Progress 06/01/17 to 05/31/21
Outputs
Target Audience:Skagit County is a geographically and culturally diverse community with a mix of extensive rural areas, four small cities, and a number of small towns and communities. In 2014, 17.8% of the population identified as Hispanic or Latino. Mount Vernon, the largest city in Skagit County, has the highest Hispanic population with 54.7% of children within the Mount Vernon School District identifying as Hispanic in the 2014-2015 school year. Rural Northwest Washington Skagit County has some of the most productive soil in the world. Local farmers produce $300 million annually in over 80 different commercial food crops including produce, wheat, vegetable seed, poultry, and dairy products. Unfortunately, 38% of Skagit Valley farmland has been lost since 1940 shrinking from 150,000 to 93,000 today. American Farmland Trust designated the region the fifth most threatened agricultural region in the nation. As of 2012, the average age of a farmer in Washington was 58.8. In the next 20 years, 70% of all Washington State farmers are expected to retire. The number of farms in Skagit County have decreased 12% from 2007 to 2012. Our project will connect SNAP beneficiaries and other community members to fresh produce grown on local family farms. It is estimated that one in seven households in Skagit County experiences food insecurity, and one in four children live in food insecure households. Twenty-two percent of county children live in poverty. Skagit unemployment rate remains above Washington State's at (6.4%). In January 2015, 11,303 households representing 12,143 adults and 8,248 children received SNAP in Skagit County. Additionally, three Skagit County census tracts are designated food deserts: 1) the city of Concrete and surrounding East Skagit County, 2) northwestern Sedro-Woolley, and 3) east Mount Vernon. A new report from the White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) regarding the SNAP, features research that shows benefit levels are often inadequate to sustain families through the end of the month. Farms to Families CSA will address this directly by creating an incentive program that intentionally effects access levels the second half of the month. Skagit Food for Skagit People (SFSP) project funded by a USDA Community Food Projects Competitive Grants Program (CFPCGP) grant and lead by Community Action of Skagit County (CA) and Washington State University Skagit County Extension (WSU Ext.) completed a Community Food Assessment. Six listening sessions, including 54 low-income participants of which 30% were Hispanic, guided stakeholders in the development of a comprehensive response to food access and nutrition issues. SFSP thoroughly identified and discussed the current food security barriers, and created a vision for a food secure county. Changes/Problems:Clarification of sales goal was useful in better understanding how to measure success for the project. The initial goal of 40% of CSA shares to be purchased by SNAP shoppers needed to be redefined as CSA boxes rather than seasonal shares. The typical CSA share is defined as a full 25-28 weeks of harvest paid upfront with a weekly pick-up. This large sum is prohibitive for low-income consumers, and additionally, SNAP-EBT benefits are distributed on a monthly basis (with each recipient being on a different cycle based on their original benefits distribution date). In order to accommodate this scenario, the CSA SNAP cost-offset allowed customers to purchase a 4-week cycle, making a payment by swiping their SNAP EBT card at the beginning of a 4-week cycle. The EBT card was charged for two box shares and the customer returned to the pick-up site over the next 4 weeks, thereby realizing the 50% discount. At each 4-week pay cycle, SNAP customers had the choice to re-up their enrollment for another buy two, get two free/ 50% off CSA box share. This pattern of purchase resulted in reporting of CSA box sales rather than share sales to best reflect scope of project reach. One CSA season was disrupted by the COVID pandemic. The restriction to in-person meetings and the closure of DSHS and other partner offices and schools resulted in reduced opportunity for feedback from SNAP shoppers. Shifting to online survey tools provided some feedback; however, key informant interviews and follow-up surveys at locations frequented by SNAP customers were not possible in the final year of the project. The 2020 Harvest season and CSA sales were impacted by changes due to the COVID crisis, and it is difficult to tease out the benefit and disadvantages to farmers and customers alike. During the harvest season in 2020, income disruption and an increase in SNAP benefits and enrollment was reported. There was an increased interest in CSA shares for produce from the community-at-large along with the USDA Farm to Families produce distribution through the food banks and local community organizations increasing the availability of local produce at no cost to the shopper/customer. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The Viva Farms SNAP cost-off set CSA model was shared at professional meetings including the WSU Food System, Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior, and National Extension Family and Consumer Science Association. The project provided significant learning opportunities and ultimayelu, the SNAP CSA cost-offset program accomplished the goal of connecting customers to local farmers. At the end of the project, the grant team met to discuss what worked and what lessons were learned with highlights as follows: Production planning is critical to both a positive farmer and customer experience. Planning supports providing a well-rounded, appetizing CSA box each week and facilitates farmers growing he right products in the right quantities to fulfill the program. As the predictability of the size of the CSA leveled out after the first few years, the reliability of harvested produce improved, benefitting farmers and customer. Being willing and able to seek out and apply feedback is critical to meeting the needs of lo-income consumers. Iterating the program each year based on feedback, then seeing the feedback evolve and participation increase based on our program adjustments was inspiring. Partnering with likely and unlikely partnerships contributed to the success of recruiting the SNAP customers. The most effective outreach/marketing strategy for customer recruitment was through direct mail promotion in partnership with DSHS. There were positive responses to weekly newsletter and recipes provided and the list of weekly box contents. It's critical to understand the rhythm of SNAP benefit distribution in designing your CSA. There was a learning curve to understanding the NAP benefit distribution pattern and how to best accommodate that while still marketing the program in a simple way. SNAP benefits are distributed to recipients over the first two weeks of the month, rather on the first day of the month. When writing the grant, the team did not know about 4 week re-up of benefits thereby putting at risk losing a CSA customer every 4 weeks. Once SNAP customers were clear on payment pattern, it allowed them to establish a schedule, an expectation of when the payment was required. During the first year, SNAP payment/EBT swipe was only accepted at Viva Farms, which is located about 5-10 miles from the primary population. Originally the program was advertised as payment (swipe EBT) once every 4 weeks. When it was realized that each customer receives their SNAP benefits at a different day of the month, a system of monitoring payment with reminders for SNAP customer was established. To accommodate customer needs, the number of SNAP EBT swipe sites was increased from one (1) to five (5). SNAP Customers have to pay in person (rather than online), so additional EBT payment portals were purchased to equip the additional sites. Also, adjustments were made to allow customers to pay partially with SNAP benefits and with another method (cash/check). As per SNAP regulation, customers can only buy food 2 weeks in advance. This drove Viva Farms decision to market the program as "buy 2 get 2 free". If audited by SNAP, this promotion/payment strategy would meet the USDA regulation. Discussion to change wording to "buy one, get one free" and then to "50% off". Extra time is needed to track EBT payments and train volunteers. Over time, payment tracking became easier, however, a significant amount of time was spent each week (3-4hrs) making volunteer sheets and tracking payments. Since volunteers did not have access to internal data base, they asked questions that were not answered until the following week. A guide for volunteers accepting EBT was established, and a training session was presented for the volunteer at each of the five SNAP payment site. Purchase of necessary equipment to support SNAP transactions is necessary - receipt printers and iPad needed for each site that completes transactions for SNAP customers. Good communication with partners and customers is key. The local impact of the global pandemic was felt before the 2020 harvest season began due to uncertainty of operation of the distribution sites, and safety protocols in aggregation and packing. The Viva Farms sales team had to pivot to identify new sites to replace organizations and businesses that were not open to the public during lock downs. A significant amount of time was spent by the sales team providing customer service to answer safety questions. The team explored state and local guidance on how to make CSA box distribution safe for customers. Strategies adopted included incorporating masks and hand sanitizer at pick-up sites, using one-time use plastic tote liners, and social distancing in packing and distribution, above the usual food safety plan. Once the details were figured out, distribution went very smoothly. A small grant from the Nutrition Incentive Hub was received to implement COVID safety protocols. Building customer loyalty takes time. Over the course of the grant cycle, SNAP customers were retained week to week season to season at an ever-greater rate. Listen and respond to your customers and your program will evolve successfully. We heard from some customers that they would appreciate a lower cost option, but that they did not qualify for SNAP benefits for one reason or another. Further, we heard from full price customers that they'd appreciate a way to donate a box