Progress 06/01/17 to 12/31/21
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience reached during this reporting period includes low-income residents in the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania (Northampton and Lehigh counties). Specifically, our efforts focused on residents in Low-Income/Low-Access census tracts: 42077001407 & 42077002100 (Allentown, PA); 42095010500, 42095011100, 42095010800 (Bethlehem, PA); and 42095014200, 42095014700 (Easton, PA). Many other outlets participating in our incentives programs were also located in proximity to LI/LA census tracts. Changes/Problems:Although our initial goal was to rebrand the program in 2017, by the time FINI awards were announced, the season was already underway. We decided to re-evaluate the need for a program re-branding strategy and did decide to go ahead with rebranding in 2018. Several outlets were affected during 2018 by the MarketLink debacle, which caused much confusion for outlets and consumers, alike. The corner store pilot had its own unique set of challenges, that delayed or impacted programing, including: • Store Owner Turnover: Sale of the corners stores themselves led to program delays, requiring repeated re-enrollment of the same stores as new owners take over. • Supply/Demand: Corner store purchasing could eventually represent a boon for local farmers looking to break into the wholesale market; however, many small GLV farmers are not focusing on a wholesale model. • Infrastructure: Although Kellyn is a mission-driven organization with the goal of improving access to healthy foods in underserved areas, efforts to make distribution economically viable are needed. Obviously, one of the biggest challenges we faced was the COVID-19 pandemic. Outlets were hit with many unexpected costs related to maintaining safe environments for shoppers and staff. Several outlets closed for a time or remain closed because of the pandemic. No outlets were able to offer online payment/incentives for SNAP customers, and outreach efforts were affected during the early days of stay-at-home orders. In the pandemic's early days, growers saw a tremendous increase in their direct market sales and may not have the kind of product availability they originally expected. Staffing at participating outlets also became a huge challenge, with some outlets lacking enough employees to effectively manage incentives and provide outreach. Across all sectors, there has been tremendous employee turnover, which required additional outreach and training for program partners. Although this gave us a new opportunity to spread the word about the program, it has also created additional work to onboard new stakeholders and make sure they understood how the program worked, where people could use incentives, etc. Remote work had a negative effect on our ability to develop deep, personal relationships with new stakeholders; however, there was widespread enthusiasm for this program, particularly at a time when so many Lehigh Valley residents were facing new or worsening food insecurity resulting from the pandemic and related economic consequences. Working remotely changed our outreach strategy, but based on the increases we saw in benefit use during the pandemic, we are confident that our decisions moved the program in the right direction.? What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results of each year's incentives were posted on our website. We also discussed program results broadly with stakeholders and funders. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1: We developed a new program name and logo and launched a new website during the course of the grant period. The program name changed from Double SNAP -- which was confusing to people who did not understand what SNAP was -- to Lehigh Valley Fresh Food Bucks. The new program name includes a monetary signifier and is similar to other program names around the country. We successfully launched our program rebranding effort and developed new branded materials. Our program website was viewed 13,616 times (9,893 unique visitors), with most people visiting the locations page or seeking information about how the program works. The website was also translated to Spanish. We created a series of new, branded signs for participating outlets, as well as price cards, stickers for coolers at retail outlets, and signage for store shelving to help people locate fresh, locally grown items. This branding effort has made it easier to communicate with both program participants and outreach partners, as evidenced by the increasing use of the program. The success of our rebranding and programming has helped us raise funding to sustain programming beyond the grant period. Objective 2: We expanded SNAP incentives to a number of Lehigh County outlets during the grant period, starting in 2017 when we held an FNS signup day to encourage farmers at existing farmers markets and farm stands to enroll in the program. We signed up 8 farmers to be new participants in the program. Although there was a significant delay in acquiring equipment to process SNAP/EBT, farmers eventually increased access to fresh produce through the program in the following census tracts designated as low-income/low-access areas in Lehigh County: • LI/LA at 1 and 10 miles: Allentown tract 42077001401, Slatington tract 42077005100 • LI/LA at 1/2 and 10 miles: Allentown tracts 42077009700, 42077002100; and tract 42077009400 in Bethlehem, which abuts a farmers markets participating in the SNAP incentives program. We worked with corner stores, mobile markets, producer-only farmers markets, retail farm markets and other retail outlets to increase access to the program in the county. Participating outlets were located at Radish Republic, a retail outlet in Downtown Allentown; Hersh's Grocery, a corner store 17th & Union Sts.; the Rodale Institute Mobile Market, which set up at the 15th Street YMCA, as well as the 17th Street Hospital; and the Kellyn Foundation's Eat Real Food Mobile Market, which set up at Union Terrace Elementary School, Sheridan Elementary School, and Pinebrook Family Answers. Together, the sites provided fresh food access to people living in 4 census tracts designated by USDA as low-income/lowaccess, where residents live ½ mile or more from the nearest grocery store. There are 11 census tracts in Allentown that have LI/LA designation by USDA (2015). Although one participating corner store opted out of the program in 2020 (due to staffing issues) and