app was utilized to communicate to SNAP beneficiaries in Missouri when they were near a DUFB location. This year, the Propel app will reach SNAP beneficiaries throughout our entire service area. Evaluation activities will also continue in a similar manner as in the past two years. This year the evaluator teams will be adding interviews with grocery stores managers to the other interviews they have conducted in the past.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Goal: The goal of this project is to increase the purchase of fresh produce by low-income Kansas and Missouri consumers participating in SNAP by providing incentives at the point of sale. Objective 1. Expand the number of farmers markets from 23 to 68 in Kansas and Missouri which offer a SNAP incentive program to increase the amount of fruits and vegetables purchased. Objective 2. Expand the number of grocery stores from five to 117 in Kansas and Missouri which offer a SNAP incentive program to increase the amount of fruits and vegetables purchased. How it Worked in 2017 The Double Up Food Bucks Heartland incentive program operates differently at grocery stores and farmers markets. Here's how it worked at both types of locations in 2017: Farmers Markets The customer buys SNAP tokens with their EBT card at the market booth that has the EBT machine. The SNAP tokens can be used to purchase any SNAP-eligible item. The customer receives a matching amount of Double Up Food Bucks tokens (up to $25 per day). Double Up Food Bucks tokens can be used to purchase any fresh vegetables and fruits. The customer shops with their tokens. Grocery Stores In the produce department, the customer looks for the LOCALLY grown, fresh vegetables and fruits. When the customer purchases those items with their EBT card, the amount that they spend on those items is tracked as earned Double Up Food Bucks on their store rewards or online coupon account. The next time the customer shops at the store, they will have the amount of their earned Bucks to spend on ANY fresh fruits and vegetables. In 2017, the Double Up Food Bucks program grew from 72 locations to 144 locations in communities from Salina, Kansas, to St. Louis, Missouri, from Pittsburg, Kansas, to St Joseph, Missouri. The following table shows the breakdown of grocery stores and farmers markets by geographical region Type of Location Kansas City Metro West Central Missouri Eastern Kansas St. Louis Central/ Southern Missouri Total Farmers Markets 21 6 20 6 13 66 Grocery Stores 15 * NA 1 62 ** NA 78 *All 15 stores in the KC metro area were large grocery stores. **The grocery store type breakdown in the St Louis area was as follows: 57 large grocery stores, 2 small independent stores, 1 mobile market, 2 farm stands operating using the grocery store model. Incentives Earned and Redeemed - From June 2017 to May 2018, at the various locations that have implemented the Double Up Food Bucks Heartland incentive program, approximately $369,000 were distributed in Double Up Food Bucks. Of those incentives earned, approximately $282,000 Double Up Food Bucks were redeemed for fresh vegetables and fruits; over a 76% redemption rate, an increase from 65% in 2016-2017. Objective 3. Communicate with up to 400,000 low-income SNAP recipients in Kansas and Missouri to inform them of the incentive program offered by farmers markets and grocery stores. Past experience with incentive programs has made it clear that communication to the SNAP/food assistance participants is key to the success of the program. The following communications strategies were used during this reporting period: Signs: A variety of different types of signs have been created for both farmers markets and grocery stores to let customers know how the program works, where to go at the markets to purchase tokens, what the different kinds of tokens can buy, and which items at the grocery stores are local. Mailings: Nearly 150,000 letters and brochures were sent out to SNAP recipient households (reaching approximately 320,000 people) living in zip codes where Double Up Food Bucks locations are located. The Kansas Department of Children and Family Services and the Missouri Department of Social Services assisted in the effort to get the word out directly to SNAP recipients. In addition, letters and brochures were sent to community service providers, community centers, educational institutions, safety net clinics, health departments, WIC clinics, workforce development agencies, housing assistance organizations and others to spread awareness about this program in the community. Print Media: For select populations, such as the Spanish-speaking community in Kansas City, print advertisement was purchased. Ads were also placed in Pittsburg, Kansas print media outlets to provide additional promotion to the Double Up Food Bucks program at Ron's Grocery Store. Social Media: Targeted Facebook ads were used to communicate to the portion of the SNAP beneficiaries who are comfortable using computers or mobile devices. In addition, an app called Propel was used in Missouri. The app uses geocoding data about each of the locations offering Double Up Food Bucks and alerts SNAP recipients on their mobile devices when they are in close proximity to a participating location. Billboards, Bus Ads, etc.: In both Kansas City and St Louis, transit ads were purchased. The ads in the Kansas City area ran on the outside of the buses throughout the metro. The ads in St Louis were placed on both the outside of buses and at transit stops. Objective 4. Establish and maintain administrative support structures to operationalize the collaborative implementing the SNAP incentive program. Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) and the collaborating partners for the Double Up Food Bucks program have created a committee that meets regularly called the Double Up Heartland Collaborative. This group meets almost every month to discuss the status of the program at the various locations throughout Kansas and Missouri. In addition, the group discusses plans for communications and outreach, strategies for streamlining data collection, and reviews findings from the evaluator teams which interview customers at the locations. MARC's Public Affairs Department provides the majority of the support regarding the design and production of communications materials including signs, print ads, social media ads, posters, brochures, transit ads, etc. Fair Food Network provides the support for the Double Up Heartland website, www.doubleupheartland.org. MARC staff provides the administrative oversight for both programmatic and financial data that is submitted by subrecipients working with farmers market managers and grocery stores and also contracted organizations, such as the large chain grocery stores. MARC staff monitors the overall budget and the expenditures on incentives, administration, communications, evaluation, and other costs. Objective 5. Establish and implement an evaluation plan which includes activities to assess the progress of the incentive program at the participating farmers markets and grocery stores. MARC has contracted with the University of Kansas Medical Center's Research Institute to conduct an overall evaluation of the Double Up Heartland incentive program. The evaluation team is headed up by Dr Cheryl Gibson. She has a team of students who conduct evaluation activities in the Kansas City area. Due to the large geographical scope of the program, Dr Gibson coordinates with two additional teams, one at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas to evaluate the eastern Kansas locations, and the other at St Louis University to evaluate the locations in St Louis and southern Missouri. Evaluation activities in this reporting period included environmental scans of selected locations, customer intercept surveys, vendor surveys and market manager surveys. In 2017, 143 SNAP customers were interviewed, 27 farmers market vendors were surveyed, and 7 farmers market managers were surveyed. In addition, 76 environmental scans were conducted at farmers markets and 57 grocery store environmental scans were conducted during this reporting period.
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Progress 06/01/16 to 05/31/17
Outputs
Target Audience:In May 2016, an estimated 473,488 households (1,033,811 individuals)in Kansas and Missouri were receiving SNAP benefits. The Double Up Food Bucks Heartland Program started out in June 2016 working with 72 locations (26 grocery stores and 46 farmers markets) in 50 different zip codes to assist them in implementing the Double Up Food Bucks incentive program. These locations were spread throughout 33 different cities in eastern Kansas, the Kansas City metro region, west central Missouri, and the St Louis metropolitan area. The locations serve rural, suburban and urban populations. Some of them are located in areas where access to healthy food is very challenging. The KansasDepartment of Children and Family Services and the Missouri Department of Social Services reported that 59,882 SNAP households (representing about 131,608 individuals) were in the zip codes where the 72 outlets are located. Those households represented about 13% of the total SNAP households in the two states. The SNAP households in the designated zip codes received a direct-to-consumer mailing meant to increase their awareness of the DUFB program and encourage them to use the program. SNAP participants in communities surrounding the designated zip codes were also targeted using fliers distributed throughout each community, social media, and print media sources known for reaching certain populations such as Spanish speaking audiences. The fliers were translated into Spanish and distributed to locations with higher numbers of Hispanic consumers as well as to community organizations that work closely with Hispanic populations. Community partners such as safety net clinics, Public Health Departments, WIC clinics, food pantries, hospitals, schools/preschools/community colleges, libraries, senior centers, work force development agencies, public housing facilities, and others were asked to help get the word out about this program. By the end of 2016, 64 locations were implementing the program. In Quarter 1 and 2, the program continued working with the 2016 locations and began preparing to bring as many as 120 new locations on board for 2017 (117 grocery stores and 67 farmers markets). These outlets would be located in 136 different zip codes in 83 different communities from Salina, Kansas to St. Louis, Missouri. Preparations were made during the first two quarters to communicate with 148,482 SNAP households (representing an estimated 319,451 people) in the zip codes where the expected outlets are located. By the end of May, 73 of the outlets for 2017 were open and operating the program. Changes/Problems:The grocery chains participating in the program experienced significant technical difficulties that impeded their ability to fully