or share to lower income community members. As a result, Viva Farms created a new sliding-scale pricing structure starting the season after the grant ended. The sliding-scale structure has four share tiers: standard price, higher income (standard price plus 25%), lower income (standard price minus 25%) and SNAP shares (standard price minus 50%). Customers self-select the share that best suites their financial situation. So far, the model is self-sustaining. The food education that went along with the produce, videos and recipes gave the customers increased confidence with unfamiliar foods. Partnering with the Culinary school and College media departments was a cost-effective way to create food education videos and support materials. Scheduling the video production in line with produce at the time of the harvest provided a representation of the box contents. A template was developed to provide consistent presentation of the recipes. The recipes gleaned from USDA and Extension resources were available in English, and many available in Spanish. It was valuable to have many reviews of the material, not only for the language but the context. For example, the common English expression for the liquid in the bean prep is referred to as 'Pot Liquour'or 'Pot Likker' which translate to an offensive wording in Spanish. The phrase was cut from the materials. The captions on the videos were in English and translated to Spanish using an interpreter. Errors were noted by Viva Farms staff when reviewing the short-form videos altering us to the need to recheck all the translation. The value of having a review process, especially in translation for context and content, was reinforced. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?A total of 67 outreach and dissemination activities occurred throughout the grant period, reaching well over 1,000 individuals. These activities included DSHS lobby take-over with posters and table displays to engage SNAP customers in health promotion activities and messaging, social media posting, supermarket tours, weekly meetings with DSHS staff during Nutrition Month provided useful information ad talking points to share with the SNAP customer and interview on local radio station KSVR in English and Spanish. The recipe-prep and cooking demo videos were disseminated via the internet reaching an impressive 7,161 views in less than a year of being online. These videos were also shared with providers and community agencies that serve families with limited resources and the USDA SNAP-ed program. The cost analysis of CSA and local produce was shared with community partners and is the subject of a manuscript on CSA cost-off set. The development and feedback from the CSA recipe-prep videos will be presented at the International Food Studies conference in October 2021. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Viva Farms (VF) guided farmers' production to fulfill the needs of the CSA and wholesale programs through annual production planning meetings with all incubating farmers and wholesale customers, along with CSA customer feedback. VF conducted daily and weekly follow-up with farmers throughout each season to give feedback to farmers regarding quality and CSA harvest, washing and packing and aggregation schedules in order to meet the deadlines of delivery and customer pick-up. VF negotiated and signed marketing agreements with 10 farm businesses in 2019 and 6 in 2020 (lower due to COVID-19 disruptions). VF aggregated product for both CSA and wholesale programs each year resulting in a total of $1,288,140 in wholesale sales (157% increase from Y1 to Y4 of the grant) and 16,517 CSA boxes aggregated/delivered. Because SNAP customers' benefits renew at different times, VF offered CSA sign-up and payment every week throughout the CSA season in order to maximize accessibility and minimize barriers to low-income customers. Over the course of the grant, VF grew from 1 to 5 SNAP payment/sign-up sites and through those sites. Partnerships were established with stakeholders and community agencies serving shoppers using SNAP benefits. The partners included the Food Bank Directors Association, Dept. of Social and Health Services (DSHS), Head Start, WIC, Community Action, Catholic Community Services, YMCA, Farmers Market Coalition, Friendship House, Skagit County Public Health Department, Senior Services, Work Source, WSU SNAP-Ed Nutrition Education, Skagit County elementary schools (>80% Free and Reduced Meal rate), Goodwill Education Center, and Skagit Transit. Partner Washington State University (WSU) initiated a Healthy Eating Active Living campaign to promote the intake of fresh local produce. In support of this effort, the County Board of Health signed a proclamation which promoted fresh, local produce as part of a healthy diet. The local DSHS office provided a tabling space and bulletin boards to post Healthy Eating messages; in addition to a 'lobby take-over" opportunity during March 2019 and 2020 which corresponded to CSA sign. The Skagit Transit system posted handbills listing the different options for the purchase of fresh produce with incentives including the cost off-set CSA and Farmers Market "Double Up Bucks". VF marketed the CSA through social media outlets, websites, email marketing and print collateral along with interviews aired on the local radio. VF sent digital and print marketing materials to partners to distribute amongst their networks. A suite of food education materials was created over the duration of the grant cycle. These included print recipes with illustrated step-by-step and information on food safety and storage, 36 recipe videos that featured produce from the CSA box, 11 cooking class/demo videos with accompanying print recipes and 25 Harvest Sheets with information on selection, storage, and food preservation techniques. VF also worked with WA State Dept. of Health and DSHS to send CSA promotional postcards to all SNAP-eligible individuals residing in the zip codes to which the CSA distributes. VF distributed 8,618 mailers in 2019 and 10,298 in 2020. Farmigo CSA account management software sent a reminder email to all customers each week, along with weekly CSA Newsletter with box contents. Site volunteers record uncollected shares in tracking form. Conversations with SNAP shoppers and other programs regarding offering in-person classes highlighted several barriers including class times, childcare concerns, and transportation. A series of recipe-prep videos, modeled on the Tasty short video format, was developed in partnership with Skagit Valley Culinary School (SVCS) to offer an alternative to in-person classes that addressed those concerns. Eleven cooking class-style videos were developed with the SVCS chef using CSA produce boxes based on SNAP recipe guidelines. The cooking class was filmed and edited and print recipes were created and translated to Spanish, and posted on YouTube. The video recordings were promoted through bilingual posting on social media, VF newsletter, and distribution of promotional rack card with QR weblink code in partnership with community partners. The SVCS series was featured in an article Skagit Herald newspaper on the July 21, 2020. During the CSA harvest season, weekly posts on social media highlighted the CSA providing farm-fresh local, seasonal produce at a 50% discount to SNAP customers. 36 short cooking videos were also filmed using recipes from USDA and Extension, selected based on the cultural preference of the audience (high percent of Latinx families). Recipes had five or fewer affordable main ingredients and used common items found in most kitchens. The videos featured the CSA produce illustrating simple cooking skills, and were set to music with no narrative but rather included both English and Spanish captions. The videos were posted on the VF and WSU Family Living website and YouTube channels. Videos were posted each week on social media to correspond with produce that was offered in the CSA box with a link for printing recipe cards. There was a 50% increase in video views following social media posts. The recipes have 7,161 views in just their first year online! CSA enrollment information was shared with food bank partners, and the WSU SNAP-Ed program offered bi-weekly food demos at Helping Hands Food Bank featuring fresh produce. 300 rack cards with links to the Farm to Family Video Recipes were distributed at Skagit County Housing Authority. During the 2020 season, WSU staff participated in the distribution of CSA food boxes at the Community Action Food Distribution to talk about different ways of preparing the produce in the weekly box. VF operated a full-price CSA option throughout the duration of grant, and adjusted the produce assortment each week based on seasonal availability. By 2020, VF with the help of 852 total hours of volunteer time, packed, stored and distributed approximately 375 boxes per week., Thanks to CARES Act funding, VF packed and distributed an additional 4,025 produce boxes to food-insecure families and individuals in the final year of the grant. Ahead of the 2020 season, VF transitioned from two 14-week seasons to one 25-week season, to improve customer retention, thereby creating more sales stability for farmers. Rather than conducting two annual membership drives, we only had to conduct one, then were able to use the extra time to focus on great quality and service to retain customers. Customer retention increased significantly and feedback from farmers at the end of 2020 confirmed unanimously that this change was very effective. CSA sales doubled from 2019 to 2020 (from $98K to $198K), in part thanks to this change. Data showed notable year over year growth with an increase of from zero SNAP-CSA boxes is year 1 to 109 in year 2 to 631 in year 3 and 940 in year 4. A total of 460 customers participated in the program with 62 unique SNAP customers or 13.4% of total participation. Over the life of the grant (2017-2021 representing 3 harvest seasons - 2018, 2019, 2020) 1,680 SNAP boxes were sold out of 16,919 total boxes sold representing 10% of sales. In the final year of the project, 940 SNAP boxes were sold out of 8,056 total boxes for 25-week season representing 12% of sales. A total of 921 customers participated in the CSA program with 126 unique SNAP customers or 13.7% of total participation. The CSA tool kit summarizing the program and how to execute it was created and is in the final stages of review prior to posting online.