another corner store was closed for a period of time early in the pandemic, total incentives redeemed at corner stores only declined by 9%. Incentives redeemed at mobile markets in Allentown increased by 318%. Although dramatic change was to be expected with the Kellyn Foundation operating its mobile market in Allentown for the first year, FFB redemption at the Rodale Institute's mobile market jumped significantly in 2020 by 285%. Incentives at a participating Lehigh County retail farm market increased by 178% from 2019 to 2020, with a 175% increase in transactions, indicating that the program has taken hold in the county. In 2021, the volume of program participation continued to grow with 1,079 Lehigh County transactions and $9,352 in incentives redeemed (increases of 12% and 11%, respectively, over 2020). By the end of the program period, incentives at Lehigh County outlets accounted for about a quarter of program use. Objective 3: From 2017 to 2021, we saw program transactions increase by 60%, with a total of 4,322 transactions in 2021. Incentives redeemed over the course of the program period increased by 73% to $31,602 in 2021 and we saw steady growth of the amount of SNAP incentives utilized per transaction. Our last year of the project saw an average of $8.19 of incentives used per transaction, compared with an average of $7.56 in 2017. Year-over-year increases were on target in all years but 2019 (2017: 151% increase in redeemed incentives over the prior year's pilot program; 2018: 33% increase; 2019: -10% decrease; 2020: 21% increase; 2017: 17% increase). In 2021, we also saw a significant increase (79%) in SNAP use at the outlets compared to the previous year, mainly driven by farmers market and other direct market sales. This data reflects how the local food system served as a crucial resource to low-income individuals during the pandemic. Objective 4: : During the project, we continuously researched issues and data related to the local food system, low-access areas and strategies for filling gaps. We established an advisory board for the incentives program that includes representatives from two local health systems (one of which coordinates Healthy Corner Store programming in the region), a non-profit organization that operates a mobile market, and the local United Way chapter. We focused on access opportunities in low-income urban areas by recruiting corner stores to participate in the Fresh Food Bucks program. We also worked with a variety of community partners to provide outreach to low-income Lehigh Valley residents. The COVID-19 pandemic led to challenges in expanding program sites, although expansion of locations did occur via the mobile markets. The pandemic also led to the closure of several farmers markets, and several corner stores lso faced operational challenges due to the pandemic. LI/LA census tracts served are detailed above. Objective 5: We launched the corner store pilot in three stores in 2017, one each in Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton. Each location was designated LI/LA at 1 or 1/2 in 10 miles by USDA. The store owners were engaged through our relationship with the Healthy Corner Store initiative, and the Kellyn Foundation, a local non-profit, served as the wholesale purchaser and distributor of local foods to the store. We matched incentives 1:1. Customers could purchase any SNAP eligible item to trigger the incentives, which could only be used to purchase locally grown, fresh fruits and vegetables. In total, we worked with 10 corner stores over the course of the grant period; however, store ownership changes, staff language barriers and the pandemic led to challenges in our corner store programming. By 2021, SNAP incentive transactions at corner stores increased by 45% over 2017 and incentives redeemed increased by 55% in that same period to $8,722. Corner stores accounted for 28% of SNAP incentive redemptions in 2021.
Publications
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Progress 06/01/20 to 05/31/21
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience reached during this reporting period includes low-income residents in the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania (Northampton and Lehigh counties). Specifically, our efforts focused on residents in Low-Income/Low-Access census tracts: 42077001407 & 42077002100 (Allentown, PA); 42095010500, 42095011100, 42095010800 (Bethlehem, PA); and 42095014200, 42095014700 (Easton, PA). Many other outlets participating in our incentives programs were also located in proximity to LI/LA census tracts. Changes/Problems:The COVID-19 pandemic continues to present challenges -- as well as opportunities. Staffing at participating outlets has become a huge challenge, with some outlets now lacking enough employees to effectively manage incentives and provide outreach. Across all sectors, there has been tremendous employee turnover, which has required additional outreach and trainings for program partners. Although this gives us a new opportunity to spread the word about the program, it has also created additional work to onboard new stakeholders and make sure they understand how the program works, where people can use incentives, etc. Remote work has also had a negative effect on our ability to develop deep, personal relationships with new stakeholders; however, there is widespread enthusiam for this program, particularly at a time when so many Lehigh Valley residents are facing new or worsening food insecurity resulting from the pandemic and related economic consequences. Working remotely has changed our outreach strategy as well, but based on the increases we have seen in benefit use during the pandemic and currently, we are confident that our decisions have moved the program in the right direction. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Summary results of the 2020 season have been published online on our website, as well as shared with community stakeholders and funders. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Objective 1: We will continue outreach efforts and streamline communication with stakeholders via a month email newsletter that provides program information, social media graphics, and other ready-to-use materials. We will also continue printing and distributing outreach materials to grant partners and host trainings for outreach partners to effectively communicate program goals and objectives. Objective 2: We will continue working with outlets in Lehigh County to increase program participation by both outlets and consumers. Our streamlined outreach strategy will ensure eligible participants have access to outreach materials and know where to find relevant program information. Objective 3/4: With the grant coming to a close during the next reporting period, we will focus on increasing incentive use at existing outlets and will not be recruiting new outlets to participate. However, we are looking toward expanding the program to independent grocery stores in 2022 and have begun conversations with store owners in key census tracts. We are also continuing work to build local infrastructure that would allow for more efficient aggregation and distribution of locally grown wholesale produce. Objective 5: We will continue working with corners stores participating in the program, but will not be recruiting new stores beyond the end of the 2021 growing season. Our efforts in the next period will focus on increasingcustomer use of incentives at corner stores and increasingthe number of repeat customers shopping at the stores. Local food system infrastructure improvements are key to these efforts.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1: This objective has been completed and is detailed in previous progress reports. We continue to market the Fresh Food Bucks program effectively with materials developed throughout the grant period. This branding effort has made it easier to communicate with both program participants and outreach partners, as evidenced by the increasing use of the program. Objective 2: We expanded SNAP incentives to more Lehigh County locations during the reporting period, with mobile markets adding four new locations in low-income/low-access census tracts. Participating outlets were located atRadish Republic, a retail outlet in Downtown Allentown; Hersh's Grocery, a corner store 17th & Union Sts.; the Rodale Institute Mobile Market, which set up at the 15th Street YMCA, as well as the 17th Street Hospital; and the Kellyn Foundation's Eat Real Food Mobile Market, which set up at Union Terrace Elementary School, Sheridan Elementary School, and Pinebrook Family Answers. Together, the sites provided fresh food access to people living in 4 census tracts designated by USDA as low-income/lowaccess, where residents live ½ mile or more from the nearest grocery store. There are 11 census tracts in Allentown that have LI/LA designation by USDA (2015).Although one participating corner store opted out of the program in 2020 (due to staffing issues) and another corner store was closed for a period of time early in the pandemic, total incentives redeemed at corner stores only declined by 9%.Incentives redeemed at mobile markets in Allentown increased by 318%. Although dramatic change was to be expected with the Kellyn Foundation operating its mobile market in Allentown for the first year, FFB redemption at the Rodale Institute's mobile market jumped significantly in 2020 by 285%. Incentives at a participating Lehigh County retail farm market increased by 178% from 2019 to 2020, with a 175% increase in transactions, indicating that the program has taken hold in the county. In 2021, the volume of program participation has continued to grow. Outcome 3:The number of Fresh Food Bucks transactions increased by 12 percent in the2020 calendar year and the value of incentives redeemed increased by 45 percent from the previous season. Since the program's inception (2016), the number of transactions increased by 192 percent and incentives redeemed increased by 154 percent. SNAP sales triggering the incentives increased by 45 percent in 2020.Direct marketing farms and farmers markets accounted for the majority of transactions and incentive redemptions in 2020. Farmers market transactions increased by 67 percent from the year prior and FFB redemptions increased by 7 percent. Farmers markets include both those that offer market-wide EBT systems and issue tokens customers use as cash, as well as those at which individual vendors provide a discount to shoppers at the point of sale. Mobile markets also saw a 43 percent increase in transactions from 2019 and an 84 percent increase in the value of incentives redeemed.For the period January 2020 throughMay 2021, transactions across all outlets increased by 55% and incentives redeemed increased by 41%. For the full reporting period of June 1, 2020 to May 31, 2021, there were 3,735 transactions and $28,670 worth of incentives redeemed, a 19% and 24% increase, respectively, from the previous reporting period. Objective 4: The COVID-19 pandemic led to some challenges in expanding program sites, although expansion of locations did occur via the mobile markets. As mentioned above, the Kellyn Foundation and Rodale Institute mobile markets both expanded locations during the reporting period based on community need. However, the pandemic led to the closure of several farmers markets for the season and several corner stores also faced operational challenges due to the pandemic. We continue to work with partners and community stakeholders to identify potential locations. We were able to expand programming to three new corner stores during the reporting period, in addition to the new mobile market sites. Obejective 5:Fresh Food Bucks was offered in six corner stores during the reporting period: - Allentown: Hersh's Market (129 S. 17th St.) - Bethlehem: Riya Market (1227 Pembroke Rd.), Friendly Food Market (1505 Pembroke Rd.) and Linden Food Market (833 Linden St.), Friendly Food Market (915 Lynn Ave) - Easton/Palmer Twp: Park Ave. Market (2468 Park Ave) In the 2020 calendar year, there were 398 unique customers using Fresh Food Bucks at corner stores in Allentown and Bethlehem. Of those customers, 54% used the program at least twice during the year (up 18 percentage points from 2019) and 32% were "regular customers," visiting the stores three times or more to purchase fresh, local produce with the Fresh Food Bucks program (up 14 percentage points from 2019). Ten percent of customers visited stores more than five times during the year. Thirty percent of customers in Allentown were "regulars," using the program more than three times; 16% of Bethlehem customers visited that often. Overall transactions decline at corner store because of store attrition and closures caused by the pandemic. As the 2021 farming season began, we saw modest increases in program use, but supply chain and infrastructure gaps remainded barriers to significant program growth.