implement the program in the first year. The Price Chopper stores have gone through a series of IT updates with their Point of Sale systems and also their loyalty card system. Price Chopper Enterprises consists of four family run grocery store chains (Balls, Cosentinos, McKeevers and Queens) that have stores operating under the Price Chopper banner. The Balls Price Chopper stores have been implementing the Double Up program since a 2015 pilot program in which they tested the program in 5 of their stores. MARC contracted with Balls Price Chopper for year 1 to operate the program in 14 stores. In 2016, the Balls PC's Point of Sales system changed and some of the functions that had contributed to the success of the pilot project were lost, including the ability for the system to identify tinder type, the ability for the system to apply Double Up Bucks earned and redeemed in real time, the ability to report to the customer what their real time balance is, and the ability for a cashier to know if a customer has earned Double Up Food Bucks at the time of the sale (before the receipt is generated). The other Price Chopper groups apparently have different IT systems and were unable to implement the program until a new loyalty system is in place, which we expect to happen by fall 2017. We have had ongoing communication with the two grocery chains - Price Chopper and Schnucks - about being ready as we launch year 2 in late May/early June. Schnucks was able to successfully implement their store technology systems and held a formal kickoff of the program in their stores in June 2017. We have adjusted our promotional materials and are working through social media and community partners to explain the delay at some of the Price Chopper grocery stores. In 2016, the Schnucks grocery stores were planning on using a paper coupon system to implement the Double Up Food Bucks program in five of their stores. They were unable to get that system to successfully print out a coupon in response to the purchase of locally grown vegetables and fruits. During the fall and winter of 2016-2017, the decision was made at Schnucks to try a different approach. Starting in June 2017 they will be using a tracking system that is incorporated into their online coupon or Schnupon system. The system was tested in May 2017 and is functional. Currently with their system, a customer who earns Double Up Food Bucks for buying fresh fruits and vegetables does not have the choice regarding when they can redeem their earned Bucks. They automatically will have their Bucks deducted to cover their next purchase of fresh fruits and vegetables. Schnucks will be working to change this limitation for 2017. In addition, Schnucks will be looking to expand the amount and varieties of locally grown produce that are available in their stores in the coming year. Limited availability of locally grown produce has been a frustration for some of their customers. At the current time no major changes have been made in the way that the Collaborative is implementing the program. We are expanding the role of Fair Food Network to provide support to the eastern Kansas portion of our target area in addition to serving St. Louis and southern Missouri. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Training and Technical Assistance - Subrecipient partners provided training to farmers market managers regarding the incentive program. The training included information about: the transition to a two token system (from a SNAP to SNAP incentive to a SNAP to Vegetables and Fruits incentive); data collection, record keeping and reimbursements; and signage and promotion of the program. Partners have also provided technical assistance to farmers markets when they have experienced issues with the EBT machine or other challenges that have affected the DUFB program. Partners met with management teams from the two grocery store chains to outline topics to include in either in person or video-taped training for their employees including produce department workers, cashiers, and customer service/store directors. MARC and its evaluator provided training to the subrecipients on collecting data for the evaluation and on documenting costs and in-kind services. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The first year results of Double Up Food Bucks Heartland have primarily been communicated to the local and regional funders who have provided matching funding to this USDA grant. On July 19, 2017, the Kansas City area funders gathered to hear a presentation about the successes and challenges of the Double Up program. Partners also met with an eastern Kansas funder, the Sunflower Foundation, in July to share the summary information with them. On August 19, an event was held in St Louis for the funders there. That event included a tour of one of the Schnucks stores and also the Ferguson Farmers Market. MARC issues a bi-monthly printed newsletter and has reported on the program and its progress. The newsletter is mailed to over 4,000 area elected and other city/county officials, nonprofit executives and others. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The Double Up Food Bucks Collaborative plans to continue working with locations that have had challenges implementing the incentive program to either bring them on board or improve the process so that the program is easier to use and benefits more customers. The Collaborative is also in the process of recruiting other locations that have not previously been part of the conversation. We will continue updating and improving our promotion strategies and working with our community partners to get the word out about the program. Training and evaluation activities will also continue in the next reporting period. In addition, two of the subrecipients who work with farmers markets are testing a couple different IT solutions for data gathering. The Collaborative continues to engage funders and secure additional resources to support the program.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Six organizations came together as core partners to form the Double Up Heartland Collaborative. Along with the support and cooperation of seven other critical partners, 28 local/regional funders, and the funding from the USDA's FINI program the partners began the process of implementing and promoting the Double Up Food Bucks program at 72 locations (26 grocery stores and 46 farmers markets) in 33 different communities in Kansas and Missouri. Communications - One of the first tasks the Collaborative undertook was to implement a variety of different communication strategies to get the word out to SNAP recipients about the Double Up Food Bucks incentive program. These strategies included: Brochures. Tri-fold brochures and half-page fliers were developed with information about how the program works at both the grocery stores and farmers markets. Different versions were created for the different geographic regions served by the program (Eastern Kansas, Kansas City Metro area, West Central Missouri, Central and Southern Missouri, and Saint Louis Metro area). Signs. A variety of different types of signs were created for both farmers markets and grocery stores to let SNAP customers know how the program works, where to go at the farmers markets to purchase tokens, which items the different tokens can buy, and which items are locally grown at the grocery store. Mailings. A program brochure accompanied by an explanatory letter was sent to SNAP recipients living in zip codes where Double Up Food Buck outlets are located. The Kansas Department of Children and Family Services and the Missouri Department of Social Services assisted in this effort by mailing the letters out directly to the SNAP recipients enrolled at the time of the mailing. In June 2016, the mailing was sent to almost 60,000 households. In May 2017, the Collaborative was gearing up for another mailing that would go out to almost 149,000 households. In addition, letters and brochures were sent to over 1,000 community partner organizations in the communities where the program is being offered. The different types of community organizations included health departments, WIC clinics, work force development agencies, schools, safety net clinics, public housing facilities, libraries, community centers, hospitals and senior centers. Organizations can request hard copies of the brochures to hand out to the people they work with. In addition, digital versions of the brochures and fliers are available on line for any organization who would like to print them out themselves or who would like to include the information in an e-newsletter or other digital communication. Print Media. For select populations, such as the Spanish-speaking community in Kansas City, print advertisements were purchased Social Media. Targeted Facebook ads were used to communicate to SNAP beneficiaries using social media. In addition, an app called Propel was used in Missouri. The app used geocoding data to alert SNAP recipients to the availability of the Double Up program when they are in proximity to a participating location. The program also has a website, www.DoubleUpHeartland.org, which has been an important tool for relaying the most current information. Incentives Earned and Redeemed - From June 2016 to May 2017, at the various locations that have implemented the Double Up Food Bucks Heartland incentive program, approximately $238,000 of incentives were earned/distributed through the Double Up Food Bucks. Of those incentives earned, approximately $154,000 in Double Up Food Bucks were redeemed for fresh vegetables and fruits, almost a 65% redemption percentage. Program partners have been successful in expanding the number of outlets offering the program during this time period from 64 locations to 73 locations, with the expectation that the number of participating locations during 2017 will grow to around 180. Evaluation - MARC has contracted with the University of Kansas Medical Center to conduct an overall evaluation of the Double Up Heartland incentive program. The evaluation team is headed up by Dr Cheryl Gibson. She has a team of students who conduct the evaluation activities in the Kansas City area. Due to the large geographical scope of the program, Dr Gibson coordinates with two additional teams, one at the University of Kansas in Lawrence to evaluate the eastern Kansas locations, and the other at St Louis University to evaluate the locations in St Louis and southern Missouri. Evaluation activities in 2016 included customer intercept surveys, vendor surveys and market/grocery store manager surveys. Evaluation activities with customers in grocery stores were postponed due to the technical difficulties the grocery stores were experiencing during the 2016 season. In 2016, 106 SNAP customers were interviewed, 99 farmers market vendors were surveyed, and 19 farmers market managers and grocery store managers were surveyed.
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