Publications
|
Progress 06/01/20 to 05/31/21
Outputs
Target Audience:Skagit County is a geographically and culturally diverse community with a mix of extensive rural areas, four small cities, and a number of small towns and communities. In 2014, 17.8% of the population identified as Hispanic or Latino. Mount Vernon, the largest city in Skagit County, has the highest Hispanic population with 54.7% of children within the Mount Vernon School District identifying as Hispanic in the 2014-2015 school year. Rural Northwest Washington Skagit County has some of the most productive soil in the world. Local farmers produce $300 million annually in over 80 different commercial food crops including produce, wheat, vegetable seed, poultry, and dairy products. Unfortunately, 38% of Skagit Valley farmland has been lost since 1940 shrinking from 150,000 to 93,000 today. American Farmland Trust designated the region the fifth most threatened agricultural region in the nation. As of 2012, the average age of a farmer in Washington was 58.8. In the next 20 years, 70% of all Washington State farmers are expected to retire. The number of farms in Skagit County have decreased 12% from 2007 to 2012. Our project will connect SNAP beneficiaries and other community members to fresh produce grown on local family farms. It is estimated that one in seven households in Skagit County experiences food insecurity, and one in four children live in food insecure households. Twenty-two percent of county children live in poverty. Skagit unemployment rate remains above Washington State's at (6.4%). In January 2015, 11,303 households representing 12,143 adults and 8,248 children received SNAP in Skagit County. Additionally, three Skagit County census tracts are designated food deserts: 1) the city of Concrete and surrounding East Skagit County, 2) northwestern Sedro-Woolley, and 3) east Mount Vernon. A new report from the White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) regarding the SNAP, features research that shows benefit levels are often inadequate to sustain families through the end of the month. Farms to Families CSA will address this directly by creating an incentive program that intentionally effects access levels the second half of the month. Skagit Food for Skagit People (SFSP) project funded by a USDA Community Food Projects Competitive Grants Program (CFPCGP) grant and lead by Community Action of Skagit County (CA) and Washington State University Skagit County Extension (WSU Ext.) completed a Community Food Assessment. Six listening sessions, including 54 low-income participants of which 30% were Hispanic, guided stakeholders in the development of a comprehensive response to food access and nutrition issues. SFSP thoroughly identified and discussed the current food security barriers, and created a vision for a food secure county. Changes/Problems:Clarification of sales goal was useful in better understanding how to measure success for the project. The initial goal of 40% of CSA shares to be purchased by SNAP shoppers needed to be redefined as CSA boxes rather than seasonal shares. The typical CSA share is defined as a full 25-28 weeks of harvest paid upfront with a weekly pick-up. This large sum is prohibitive for low-income consumers, and additionally, SNAP-EBT benefits are distributed on a monthly basis (with each recipient being on a different cycle based on their original benefits distribution date). In order to accommodate this scenario, the CSA SNAP cost-offset allowed customers to purchase a 4-week cycle, making a payment by swiping their SNAP EBT card at the beginning of a 4-week cycle. The EBT card was charged for two box shares and the customer returned to the pick-up site over the next 4 weeks, thereby realizing the 50% discount. At each 4-week pay cycle, SNAP customers had the choice to re-up their enrollment for another buy two, get two free/ 50% off CSA box share. This pattern of purchase resulted in reporting of CSA box sales rather than share sales to best reflect scope of project reach. One CSA season was disrupted by the COVID pandemic. The restriction to in-person meetings and the closure of DSHS and other partner offices and schools resulted in reduced opportunity for feedback from SNAP shoppers. Shifting to online survey tools provided some feedback; however, key informant interviews and follow-up surveys at locations frequented by SNAP customers were not possible in the final year of the project. The 2020 Harvest season and CSA sales were impacted by changes due to the COVID crisis, and it is difficult to tease out the benefit and disadvantages to farmers and customers alike. During the harvest season in 2020, income disruption and an increase in SNAP benefits and enrollment was reported. There was an increased interest in CSA shares for produce from the community-at-large along with the USDA Farm to Families produce distribution through the food banks and local community organizations increasing the availability of local produce at no cost to the shopper/customer. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The training and professional devlopment provided by the project included thatViva Farms SNAP cost-off set CSA model was shared at professional meetings including the WSU Food System, Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior, and National Extension Family and Consumer Science Association. Lessons learned from the project were many, however: Production planning is critical to both a positive farmer and customer experience. Planning supports providing a well-rounded, appetizing CSA box each week and facilitates farmers growing he right products in the right quantities to fulfill the program. As the predictability of the size of the CSA leveled out after the first few years, the reliability of harvested produce improved, benefitting farmers and customer. Being willing and able to seek out and apply feedback is critical to meeting the needs of lo-income consumers. Iterating the program each year based on feedback, then seeing the feedback evolve and participation increase based on our program adjustments was inspiring. Partnering with likely and unlikely partnerships contributed to the success of recruiting the SNAP customers. The most effective outreach/marketing strategy for customer recruitment was through direct mail promotion in partnership with DSHS. There was positive responses to weekly newsletter and recipes provided and the list of weekly box contents. It's critical to understand the rhythm of SNAP benefit distribution in designing your CSA. There was a learning curve to understanding the NAP benefit distribution pattern and how to best accommodate that while still marketing the program in a simple way. SNAP benefits are distributed to recipients over the first two weeks of the month, rather on the first day of the month. When writing the grant, the team did not know about 4 week re-up of benefits thereby putting at risk losing a CSA customer every 4 weeks. Once SNAP customers were clear on payment pattern, it allowed them to establish a schedule, an expectation of when the payment was required. During the first year, SNAP payment/EBT swipe was only accepted at Viva Farms, which is located about 5-10 miles from the primary population. Originally the program was advertised as payment (swipe EBT) once every 4 weeks. When it was realized that each customer receives their SNAP benefits at a different day of the month, a system of monitoring payment with reminders for SNAP customer was established. To accommodate customer needs, the number of SNAP EBT swipe sites was increased from one (1) to five (5). SNAP Customers have to pay in person (rather than online), so additional EBT payment portals were purchased to equip the additional sites. Also, adjustments were made to allow customers to pay partially with SNAP benefits and with another method (cash/check). As per SNAP regulation, customers can only buy food 2 weeks in advance. This drove Viva Farms decision to market the program as "buy 2 get 2 free". If audited by SNAP, this promotion/payment strategy would meet the USDA regulation. Discussion to change wording to "buy one, get one free" and then to "50% off". Extra time is needed to track EBT payments and train volunteers. Over time, payment tracking became easier, however, a significant amount of time was spent each