Publications
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Progress 06/01/19 to 05/31/20
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience reached during this reporting period includes low-income residents in the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania (Northampton and Lehigh counties). Specifically, our efforts focused on residents in Low-Income/Low-Access census tracts: 42077001401 & 42077002100: Allentown, PA 42095010500, 42095011100,42095010800: Bethlehem, PA 42095014200 &42095014700: Easton, PA Many other outlets participating in our incentives programs were also located in proximity to LI/LA census tracts. Changes/Problems:Obviously, one of the biggest challenges we are facing is the COVID-19 pandemic. Outlets have been hit with many unexpected costs related to maintaining safe environments for shoppers and staff. Several outlets closed for a time or remain closed because of the pandemic. No outlets are able to offer online payment/incentives for SNAP customers, and outreach efforts were affected during the early days of stay-at-home orders. We are working with outlets to develop protocol in the event that another wave of COVID-19 affects our region this fall/winter. Another on-going challenge is the difficulty in retaining and recruiting corner stores. While we have several stores that have now been consistently participating, it is well below our ultimate target of 10 stores. This year, we plan to have seven to eight stores participating in the program. One avenue we are exploring is looking at small independent groceries, which appear to not face the same level of ownership turnover as the corner stores. Employees of these stores also appear to be less likely to have significant language barriers with customers. We are considering project amendments that would allow us to readjust how incentives are delivered should grocers become an option for program expansion (currently we offer a discount model at Point of Sale; a change would put incentives on a gift card for later use). Given that our grant is in its final years, we may delay this expansion until the next round of applications opens. Sourcing challenges for local food products has also been a barrier, but last year we wrapped up a feasibility study looking at wholesale production under a cooperative model. While no co-op has been created, we have been able to work with growers to meet increase demand for some key products. However, with the pandemic's early days, growers saw a tremendous increase in their direct market sales and may not have the kind of product availability they originially expected. We are considering loosening purchasing guidelines for outlets offering non-local fruits and vegetables and asking stores to commit to a certain level of local buying, but no restricting incentives to ONLY local fresh fruits and vegetables. We are still in discussions with stakeholders to understand what an appropriate level will be and then we may submit a grant change request if it is determined to be a need. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Summary results of the 2019season have been published online on our website, as well as shared with community stakeholders and funders. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Objective 1:We are launching a new marketing campaign for the 2020 season with professionally designed materials including, shelf talkers, table tents, large posters for windows and to hang from ceilings, location postcards, etc. These materials will make the program more visible in stores and other outlets. We will also continue building our online presence via social media and website, as well as working with key community partners to grow the program and improve brand recognition. Objective 2: In the 2020 season we will work to expand incentives to more Lehigh County locations, as well as boost use of the benefit at existing locations. We are working with farmers at three farmers markets in Lehigh County to implement programming and benefit use. We also onboarded a new retail location (Radish Republic) in a LI/LA census tract in Allentown and one of the participating corner stores that struggled with staffing last year will rejoin the program this season. In addition, we are working with the mobile markets to expand sites in 2020. The Eat Real Food Mobile Market will operate in key census tracts in Allentown this season, and the Rodale Institute Mobile Market will increase the number of pop-up markets throughout the Allentown region. We continue to work with key partners in Lehigh County to increase knowledge about the program and where to use it. New staff at one of the health networks we work with have been very open to assisting with outreach efforts among their clients, particularly in Lehigh County. We are also working to build connections with the county SNAP office. We are also working to co-market Fresh Food Bucks with Farmers Market Nutrition Program vouchers to create additional value for low-income residents seeking fresh, local foods. Objective 3/4:Early season data indicate that benefit use is increasing already in 2020 (transactions have increased by 15% from January through May [some outlet data missing from May 2020] compared with 2019). We are working to onboard two new stores in the program in Easton and Bethlehem (Northampton County) in key census tracts. We also worked to add new locations (mentioned above) in Lehigh County and worked with the Kellyn Foundation to refine site selection in Northampton Countyin the 2020 season, focusing on LI/LA areas.In addition, we worked with all outlets to ensure customers can shop safely during the COVID-19 pandemic. We have sourced various sanitizing products for the markets, worked with markets offering token systems to develop ticket systems, and increased our outreach efforts to let people know about the program. We are distributing informational Fresh Food Bucks postcards via the regional food bank, Meals on Wheels, major health systems, the Food Policy Council, health bureaus, and many other locations. With the economic challenges residents are facing amin the pandemic, there is an increased interest among stakeholders to ensure low-income community members are able to access programs like Fresh Food Bucks and the Farmers Market Nutrition Program. We are also working with local growers and the Kellyn Foundation to increase wholesale production of key crops and continue working on aggregation and delivery infrastructure. Kellyn now serves as a "mini