Progress 06/01/17 to 05/31/20
Outputs
Target Audience:With this FINI project Experimental Station sought to expand access to affordable, locally grown fruits and vegetables for Illinois' SNAP population by extending SNAP incentives (Link Match) to two new types of venues: three Cook County community health centers located in south suburban Chicago--a highly food insecure area--and two retail food cooperatives, one operating in Bloomington, Illinois (central) and another in Carbondale, Illinois (far south). With more than 14% of our state's population receiving SNAP benefits, wealso sought to further expand Link Match for SNAP recipients shopping at more than 80 farmers markets in Chicago and in communities across Illinois. All of the markets and venues to which Link Up Illinois provides nutrition incentive funding received training and technical support to implement SNAP nutrition incentive programs. Changes/Problems:Experimental Station requested a 1-year no-cost extension on the project in order to reallocate to other Illinois farmers markets in 2019 FINI funds originally intended to support Link Match incentives at the Cook County Health & Hospitals Systemsmarkets.Our greatest challenge in carrying out this FINI project was working with a large bureaucracy that is also a hospital system. Cook County is the nation's second largest county. As such, its bureaucracy is very large, sometimes resulting in slow decision making and a lack of agility in resolving challenges as they arise. In addition, despite great enthusiasm for the project, CCHHS hospital management and staff and hospital patient flows are not set up to accommodate ongoing projects such as this. Integrating healthy food prescriptions and farmers markets into a clinical setting requires the hospital system to integrate information about the markets, SNAP and Link Match into all patient visits, food insecurity screenings, and outreach. This demands a great amountof commitment and willingness/ability on the part of the hospitals to alter protocols and practices. In some instances, it is difficult for them to do so, and in others simply not feasible.Further, onsite year-round farmersmarkets require year-round market management and outreach, whichthe hospital system was not able to provide itself. In spite of challenges, we were very pleased that Cook County also contributed additional funds to support the project. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Link Up Illinois' Program Managerprovided training and technical support to farmers market managers to obtain SNAP authorization, to implement SNAP and Link Match at their markets, and to promote their programs. Link Up Illinois also worked with Link Up Illinois partner markets to learn to implement Wholesome Wave's FM Tracks data tracking system. With expansion to brick-and-mortar venues, Link Up Illinois worked with the Green Top Grocery Co-op and Neighborhood Food Co-op to establish systems, practices and protocols for carrying out and administering a Link Match program. Link Up Illinois worked closely with Cook County Health & Hospitals System and Black Oaks farmers to create the community health center Fresh Markets,identifying market location and customer flow, providing general guidance and training on farmers market best practices, providing guidance on signage and promotion, etc. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Experimental Station produced a 2017, 2018, and 2019 Link Up Illinois annual report. Hard copies of the 2017 and 2018 reports were mailed to all Illinois State Representatives and State Senators, and in electronic form to program funders, farmers market partners, partnering organizations, and any other interested stakeholders and parties. Due to the coronavirus crisis, the 2019 Link Up Illinois Report was disseminated electronically to program funders, farmers market partners, partnering organizations, and other interested parties. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
With this FINI project, Experimental Station's Link Up Illinois program expanded access to affordable, locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables for Illinois' SNAP population by extending SNAP incentive programs to three Cook County community health centers located in south suburban Chicago and two retail food cooperatives, located in Bloomingtonand Carbondale, Illinois. We also provided SNAP incentives at new and continuing non-Chicago farmers markets, as well as underfunded Chicago markets. With targeted outreach in Chicago's mostfood insecure neighborhoods and a 3-week television advertising campaign in 2017,we continued to build awareness of the availability of Link Match incentives among Illinois' SNAP population. In partnership with Cook County Health & Hospitals System (CCHHS) and Black Oaks Center for Sustainable Living, Experimental Station's Link Up Illinois program launched three 'Fresh Markets' in south suburban Cook County community health centers. Working closely with CCHHS and Black Oaks, from 2017-2019, the Ford Heights, Oak Forest, and Robbins health centers each offered weekly markets selling fresh fruits, vegetables, grains, and other products provided by Black Oaks farmers to patients identified by CCHHS as food insecure. In addition, the markets offerednutrition education, provided by Dr. Jifunza Wright of Black Oaks Center.Patients receiving SNAP were able to spend their SNAP benefits at the Fresh Markets and, with Link Match,receive $20 of produce for $10. In addition, Black Oaks developed boxes of produce designed to respond to patients' dietary needs. To evaluate the impact of Link Match nutrition incentives on SNAP customer purchasing and consumption behavior, as well as self-reported health improvements experienced by SNAP customers since shopping at the CCHHS Fresh Markets, Experimental Station engaged Dr. Chelsea Singleton (Department of Kinesiology and Community Health, University of Illinois) to design a survey (in English and Spanish) and to provide