week (3-4hrs) making volunteer sheets and tracking payments. Since volunteers did not have access to internal data base, they asked questions that were not answered until the following week. A guide for volunteers accepting EBT was established, and a training session was presented for the volunteer at each of the five SNAP payment site. Purchase of necessary equipment to support SNAP transactions is necessary - receipt printers and iPad needed for each site that completes transactions for SNAP customers. Good communication with partners and customers is key. The local impact of the global pandemic was felt before the 2020 harvest season began due to uncertainty of operation of the distribution sites, and safety protocols in aggregation and packing. The Viva Farms sales team had to pivot to identify new sites to replace organizations and businesses that were not open to the public during lock downs. A significant amount of time was spent by the sales team providing customer service to answer safety questions. The team explored state and local guidance on how to make CSA box distribution safe for customers. Strategies adopted included incorporating masks and hand sanitizer at pick-up sites, using one-time use plastic tote liners, and social distancing in packing and distribution, above the usual food safety plan. Once the details were figured out, distribution went very smoothly. A small grant from the Nutrition Incentive Hub was received to implement COVID safety protocols. Building customer loyalty takes time. Over the course of the grant cycle, SNAP customers were retained week to week season to season at an ever-greater rate. Listen and respond to your customers and your program will evolve successfully. We heard from some customers that they would appreciate a lower cost option, but that they did not qualify for SNAP benefits for one reason or another. Further, we heard from full price customers that they'd appreciate a way to donate a box or share to lower income community members. As a result, Viva Farms created a new sliding-scale pricing structure starting the season after the grant ended. The sliding-scale structure has four share tiers: standard price, higher income (standard price plus 25%), lower income (standard price minus 25%) and SNAP shares (standard price minus 50%). Customers self-select the share that best suites their financial situation. So far, the model is self-sustaining. The food education that went along with the produce, videos and recipes gave the customers increased confidence with unfamiliar foods. Partnering with the Culinary school and College media departments was a cost-effective way to create food education videos and support materials. Scheduling the video production in line with produce at the time of the harvest provided a representation of the box contents. A template was developed to provide consistent presentation of the recipes. The recipes gleaned from USDA and Extension resources were available in English, and many available in Spanish. It was valuable to have many reviews of the material, not only for the language but the context. For example, the common English expression for the liquid in the bean prep is referred to as 'Pot Liquour'or 'Pot Likker' which translate to an offensive wording in Spanish. The phrase was cut from the materials. The captions on the videos were in English and translated to Spanish using an interpreter. Errors were noted by Viva Farms staff when reviewing the short-form videos altering us to the need to recheck all the translation. The value of having a review process, especially in translation for context and content, was reinforced. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?A total of 67 outreach and dissemination activities occurred throughout the grant period, reaching well over 1,000 individuals. These activities included DSHS lobby take-over with posters and table displays to engage SNAP customers in health promotion activities and messaging, social media posting, supermarket tours, weekly meetings with DSHS staff during Nutrition Month provided useful information ad talking points to share with the SNAP customer and interview on local radio station KSVR in English and Spanish. The recipe-prep and cooking demo videos were disseminated via the internet reaching an impressive 7,161 views in less than a year of being online. These videos were also shared with providers and community agencies that serve families with limited resources and the USDA SNAP-ed program. The cost analysis of CSA and local produce was shared with community partners and is the subject of a manuscript on CSA cost-off set. The development and feedback from the CSA recipe-prep videos will be presented at the International Food Studies conference in October 2021. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Viva Farms (VF) guided farmers' production to fulfill the needs of the CSA and wholesale programs through annual production planning meetings with all incubating farmers and wholesale customers, along with CSA customer feedback. VF conducted daily and weekly follow-up with farmers throughout each season to give feedback to farmers regarding quality and CSA harvest, washing and packing and aggregation schedules in order to meet the deadlines of delivery and customer pick-up. VF negotiated and signed marketing agreements with 10 farm businesses in 2019 and 6 in 2020 (lower due to COVID-19 disruptions). VF aggregated product for both CSA and wholesale programs each year resulting in a total of $1,288,140 in wholesale sales (157% increase from Y1 to Y4 of the grant) and 16,517 CSA boxes aggregated/delivered. Because SNAP customers' benefits renew at different times, VF offered CSA sign-up and payment every week throughout the CSA season in order to maximize accessibility and minimize barriers to low-income customers. Over the course of the grant, VF grew from 1 to 5 SNAP payment/sign-up sites and through those sites. Partnerships were established with stakeholders and community agencies serving shoppers using SNAP benefits. The partners included the Food Bank Directors Association, Dept. of Social and Health Services (DSHS), Head Start, WIC, Community Action, Catholic Community Services, YMCA, Farmers Market Coalition, Friendship House, Skagit County Public Health Department, Senior Services, Work Source, WSU SNAP-Ed Nutrition Education, Skagit County elementary schools (>80% Free and Reduced Meal rate), Goodwill Education Center, and Skagit Transit. Partner Washington State University (WSU) initiated a Healthy Eating Active Living campaign to promote the intake of fresh local produce. In support of this effort, the County Board of Health signed a proclamation which promoted fresh, local produce as part of a healthy diet. The local DSHS office provided a tabling space and bulletin boards to post Healthy Eating messages; in addition to a 'lobby take-over" opportunity during March 2019 and 2020 which corresponded to CSA sign. The Skagit Transit system posted handbills listing the different options for the purchase of fresh produce with incentives including the cost off-set CSA and Farmers Market "Double Up Bucks". VF marketed the CSA through social media outlets, websites, email marketing and print collateral along with interviews aired on the local radio. VF sent digital and print marketing materials to partners to distribute amongst their networks. A suite of food education materials was created over the duration of the grant cycle. These included print recipes with illustrated step-by-step and information on food safety and storage, 36 recipe videos that featured produce from the CSA box, 11 cooking class/demo videos with accompanying print recipes and 25 Harvest Sheets with information on selection, storage, and food preservation techniques. VF also worked with WA State Dept. of Health and DSHS to send CSA promotional postcards to all SNAP-eligible individuals residing in the zip codes to which the CSA distributes. VF distributed 8,618 mailers in 2019 and 10,298 in 2020. Farmigo CSA account management software sent a reminder email to all customers each week, along with weekly CSA Newsletter with box contents. Site volunteers record uncollected shares in tracking form. Conversations with SNAP shoppers and other programs regarding offering in-person classes highlighted several barriers including class times, childcare concerns, and transportation. A series of recipe-prep videos, modeled on the Tasty short video format, was developed in partnership with Skagit Valley Culinary School (SVCS) to offer an alternative to in-person classes that addressed those concerns. Eleven cooking class-style videos were developed with the SVCS chef using CSA produce boxes based on SNAP recipe guidelines. The cooking class was filmed and edited and print recipes were created and translated to Spanish, and posted on YouTube. The video recordings were promoted through bilingual posting on social media, VF newsletter, and distribution of promotional rack card with QR weblink code in partnership with community partners. The SVCS series was featured in an article Skagit Herald newspaper on the July 21, 2020. During the CSA harvest season, weekly posts on social media highlighted the CSA providing farm-fresh local, seasonal produce at a 50% discount to SNAP customers. 