food hub," but more work is needed to increase production capacity. We are also working with a local health system include educational components at corners stores. We will continue to scout stores in LI/LA census tracts and talk to owners about participating in the FFB program. One option may be expanding the program to small independent grocery stores; however, this would likely require some changes to program operations. Objective 5: Despite the challenges of maintaining uninterrupted programming at the corner stores, we have three stores in 2020that have participated in FFB for multiple years. We worked with store owners to determine promotional needs and are currently working to install signage and other informational materials at the stores. Our work at the stores is promising; we are able to see some repeat customers and the store owners are satisfied with the program. However, we will continue working with key partners in the communities to incorporate more messaging about the FFB program at corner stores. As mentioned above, we will also work with a local health network to develop in-store education items, such as recipe cardsand harvest calendars, to help give residents more information about seasonal foods and how to use them. In total, we expect to be working with seven to eight corner stores this year.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1:This objective was achieved during our rebranding in previous years of our grant project. We have continued to develop eye-catching and friendly marketing materials for the program, working this year with a professional marketing firm to further achieve our goal of brand recognition and program familiarity. Since launching our website, there have been4,794 unique visitors seeking information about the program, mostly for information on locations to use the incentives. We continue to make progress on in-store branding with signage, shelving and other materials that make the program easily recognizable. Objective 2:In 2019, Lehigh County outlets accounted for roughly 20% of all Fresh Food Bucks transactions and nearly a quarter of all redeemed incentives. During the reporting period, we worked with project partners to increase the number of outlet sites offering incentives in Lehigh County for the 2020 season. There will now be three mobile market stops in Allentown andSNAP incentives will be issued at three farmers markets and a new retail outlet, in addition to existing programming at two corner stores, a farm stand and a mobile market/CSA site. Some of these outlets began offering incentives at the beginning of the year, but most began in June. Data will be reported in the next progress report, but we are confident that we will begin to see usage in Lehigh County increase in the 2020 season. We worked to recruit several other stores, and although they were approved to participate in our program, high staff turnover and language barriers at the store (between staff and customers) prompted store owners to withdraw from the program before they began. Plans for expanded mobile market sites were also changed by one of our program partners. Objective 3:In the 2019 calendar year, we saw a 7% decline in the number of Fresh Food Bucks transactions and an 11% decrease in the amount of redeemed SNAP incentives across all outlets. Corner stores - small, inner cities stores selling sundry goods - accounted for the majority of FFB transactions in 2019; however, farmers markets saw the highest percentage of redemptions during the season (40% of total redeemed incentives and a 7 percentage point increase over 2018). The second highest outlet type for redemptions is corner stores (37%). Farmers markets include both those that offer market-wide EBT systems and issue tokens customers use as cash, as well as those at which individual vendors provide a discount to shoppers at the point of sale.Incentives redeemed at farmers markets increased by 9% in 2019 ($7,955 in 2018 vs. $8718.91 in 2019). Customers were more likely to make repeat visits to farmers markets as well. For example,Easton Farmers Market and Easton Public Market served a combined 245 unique customers in 2019. EFM/EPM also had a 56% repeat customer rate, and 27% of customers visited the locations more than five times during the year. The Kelly Foundation's Eat Real Food Mobile Market alsoserved 191 unique customers, with 23% visiting the mobile market more than three times - 5 percentage points higher than that proportion of repeat customers at corner stores. Fourteen percent of Eat Real Food Mobile Market customers visited a mobile market site more than 5 times, which is a higher return rate than for any of the stores. Objective 4:We continue to identify new locations to offer Fresh Food Bucks in underserved areas and are making progress on program expansion for the 2020 season.We were successful in recruiting three new stores ahead of the 2019 growing season, but additional delays in our ability to start programming resulted in the stores first offering FFB in late June. We were very excited to recruit two corner stores near the Pembroke area, one store in Easton's West Ward, and one store in East Allentown. However, one of the new Pembroke-area stores faced setbacks when their cooler broke soon after beginning the incentives. The owners of the West Ward location decided to sell the store before programming could take place, and the Allentown store owner decided to opt out of the program when he lost a key employee. We also worked to expand a series of pop-up markets via the Rodale Institute Mobile Market with mixed use results. A new farmers market operating in one of our key areas did not have staff on hand to accept SNAP benefit and vendors at the market did not know what the program was despite our repeated attempts to begin offering the benefits there. The market has since closed and the owners of that market have opened a store that is now participating in the incentives program. For the 2020 season, the Kellyn Mobile Market has expanded into key LI/LA census tracts in Allentown, and we are working with a small independent grocer in Bethlehem to begin incentives there, as well as another corner store in Palmer Township, which is not in an LI/LA designated census tract, but serves many low-income seniors using SNAP. We continue to work with our mobile market and community partners to identify sites that would best serve community members. Objective 5:Fresh Food Bucks was offered in five corner stores in 2019:Allentown: Jayden Grocery & Deli (802 S. 8th St.) and Hersh's Market (129 S. 17th St.);Bethlehem: Riya Market (1227 Pembroke Rd.) and Friendly Food Market (1505 Pembroke Rd.);Easton: Easton Corner Market (359 Northampton St.) Corner store transactions overall declined by 19% on 2019, and programming was plagued by a number of setbacks in 2019. In late 2018, two South Side Bethlehem stores decided that they would no longer participate in the program (although there were discussions about the store participating again in the Spring of 2019, ultimately, we chose to not continue our partnership with the store). The store owner was frequently out of town, making ordering difficult, and the stores also failed to maintain proper paperwork for the program. Another participating corner store in Easton lost its ability to accept SNAP benefits due to an unrelated issue with WIC. Longtime FFB participant Jayden's Grocery opted out of the program in late 2019 also due to employee language barriers. Numbers indicate that we would have seen significant increases in FFB use at corner stores without these unforeseen challenges. For example, August corner store transaction totals (when all five stores were fully participating) were 16% above the 2018 levels and incentives redeemed were 25% higher.In 2018, there were 554 unique customers using Fresh Food Bucks at corner stores in Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton. Of those customers, 36% used the program at least twice during the year (up two percentage points from 2018) and 18% were "regular customers," visiting the stores three times or more to purchase fresh, local produce with the Fresh Food Bucks program (the same proportion as 2018). Six percent of customers visited stores more than five times during the year. Twenty-three percent of customers at Allentown and Easton stores were "regulars," using the program more than three times; 14% of Bethlehem customers visited that often.
Publications
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Progress 06/01/18 to 05/31/19
Outputs
Target Audience:Our outreach efforts targeted low-income populations throughout Northampton and Lehigh counties (Pennsylvania), particularly those in one of 9 designated "low-income/low-access" areas. Low-income populations were targeted in a mix of rural, suburban and urban areas. 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?Summary results of the 2018 season have been published online on our website, as well as shared with community stakeholders and funders. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Objective 1: We will continue to promote the Fresh Food Bucks program through promotional sigange and advertising. We are currently working with a marketing firm to design a series of materials to use through the remainder of the project period based on what has been successful to date. Materials will include postcards, flyers, posters, as well as bus ads. We will work to ensure the FFB logo is visible at all outlets and work to establish the program as a recongnizable image. Objectives 2 & 3: Use of the Fresh Food Bucks program was affected by many factors in the 2018 season, including severe weather and rain, which damaged crops and impacted farmers market sales; lack of equipment to process SNAP sales by new outlets; and issues with current equipment obtained through the Farmers Market Coalition. This year, we will work with existing outlets to increase use of the benefit across the region, while anticipating the challenges that occurredduring the 2018 growing season. Our experiences with corner stores have been promising and efforts will focus on developing that aspect of the program more. We are also working with the health systems in the region to create more meaningful consumer experiences at the outlets, for example, by coordinaing nutrition education. We are also conducting a series of trainings for our outreach partners to ensure a cohesive message is being conveyed across the region. Separately, we are working to improve distribution and redemption of the Farmers Market Nutrition Program vouchers in the region and we will be cross promoting Fresh Food Bucks along with that program, as well as establishing pop-up markets at senior centers, senior apartments and WIC clinics. We will also work to promote the program at producer markets and farm stands to continue growing FFB at all outlet types. Finally, this year we will begin exploring options for expanding the program to independent grocery stores serving low-income communities. Objective 4: The FFB advisory board will continue to meet quarterly to discuss program expansion, focusing on areas where we can combine other learning opportunties through in-school programming and summer meals. We will also begin reaching out to small, idenpendent grocery stores in underserved communities to discuss how an incentive program could work there, as well as working with the mobile market to develop opportunties for expansion into Lehigh County. Objective 5: We will continue to onboard new corner stores in each of the three cities, as well as work to improve the customer experience through in-store programming. We will also work to improve wholesale production and distribution systems in the Lehigh Valley. In the 2019 season, we will also provide increased store training for owners/managers and clerks.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1:We successfully launched our program rebranding effortand developed new branded materials for the program. People appear to remember the program name more easily and more readily understand the program's intent. Our new program website has been viewed 3,768 times (2,768 unique visitors), with most people visiting the locations page or seeking information about how the program works, We created a series of new signs for participating outlets, as well as price cards, stickers for coolers at retail outlets, and sigange for store shelving to help people locate fresh, locally grown items. Objective 2:We continued programming in both counties and worked with the Lehigh County assistance office to promote Fresh Food Bucks throughout the region. Unfortunately, one location in Slatington closed in the 2018 season; however a new grocery store was recently built in that town, so it likely is no longer considered a food desert. Several outlets were affected during the season by the MarketLink situation, which caused much confusion for outlets and consumers, alike. We also expanded programming to another corner store in Allentown located