36 short cooking videos were also filmed using recipes from USDA and Extension, selected based on the cultural preference of the audience (high percent of Latinx families). Recipes had five or fewer affordable main ingredients and used common items found in most kitchens. The videos featured the CSA produce illustrating simple cooking skills, and were set to music with no narrative but rather included both English and Spanish captions. The videos were posted on the VF and WSU Family Living website and YouTube channels. Videos were posted each week on social media to correspond with produce that was offered in the CSA box with a link for printing recipe cards. There was a 50% increase in video views following social media posts. The recipes have 7,161 views in just their first year online! CSA enrollment information was shared with food bank partners, and the WSU SNAP-Ed program offered bi-weekly food demos at Helping Hands Food Bank featuring fresh produce. 300 rack cards with links to the Farm to Family Video Recipes were distributed at Skagit County Housing Authority. During the 2020 season, WSU staff participated in the distribution of CSA food boxes at the Community Action Food Distribution to talk about different ways of preparing the produce in the weekly box. VF operated a full-price CSA option throughout the duration of grant, and adjusted the produce assortment each week based on seasonal availability. By 2020, VF with the help of 852 total hours of volunteer time, packed, stored and distributed approximately 375 boxes per week., Thanks to CARES Act funding, VF packed and distributed an additional 4,025 produce boxes to food-insecure families and individuals in the final year of the grant. Ahead of the 2020 season, VF transitioned from two 14-week seasons to one 25-week season, to improve customer retention, thereby creating more sales stability for farmers. Rather than conducting two annual membership drives, we only had to conduct one, then were able to use the extra time to focus on great quality and service to retain customers. Customer retention increased significantly and feedback from farmers at the end of 2020 confirmed unanimously that this change was very effective. CSA sales doubled from 2019 to 2020 (from $98K to $198K), in part thanks to this change. Data showed notable year over year growth with an increase of from zero SNAP-CSA boxes is year 1 to 109 in year 2 to 631 in year 3 and 940 in year 4. A total of 460 customers participated in the program with 62 unique SNAP customers or 13.4% of total participation. Over the life of the grant (2017-2021 representing 3 harvest seasons - 2018, 2019, 2020) 1,680 SNAP boxes were sold out of 16,919 total boxes sold representing 10% of sales. In the final year of the project, 940 SNAP boxes were sold out of 8,056 total boxes for 25-week season representing 12% of sales. A total of 921 customers participated in the CSA program with 126 unique SNAP customers or 13.7% of total participation. The CSA tool kit summarizing the program and how to execute it was created and is in the final stages of review prior to posting online.
Publications
|
Progress 06/01/19 to 05/31/20
Outputs
Target Audience:Skagit County is a geographically and culturally diverse community with a mix of extensive rural areas, four small cities, and a number of small towns and communities. In 2014, 17.8% of the population identified as Hispanic or Latino. [1] Mount Vernon, the largest city in Skagit County, has the highest Hispanic population with 54.7% of children within the Mount Vernon School District identifying as Hispanic in the 2014-2015 school year. [2] Rural Northwest Washington Skagit County has some of the most productive soil in the world. Local farmers produce $300 million annually in over 80 different commercial food crops including produce, wheat, vegetable seed, poultry, and dairy products. [3] Unfortunately, 38% of Skagit Valley farmland has been lost since 1940 shrinking from 150,000 to 93,000 today. [4] American Farmland Trust designated the region the fifth most threatened agricultural region in the nation. As of 2012, the average age of a farmer in Washington was 58.8. In the next 20 years, 70% of all Washington State farmers are expected to retire. [4] The number of farms in Skagit County have decreased 12% from 2007 to 2012. [4] Our project will connect SNAP beneficiaries and other community members to fresh produce grown on local family farms. It is estimated that one in seven households in Skagit County experiences food insecurity, and one in four children live in food insecure households. [5] Twenty-two percent of county children live in poverty. [6] Skagit unemployment rate remains above Washington State's at (6.4%). In January 2015, 11,303 households representing 12,143 adults and 8,248 children received SNAP in Skagit County. [7] Additionally, three Skagit County census tracts are designated food deserts: 1) the city of Concrete and surrounding East Skagit County, 2) northwestern Sedro-Woolley, and 3) east Mount Vernon. [8] A new report from the White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) regarding the SNAP, features research that shows benefit levels are often inadequate to sustain families through the end of the month. [8] Farms to Families CSA will address this directly by creating an incentive program that intentionally effects access levels the second half of the month. Skagit Food for Skagit People (SFSP) project funded by a USDA Community Food Projects Competitive Grants Program (CFPCGP) grant and lead by Community Action of Skagit County (CA) and Washington State University Skagit County Extension (WSU Ext.) completed a Community Food Assessment. Six listening sessions, including 54 low-income participants of which 30% were Hispanic, guided stakeholders in the development of a comprehensive response to food access and nutrition issues. SFSP thoroughly identified and discussed the current food security barriers, and created a vision for a food secure county. 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?Outreach has been conducted and information disseminated to communities of interest through 34 different events such as conferences, presentations, field days, tours and more attended by over 1,000 attendees. See below for list of specifics. Date Event Description Attendees Location Topic 6/4/19 Jefferson School Field Day at Viva Farms 150 Viva Farms prompted Viva CSA and consumption of local produce to families/teachers of children participating 6/5/19 WSU Food Preservation class WSU Education 6/14/19 Skagit Valley College Culinary Student conference at NWREC 48 NWREC Mount Vernon Local produce availability, CSA to include in culinary cooking 6/24/19 WSU Diabetes Prevention Class Education 6/26/19 WSU Joint Family and Consumer Science meeting 106 Seattle Presented on Farm to Family CSA project to inform colleagues of strategies to increase local, seasonal produce for limited resourced consumers 7/15/19 Sustainable Connections Chef Tour 16 Mount Vernon, WA 8/02/19 WWU Students Gigi Berardi's Class 15 Mount Vernon, WA 8/14/19 Cloud Mountain Interns 10 Mount Vernon, WA 8/23/19 Northwest Outward Bound School 23 Mount Vernon, WA 9/11/19 Head Start Advisory Committee meeting 23 Mount Vernon, WA How to engage Head Start families in Farm to Family CSA 9/13/19 Mount Vernon Library student cooking class 16 Mount Vernon, WA Using CSA produce in cooking simple, easy recipe with highlight on Stir-fry cooking 9/25/19 InReach Conference 38 Mount Vernon, WA How to engage limited resourced families in Farm to Family CSA 10/10/19 Seattle City Parks South End 5 Mount Vernon, WA SNAP CSA potential site 10/15/19 Skagit Transit county-wide Skagit County Poster on Ways to get Produce in Skagit County posted in public buses for the month of September and October 10/15/19 Goodwill Training Center 100 Mount Vernon, WA Handout on Ways to Get Produce in Skagit County distributed to clients and training center attendees 10/23/19 National Farm Viability Conference 15 Red Wing, MN Training beginning farmers 10/23/19 Head Start Advisory committee meeting 23 Mount Vernon, WA Engaging Head Start families in Farm to Family CSA 11/4/19 Skagit County Commissioners 3+ Mount Vernon, WA Presented on Farm to Family CSA at quarterly update on CSA project, recorded and available on public television channel 12 11/14/19 Focus on Farming 200 Everett, WA Beginning farmer track, cut flowers, agroforestry, meat production, hemp production 1/27/20 SVC ENVAG 271 Class 5 Mount Vernon, WA Viva Overview & Business Incubator 2/6/2020 Population Health Trust 35 Mount Vernon, WA PSE approach to increase veggie and fruit intake, promote Viva CSA cost-off for families with limited resources 2/19/20 Mount Vernon Rotary (am group) 46 Mount Vernon, WA Intro to VF, CSA & current needs 2/20/20 Youth and Family Unit meeting 16 Mount Vernon, WA Farm to Family CSA delivery model, strengths and opportunities. 2/24/20 La Conner Rotary 29 La Conner, WA Intro to VF, CSA & current needs 2/25/20 Mount Vernon Rotary (pm group) 31 Mount Vernon, WA Intro to VF, CSA & current needs 2/25/20 Skagit County Commissioners 3+ Mount Vernon, WA PSE campaign to increase fruit and veggie intake, Nutrition Month Proclamation 2/28/20 Burlington Rotary (am group) 15 Burlington, WA Intro to VF & current needs 3/5/20 DSHS CSO 20 Mount Vernon, WA F2F CSA box information for agency staff to promote to clients. co-presented with Katie (on-Zoom) and myself in-person 3/6/20 Western Washington University 28 Bellingham, WA Description of CSA cost-offset programs to increase access to healthy foods for improved community health 3/12/20 Sustainable Connections 15 Bellingham, WA Presentation on marketing product for Food to Bank on Class 3/24/20 Diabetes Prevention Program 12 Mount Vernon, WA Information on Farm to Family CSA to increase intake of vegetables to meet guidelines promoted in the guidelines diabetes prevention program 4/13/20 Kirkland Rotary Club 31 via Zoom remote: Burlington/Kirkland, WA Intro to VF, CSA & current needs 4/15/20 Seattle Rotary Sustainability Committee 9 via WebEX Intro to VF, CSA & current needs 5/20/20 South Park Community 7 via Zoom CSA recruitment and intro to VF What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The final year of the grant will focus on applying all of the learning to date to recruit the largest number of SNAP and non-SNAP CSA customers possible through the most effective means of outreach. We will also release all of our recipe and educational video content to educate and build knowledge in consumers that drives continuous healthy eating behavior. We will also focus on refining the final survey and evaluation tools to best capture comprehensive and conclusive date to share.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Activity 19: Conduct yearly CSA surveys to identify and set new goals and a plan to measure results.VF sent out a customer survey at the end of the 2019 Summer season, and again at the end of the 2019 Fall season that are available upon request. Activity 20: Organize weekly volunteers to pack CSA shares, and assist with distribution.6-8 volunteers regularly packed the CSA each week throughout 2019. VF staff distribute, and 4 volunteers managed pick up/EBT swipe sites. Volunteer sign in sheets for 2019 season are available upon request. Activity 21: Provide CSA participants with nutrition class, recipe or food fact sheets at CSA pick-up locations.Recipe sheets were developed for distribution as a single page handout in English on one side and Spanish on the other side. CSA customers were able to pick up the recipe that corresponded with the produce item available in the box the week of pick-up. For example, when kohlrabi was included in the CSA box as a recipe for Kohlrabi salad was available to customers at the pick-up site. Recipes are also posted online for easy access. Activity 22: Update outreach materials for CSA program promotion & Healthy Eating PSE campaign.Outreach material shared with DSHS office, parents of Head Start youth, and food bank shoppers included a Healthy Habit Challenge, PSE messages on "How to get fresh produce in Skagit" was shared with transit bus system with a total of 65 total posters distributed to Skagit Transit and displayed in buses throughout Skagit county, 25 posters for the Goodwill training center, 5 posters at the WIC office, and posters displayed at the Skagit DSHS CSO. Healthy Habit Challenge and "How to get fresh produce in Skagit" posters are available upon request. Activity 23: Collaborate with WSU and other partners in marketing a local farm to family CSA program.VF continued to lead the marketing efforts in 2019, and collaborated with WSU, Catholic Community Services, local radio stations, and others to promote. VF also participated in ongoing tabling events, in-person promotion, and community presentations to promote SNAP CSA. VF also worked with Western Washington University social marketing students on marketing efforts for the SNAP CSA. We dedicated 40 social media posts on Facebook and Instagram to promoting our CSA throughout the year. Finally, VF worked with Washington State Department of Health and Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) to send a promotional mailer out to every household on record as receiving SNAP benefits in all zip codes in Skagit County (8,618 households total). Mailer is available upon request. Survey responses from SNAP shoppers indicate that the Mailers were the most common ways SNAP shoppers learned of the program (60%). To a lesser extent, DSHS worker (20%) and posted flyers (20%) were ways SNAP participants heard about the CSA. Activity 24: Coordinate weekly text message, email, or phone call reminders for CSA share participants.Farmigo CSA account management software sends a reminder email to all customers each week. Site volunteers record uncollected shares in tracking form. VF also provides member sign in sheet each week, which is used to note uncollected NON-SNAP shares. Activity 25: Partner with FINI master evaluator.The master evaluator, Westat, has discontinued its contract with FINI so no further activity to report in this area at this time. Activity 26: Create evaluation: update survey instruments & data collection forms, provide bi-annual reports.Survey tools were updated to collect feedback online from CSA customers on their CSA experience and feedback from the video recipes. A phone-based survey was not pursued to reduce the survey load on families. Survey template available upon request. Activity 27: Collect evaluation data.Cost comparisons of CSA and other market channels were completed this finding that the SNAP-CSA box provides between 35-45 recommend serving of fruit and vegetables. This meets the suggested intake for 1 adult for one week or half of the suggested intake for a family of two. The average retail cost of comparable produce is estimated to be $32.00. Another way of stating this is that the SNAP-CSA provides a ~33% discount on weekly produce. This is a cost saving of $88.00 per month ($32x4 weeks =$128, compared to $40 for 4 weeks). Survey feedback on recipes from year 3 concluded that the recipes were well received, giving customers ideas on how to use the food in the box. Many of the foods are unfamiliar - kohlrabi, squashes, chard, kale. Survey results available upon request. Activity 28: Analyze data & disseminate evaluation findings.One respondent asked about signing up for the 2020 season when the survey was sent out. Highlights include that 77.7% of respondents said they would sign-up again for the Viva CSA produce box, 88.9% said that the Viva CSA box made produce more affordable to buy and 88.9% said they ate more produce because of the VF CSA box.?