in low-income/low-access at 1/2 and 10 miles (and also a low-vehicle area) tract 42077002100. Lehigh County locations account for about a quarter of all Fresh Food Bucks transactions over the year. Efforts to further exapnd Fresh Food Bucks to additional direct market farmers were hindered by lack of information and communication about the new free equipment program and the MarketLink debacle. Objective 3: For the 2018 calendar year, Fresh Food Bucks transactions across the Lehigh Valley increased by 18% over 2017, and the value of incentives redeemed increased by 33% (in 2018 there were a total of 3,206 transactions and $24,267.02 incentives redeemed). Corner stores accounted for 37% of redeemed incentives, followed by producer-inly farmers markets (33%). Transactions over the winter months increased by 59% in 2018, largely due to the participation of corner stores. Objective 4:We continue to focus on access opportunities in low-income urban areas by recruiting new corner stores to participate in the Fresh Food Bucks program. Last year, we had six stores participating in the program, all of which were located in LI/LA census tracts. Just ahead of the 2019 season, we are looking to addthree more stores to the program. We also worked with a variety of community partners to provide outreach to low-income Lehigh Valley residents. Objective 5:Corner store transactions increased by 63.5% in 2018 and incentives issued increased by nearly as much 61%. Corner stores accounted for 37% of all Fresh Food Bucks incentives issued in 2018 and 42% of total sales. Corner stores purchased $5,561.42 worth of locally grown fruits and vegetables in 2018, up 48% from 2017. These purchases reflect a minimum of 4,819 pounds of local food purchased, compared to 2,379 pounds in 2017. However, these numbers do not reflect items sold by unit price rather than weight (such as berries, cabbages and watermelons). In 2018, there were 624 unique customers using Fresh Food Bucks at corner stores in Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton. Of those customers, 34% used the program at least twice during the year and 18% were "regular customers," visiting the stores three times or more to purchase fresh, local produce with the Fresh Food Bucks program. Nearly 7% of customers visited stores more than five times during the year. Allentown had the highest percentage of "regular" customers overall at 21%, followed by Easton (15%) and Bethlehem (14%).
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Progress 06/01/17 to 05/31/18
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience reached in this reporting period were SNAP beneficiaries living in Lehigh and Northampton counties (Pennsylvania). Beneficiaries lived in a mix of rural, urban and suburban areas. Special efforts were focused on beneficiaries living in urban census tracts designated as food deserts through our Healthy Corner Store pilot project. Changes/Problems:Although our initial goal was to rebrand the program in 2017, by the time FINI awards were announced, the season was already underway. We decided to re-evaluate the need for a program re-branding strategy and did decide to go ahead with rebranding in 2018. The rebranding will also allow usflexibility to change incentive matching level at corner stores. We also intended to pilot incentives in a total of six stores in 2017, but after discussions with the program's advisory board, decided to start in one store in each city. The corner store pilot had its own unique set of challenges, that delayed or impacted programing, including: Store Owner Turnover: Sale of the corners stores themselves led to program delays at both Rodriguez and Jayden during the course of the year. Jayden's owner had recently purchased the store when incentives began and was required to register for a new FNS number. This process removed Jayden from the incentive program from September to late November (harvest season!) because they could not accept SNAP benefits as payment. The owner of Rodriguez sold the store in mid-November. We are currently awaiting news of the new owner to continue incentives there. Store owner turnover is a common problem in the HCSI, as well, requiring repeated re-enrollment of the same stores as new owners take over. Store Owner Knowledge: There have been some issues with the store owners improperly storing or displaying local produce. Efforts to educate store owners to maintain attractive and healthful displays are needed. LVHN's HCSI could serve as an educator in this capacity. Supply/Demand: Corner store purchasing could eventually represent a boon for local farmers looking to break into the wholesale market; however, many small GLV farmers are not focusing on a wholesale model. The supply of cold storage crops to carry the program through the winter months is also a challenge that should be addressed in the 2018 season. A separate BFBLGLV project is currently looking at the feasibility of increasing wholesale supply and generating additional demand. Infrastructure: Although Kellyn is a mission-driven organization with the goal of improving access to healthy foods in underserved areas, efforts to make distribution economically viable are needed. Additional work is being done in tandem with the Double SNAP program to assess the infrastructure needs of local aggregators. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Summary reports of the 2017 season surveys and corner store pilot results will be available online. Reports were also emailed to funders and other community partners. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Objective 1: We are in the midst of developing our rebranding campaign, which will include signage/posters, price cards, a new website and Facebook page, etc. The new brand will be called Lehigh Valley Fresh Food Bucks. We are also working with county social service offices, as well as our extensive network of partner organizations to build momentum and knowledge about the new name for the program. Objective 2: Underserved areas in Lehigh County remain and some of vendors who are authorized to accept SNAP in the county have not recorded any EBT sales to date. This season,we will work with area food pantries, the county social services office, faith-based groups, child care and senior centers, and other non-profit organizations to promote use of the benefit in low-access areas. We will also work to build our outreach network for future program success. In areas currently not being served by the SNAP incentives program, we