Publications
|
Progress 06/01/18 to 05/31/19
Outputs
Target Audience:Skagit County is a geographically and culturally diverse community with a mix of extensive rural areas, four small cities, and a number of small towns and communities. In 2014, 17.8% of the population identified as Hispanic or Latino. [1] Mount Vernon, the largest city in Skagit County, has the highest Hispanic population with 54.7% of children within the Mount Vernon School District identifying as Hispanic in the 2014-2015 school year. [2] Rural Northwest Washington Skagit County has some of the most productive soil in the world. Local farmers produce $300 million annually in over 80 different commercial food crops including produce, wheat, vegetable seed, poultry, and dairy products. [3] Unfortunately, 38% of Skagit Valley farmland has been lost since 1940 shrinking from 150,000 to 93,000 today. [4] American Farmland Trust designated the region the fifth most threatened agricultural region in the nation. As of 2012, the average age of a farmer in Washington was 58.8. In the next 20 years, 70% of all Washington State farmers are expected to retire. [4] The number of farms in Skagit County have decreased 12% from 2007 to 2012. [4] Our project will connect SNAP beneficiaries and other community members to fresh produce grown on local family farms. It is estimated that one in seven households in Skagit County experiences food insecurity, and one in four children live in food insecure households. [5] Twenty-two percent of county children live in poverty. [6] Skagit unemployment rate remains above Washington State's at (6.4%). In January 2015, 11,303 households representing 12,143 adults and 8,248 children received SNAP in Skagit County. [7] Additionally, three Skagit County census tracts are designated food deserts: 1) the city of Concrete and surrounding East Skagit County, 2) northwestern Sedro-Woolley, and 3) east Mount Vernon. [8] A new report from the White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) regarding the SNAP, features research that shows benefit levels are often inadequate to sustain families through the end of the month. [8] Farms to Families CSA will address this directly by creating an incentive program that intentionally effects access levels the second half of the month. Skagit Food for Skagit People (SFSP) project funded by a USDA Community Food Projects Competitive Grants Program (CFPCGP) grant and lead by Community Action of Skagit County (CA) and Washington State University Skagit County Extension (WSU Ext.) completed a Community Food Assessment. Six listening sessions, including 54 low-income participants of which 30% were Hispanic, guided stakeholders in the development of a comprehensive response to food access and nutrition issues. SFSP thoroughly identified and discussed the current food security barriers, and created a vision for a food secure county. Changes/Problems:Our SNAP customer numbers are lagging butonly due to timing issues with the grant.We originally wrote the grant to begin 9/1/7, so our first CSA season should have started in June 2018. However, the terms of the grant changed so Y2 of the CSA started in June 2018 instead of June 2019. As a result, our numbers are 3 months behind. We were told that we would be able to get a no cost extension to complete Y4 of the CSA. In Y2 of the CSA (6/13/18-12/19/18), we had 130 customers (goal of 210)for total CSA sales of $57,972, a 114% increase over 2017, which includes 14 SNAP customers (goal of 84)for $2,405 in sales. The success of Farm to Families CSA project is contingent not only upon selling CSA shares to low-income consumers, thereby increasing access to locally-grown food, but also upon the consumer base undergoing significant behavioral changes regarding shopping and eating preferences, as well as increasing their knowledge of whole foods, specifically fresh and seasonal produce. Therefore, it is important to understand that the trajectory of this project must take into account the period of time required to support consumers in these behavioral changes. If we look strictly at the numbers of CSA shares sold, we will see that they are below our projected numbers in the workplan. However, if we consider each interaction with a SNAP customer as a touchpoint toward encouraging changes in shopping and eating habits, we can recognize that since the beginning of the grant period, we have been building the foundation to support the behavioral changes that will lead to increase long-term CSA customers. Over the past 2 years of this grant, we have focused on education and outreach because we believe that this is required to truly see behavior shifts in our consumer base. We see this approach as the most effective model to achieve long-term food security in our community. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?1. Co-PI attended Project Director meetings in Washington DC NIFA offices from May 7 - May 9. This fourth annual Project Director meeting for the Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive (FINI) program was held on May 8 - 10, 2019 at the Waterfront Centre, 800 9th Street SW, Washington, DC. This year there was also a combined FINI and Community Food Projects (CFP) meeting on Wednesday, May 8, 2019.; 2. Co-PI participated in FINI community webinar trainings offered by Westat Evaluation Team in June, Sept, December 2018 and March6 June 2019; 3.The Westat Newsletter was received and reviewed by the Co-PI and forwarded to the team in June, Sept 2018 and February, April and August 2019. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Our community outreach and presentation about CSA and SNAP CSA were as follows: 7/14/18 Tabling at Farmstrong Brewing's Smoke-off (we also benefited from this event and sold merchandise, but we promoted the general CSA there) 8/23/18 Anacortes DSHS Mobile Resource Truck event. Amber Phillips, who was interning with Diane, represented Viva tabling at this event for 4 hours. 9/4/18 Delivered a resupply of flyers to Head Start contact Keith Boller and to Community Action Food Distribution Center contact Cole Bitzenberg 2/20/19 Emerson High School 3/12/19 KSVR local radio station interview with Diane Smith 3/18 & 3/21/19 DSHS Lobby Takeover 4/5/19 Initial outreach with key Community Action of Skagit Co. dept. leads (Justin Keefeet.al.) 4/5/19 Presentation to Mount Vernon Manor-Senior/low income Apartments mgr. leads (Mary Lauriano & team) 4/8/19 The Food Bank Distribution Center (Cole Bitzenburg & staff) 4/8/19 The Concrete Farm to School Advisory Committee mtg. (initial introduction) 4/10/19 "Spotlight on Skagit" networking event 4/12/19 Washington School introductory mtg. with Principal & staff (see 4/30 event) 4/16/19 Sea Mar Health Clinics 4/19/19 The United General Hosp. Dist. 304 office 4/19/19 Katy and Steve met with Rachel Muia at United General for 1 hour to discuss our SNAP CSA and try to work out how we would partner for delivery to Concrete Farm to School Classroom 4/22/19 Presentation to Seattle Parks & Rec. and South Park team 4/23/19 The La Conner School Dist.- School Garden Club & Parent mtg. 4/24/19 United Way FamilyPalooza event 4/29/19 SNAP CSA flyers resupply to Cole Bitzenberg 4/29/19 United General follow up meeting on partnering with Rachel Muia, Katy and Anna 5/16/19 Tabling at Sakata Seed Health fair 4/30/19 The Washington School Multi-Cultural Night, (Mt. Vernon School District) event 5/6/19 Additional presentation to Concrete Farm to School Advisory Committee 5/14/19 1095 Skagit Child Nutrition Coalition 5/15/19 Anacortes School District "Innovations" Night event 5/15/19 Skagit-Island Co. Head Start Luncheon 5/20/19 KSVR local radio station interview with Katy/ Anna 5/21/19 Community Action of Skagit Co. office & WIC - Staff meeting 6/5/19 WSU Food Preservation class 6/24/19 WSU Diabetes Prevention Class What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will continue to work our full activity chart as all of our activities are ongoing for the full 4 years of the grant with numbers increasng each year. Our goal for year 4 is to pack, store and distribute 300 CSA shares per week by the end of the growing season.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Activity 1: VF worked with farmers to guide production, specifically for CSA program & organized & aggregated, packed CSA boxes for 28 weeks & delivered to 8 locations in Skagit county & 4 locations in Seattle. Activity 2: VF staff worked 1:1 with VF incubator farmers on a production planning process for the CSA. We began this process in January to ensure that farmers had time to incorporate production for the CSA into their overall production plan for the year. All 18 incubator farm businesses growing food contributed to the CSA throughout the 28 weeks. Activity 3: We negotiated marketing agreements in English & Spanish in late Y2 for Y3 CSA. Activity 4: We offered CSA sign up for SNAP customers through Mobile Market+ Select app at VF pick up site every week rather than once a month during the 28-week CSA because SNAP recipients receive their benefits at different times throughout the month resulting in some customers already having spent all of their benefits by the first week of the month. Accepting payment weekly has made the program accessible to all SNAP customers, regardless of when they receive their benefits each month. Activity 5: We partnered with community groups & social service agencies to promote PSE & recruitment at United Way Bright Beginnings Palooza on 4/24/19 & at DSHS "lobby takeover" to promote SNAP-CSA. Activity 6: Class offerings are posted on WSU & VF Facebook page, website & in the VF CSA newsletter. Flyers announcing class offerings are shared with Head Start, WIC, DSHS & Community Action. Activity 7: WSU SNAP-Ed program conducts bi-weekly recipe tasting/serving ideas at Helping Hands other food banks featuring seasonal produce. SNAP-CSA outreach material is shared with food bank shoppers. Activity 8: Recipes for food education videos have been selected with input from stakeholders & are translated/available in Spanish. 