will work with existing community resources (ie. farm stands, corner stores) to begin identifying access points and strategies. We will then look to work with local farmers to begin filling gaps in appropriate ways. Objective 3: We will continue outreach efforts by engaging our network of partner organizations. Rebranding the program and launching a website with locations listed will also be an effective means of communicating about the program. Our efforts will focus on growing use of the benefit at participating locations through promotional signage, social media, engagement through health clinics, etc. Since many locations have already been established and much of the program infrastructure is in place, efforts this year will focus heavily on marketing and education. Objective 4: Similar to our efforts on Objective 2, we will work to identify locations that continue to have marginal fresh food access.In rural areas in particular, where SNAP incentive use is low, we will be conducting research about customer preferences and needs. We will work to determine the best type of venue for various communities and then work with partner organizations and local farmers to establish access points. For example, we will work closely with the Healthy Corner Store Initiative to make connections with store owners in urban food deserts. We will also focus on building "Healthy Communities" by connecting the corner stores offering SNAP incentivesto in-school nutrition programs and visits to local health clinics. Objective 5: With the pilot year complete, we will now work to expand the program to more corner stores in the Lehigh Valley. The goal number of stores for the 2018 season is six (two in each city). We will also alterthe benefit level in corner stores to 2:1 to allow for greater expansion. In addition, in 2018, we will conduct compliance visits atstores to make sure produce is fresh, appropriately displayedand labeled, and easily identifiable as eligible for incentives.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1: We have developed a new program name and logo and are completing a new website (anticipated launch date, April 23). The program name will change from Double SNAP -- which was confusing to people who did not understand what SNAP was -- to Lehigh Valley Fresh Food Bucks. The new program name includes a monetary signifier and is similar to other programs names around the country. Objective 2: We expanded SNAP incentives to nine locations in Lehigh County. Ahead of the 2017 growing season, we held a FNS sign up day for farmers/markets specifically focused on encouraging farmers at existing farmers markets and farm stands to enroll in the program. We signed up 8 farmers to be new participants in the program. Although there was a significant delay in acquiring equipment to process SNAP/EBT, farmers eventually increased access to fresh produce through the program in the following census tracts designated as low-income/low-accessareas in Lehigh County: LI/LA at 1 and 10 miles: Allentown tract42077001401, Slatington tract 42077005100 LI/LA at 1/2 and 10 miles: Allentown tracts 42077009700,42077002100; and tract 42077009400 in Bethlehem, which abuts a farmers markets participating in the SNAP incentives program. SNAP incentives are now accepted in some form at all but one Lehigh County producer-only farmers market (Downtown Allentown Local Food Market, Emmaus Farmers Market, Trexlertown Farmers Market, Macungie Farmers Market, and Bethlehem Westside Farmers Market), as well as at two farm stands/farm shares in Allentown, a retail farm stand in Orefield, a farm market in Slatington and a corner store in Allentown. Objective 3: Although this was the baseline year for SNAP incentives in Lehigh County, the number of SNAP incentivetransactions at Northampton County locations increased 41% over the previous year (2016). Benefit utilization in rural pockets of the commuity continue to be lower than those in urban settings. Use of incentives at corner stores accounted for a significant portion (28%) of the program's growth in 2017, indicating that our store selections for the pilot were effective at reaching previously unengaged populations.In 2017, SNAP incentive transactions more than doubled across the Lehigh Valley, with the number of corner store transactions accounting for just over half of the increase (51%). Objective 4: The project director continuously researches issues and data related to the local food system, low-access areas and strategies for filling gaps. We established an advisory board for the incentives program that includes representatives from two local health systems (one of which coordinates Healthy Corner Store programming in the region), a non-profit organization that operates a mobile market, and the local United Way chapter. This board is working on mapping food resources in relation to food deserts in the area, as we develop a strategy for expansion in 2018. Board members are building strong ties in the low-income communities they are working in, which will allow us to better understand community needs moving forward. Objective 5: We launched the corner store pilot in three stores in 2017, one each in Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton. Each location was designated LI/LA at 1 or 1/2 in 10 miles by USDA. The store owners were engaged through our relationship with the Healthy Corner Store initiative, and the Kellyn Foundation, a local non-profit, served as the wholesale purchaser and distributor of local foods to the store. We matched incentives 1:1. Customers could purchase any SNAP eligible item to trigger the incentives, which could only be used to purchase locally grown, fresh fruits and vegetables.Redemption of SNAP incentives at the corner stores was far more successful than expected. In 2017, corner stores reported 754SNAP incentive transactions.A total of $5,530.52 worth of locally grown, fresh fruits and vegetables was distributed to people using SNAP at these locations over the course of the season.Through the pilot program, the three stores sourced more than 2,379 pounds of food grown in the Lehigh Valley. This number is likely significantly higher because it does not reflect the items such as cabbages or berries, which were not priced by weight (efforts to reflect these purchases in reports are underway). Produce was sourced from eight different local farms. In total, the stores purchased $3,835.33 in local produce from June through December.
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