15 filming sessions have been completed. By October 2019, 36 videos will be posted on VF YouTube channel with links to WSU. Activity 9: Recipe & fact sheets are provided at all pick-up sites. The weekly VF newsletter has recipes, produce tips, & information about the. Activity 10: Environmental supports to promote increased intake of fruit & vegetables include bus ads, DSHS lobby take-over, social media posting, and did underwriting for 102 announcements on two local radio stations KSVR and KAPS, including in Spanish. Activity 23: Our CSA software automatically sends a pickup reminder email to customers each week. Over the course of 28 weeks, we sent 3,640 unique email communications to CSA customers. Activity 11: We have managed the overall project per our management plan with appropriate meeting cadence, goal/ activity monitoring. Activity 12: We did not have quarterly meetings with stakeholder farmers & customers because of the burden of issues with farmer availability during peak season and challenges with transportation & mobility for SNAP customers, but we did act as a liaison and maintain frequent & clear communication between the groups. Activity 13: VF staff & partners have met bi-monthly to discuss strategies for effective implementation of the SNAP CSA. Activity 14: We modified our framework for membership to make is more accessible by allowing customers to pay for just 2 wks at a time instead of 4 based on customer feedback. We added 4 pickup sites in Seattle to expand our distribution area. Activity 15: We have been incorporating full price shares since the beginning of the program. Activity 16: Adjust produce assortment. We provide a different mix of seasonal produce each week featuring 8-10 fruits & vegetables. Activity 17: We had 130 customers for total CSA sales of $57,972, a 114% increase over 2017, which includes 14 SNAP customers for $2,405 in sales. This is short of our goal of 210 due to the early start of the grant (our numbers are 3 months behind). Activity 18: We sent a survey to CSA customers & received 62 responses. We identified opportunities such as unwillingness to commit to purchase for later delivery, desire to choose vegetables & fruits, lack of familiarity with produce & how to prepare it & a preference for ready to eat items. Activity 19: We had 7 regular weekly CSA packing volunteers. Activity 20: Our sales goal was 40% of CSA shares sales to be SNAP shoppers and our results were just short of 11%. Activity 22: Diane Smith participated in conference call with FINI Master Evaluator on November 5, 2018. Activity 24: We collaborated to create a handbill to promote SNAP-CSA as a bus ad & distributed to locations frequented by SNAP Shoppers & with WA Dept. of Health to create a bilingual SNAP CSA postcard that we sent to SNAP-eligible households in Skagit County. We worked with WWU social marketing students on a marketing campaign. Activity 25: 24 recipes/food fact sheets were developed & distributed at pick-up sites for all CSA customers. WSU Food Preservation class offered to CSA customers May, 2019. One regular CSA customer enrolled but no SNAP customers. Activity 26: WSU created posters to promote the CSA at targeted locations frequented by SNAP shoppers including buses, laundry mats, libraries, Head Start & WIC, etc. We also ran ads in Cascadia Weekly, on Facebook and at the Lincoln Theatrein May/ June2019. Activity 27: Evaluation: Diane Smith from WSU created survey tool for feedback from SNAP shoppers, VF & partners.
Publications
|
Progress 06/01/17 to 05/31/18
Outputs
Target Audience:Viva Farms and our partners, WSU Skagit County Extension and Catholic Community Services Farmworker Center, provided outreach to SNAP beneficiaries in the latino and Farmworker community regarding our SNAP incentive CSA. A stakeholder meeting was held February 23rd at Skagit Valley College. The stakeholders present included both SNAP beneficiaries and farmers who are planning to grow produce for the CSA. Outreach efforts were planned for other venues, and posters were created and distributed in places where SNAP beneficiaries would see them. 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?Events. A listening session with Hispanic families, a priority population was held Friday February 23 at Skagit Valley College, 6 - 7:30 pm attended by - staff 6; translator Spanish to English; Male 5; Female 19; children 5. The presentation was held in Spanish with English translation for those few staff that had limited Spanish skills. Findings used for planning and implementation of F2F project. Outreach/Services. Presentations. Outreach presentations at 10 locations to describe program to social service agencies who could then help spread the word. Agencies include- Community Action, WIC, Food Bank, Latino Advisory Council, Children Nutrition Coalition, Skagit Pediatrics, Dept of Social and Health Services, Resource Network meeting, Print media. (1) News article in Skagit Valley Herald, 5/10/2017 https://www.goskagit.com/news/viva-farms-rolling-out-csa-program/article_44760c31-6ee8-55c2-a1f9-cd1664d1d05a.html (circulation 51,300) (2) Ideas for Healthy Living Newsletter May/June 2018 https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/2073/2018/05/May-June-2018.pdf?x94038 (circulation ~520) (3) 309 printed information cards and posters distributed widely in the community at sites in King and Skagit county-neighborhood community centers, churches, hospital clinics, libraries, neighborhood businesses (retail, food, laundromats, thrift stores, libraries). Electronic media - 114 email announcements sent out, and weekly post on Facebook with 7-15 likes recorded (1)Facebook page established with 2,429 followers. Weekly postings of Farm2Family Box Example: Viva Farms June 20 at 3:07 PM·Instagram·Here's what springtime looks like! CSA Round Two??????#vivaCSA#saladfordays#organicfarming Instagram - followers Weekly post What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We are continuing our monthly project meetings in order for everyone to stay up-to-date on progress and changes. The team is still sorting out what works best with respect to recruiting and retaining SNAP CSA customers, and so our processes are really fluid. We will continue outreach efforts through the summer and into early fall. Our CSA season runs till Thanksgiving.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Goals 1, 2: Establish CSA distribution site and pricing. Identified and established three (3) locations for CSA box drop off and pick-up in communities convenient for Hispanic families - Casa de Azuel (near the La Paloma Migrant Apartment complex), Casa de San Jose (a migrant worker housing complex) and Community Action. Decided on box size and cost - small for family of one or two = $20 per box; large for family of four or five = $35. Purchased hardware (tablets, portals) to accept payment and software to process and track orders. Goals 2, 3: Development of branding and marketing materials. Staff met with the Western Washington University social marketing class Wednesday, April 4 at 12:30 PM to recruit a team to design a brand and marketing materials to use to promote the program and use as a theme on customer recipes and fact sheets. Finished product will be used in marketing tools and templates for recipe card, produce fact sheet, and meet the farmer information sheet. Goals 2, 3: Enrollment. Enrollment of new SNAP CSA customers was scheduled at multiple sites. To date, enrollment dates and locations has been very flexible in order to accommodate SNAP participants schedules. The drop-off of the CSA box was scheduled for Wednesday, usually in the 12- 5 pm time frame,and varies slightly by location. In week one, 10 SNAP EBT customers enrolled. We currently have 4 iPads and the necessary equipment to process SNAP at 4 different locations simultaneously. Goal 4: Partner Meetings. Quarterly meetings with grant partners were initially scheduled, but soon turned to monthly meetings to update on project activities and plans. Staffing. Viva recruited and hired new staff member to work on the Farm2Family project. Staff met with farmers to provide TA on the type of produce shoppers expressed interest in purchasing. Staff participated in 3 Westat webinars.
Publications
|
|