analysis of the survey responses. Experimental Station hired staff to attend the CCHHS markets and to implement the survey, carried out over 4 markets. Link Up Illinois was also pleased to work with Green Top Grocery Co-op (Bloomington) and Neighborhood Food Co-op(Carbondale) to expand Link Match to a brick-and-mortar setting. With funding, training, technical assistance, and branding materials provided byLink Up Illinois, both food cooperatives did an impressive job of implementing and promoting their Link Match programs, which have continued through 2020. In partnership with CBS Broadcasting's Community Partnership Division, Experimental Station created30-second and 15-second Link Up Illinois television advertisements that were aired on Channel 2 fortargeted audiences over 3 weeks in July 2017 in Chicago and in the 6 surrounding counties. The ad aired approximately 90 times, reaching 2.5 million adults in the viewing area. FINI funding also allowed Experimental Station to hire a part-time program assistant. The program greatly benefited from the additional assistance, helping to prepare FINI/Westat reports, providing outreach in communities on Chicago'swest side and southern suburbs, and creating a promotionalvideo to run on closed circuit television atthe Cook County Health & Hospitals System clinics. Experimental Station's intended and measurable outcomes on this 2017-2020FINI project were: To develop new venues for SNAP clients to purchase and consume fresh fruits and vegetables year-round. By expanding nutrition incentives to 3 Cook County Health & Hospital Systems community health centersFresh Markets in 2017, we were able to generate $1,846 in combined SNAP and Link Match sales (Link Match limited to purchases of locally produced fruits and vegetables) in 2017 and, with expansion in 2018 to the Neighborhood Co-op (Carbondale) and Green Top Grocery Co-op (Bloomington), combined SNAP and Link Match sales of $113,206in 2018. In addition, from 2017-2018, 2,516SNAP clients shopping at the CCHHS Fresh Markets and food cooperatives gained affordable, year-round access to fruits and vegetables. To expand the Link Up Illinois network to include new Illinois markets located in- and outside of Chicago and Cook County. To this end,Link Up Illinois provided funds, training and technical support to 85 market sites in 2017 and 92 market sites and 4food cooperatives in 2018. 38 of these were non-Chicago sites in 2018, expanding from 23 in 2016. To increase SNAP client purchases of fresh fruits and vegetables at Illinois farmers markets by providing Link Match incentives at the point of purchase. With strong outreach and advertising, SNAP purchases at Link Up Illinois venues offering Link Match reached $273,108 in 2017 and $316,801 in 2018 (just short of our projected goal of $325,000, but expanded upon previous projections of $250,000 in SNAP purchases in 2017). Link Match redemptions in 2017 reached $246,218 and $250,906 in 2018 (expanding upon 2016 FINI projections of $225,000 in 2017). TotalSNAP, WICand Link Match purchasesin 2019 totaled $677,921, a 19% increase over 2018. To contribute to the understanding of the effectiveness of nutrition incentives in increasing the consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables among SNAP clients. 77.5% of 41 SNAP clients surveyed at three CCHHS Fresh Markets reported increased consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables as a result of shopping at the Fresh Markets and spending their SNAP and Link Match dollars. 71.43% of respondents stated that coming to the farmers market has improved their health (66% of respondents self-identified as obese, 39% as diabetic, 51% as having high blood pressure, 6% as suffering from cancer).84.6% of respondents reported that Link Match is important when deciding to spend their SNAP benefits.
Publications
- Type:
Other
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
In February-April 2018, 2019, and 2020 Experimental Station produced and distributed three annual reports for Link Up Illinois, which include information regarding the Link Up Illinois program generally, outcomes and survey results from 2017, 2018, and 2019, a list of our 2017, 2018, and 2019 farmers market partners, market partner spotlights, testimonials reported by farmers market partners about the programs impact in their communities, program goals for the upcoming year, and recognition of our funding partners.
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Progress 06/01/18 to 05/31/19
Outputs
Target Audience:Through our Link Up Illinois program, Experimental Station seeks to provide SNAP nutrition incentive funding, training and technical support to farmers markets and food cooperatives throughout Illinois. Our target audience is, ultimately, the 14+% of the Illinois population receiving SNAP. With a no-cost extension of this granting period, we were able, from June 2018 thru May2019, to grant $53,500 to 15farmers markets (one of these a mobile market serving several neighborhoods on Chicago's south side) out of FINI 2017funding. All of the sites targeted SNAP clients in their communities. Changes/Problems:While working with Cook County Health & Hospitals System,we encountered a number of obstacles, from which we have learned a lot: 1) A large bureaucracy--Cook County is the second largest county in the United States. CCHHS'very large bureaucracyresulted in slow decision making and a lack of agility in resolving challenges as they arose.2) Reporting challenges--With roles split between Black Oaks Center and CCHHS,and among 4-7 different staffers, there were too many people running the markets. Consequently,it became difficult to hold a singleindividual accountable for reporting. 3)Learning curve and lack of integration--Hospital management and staff, while enthusiastic about the idea of offering the Fresh Markets to their patients, were not accustomed to an ongoing project such as this, and needed to learn to manage a market as an ongoing service, rather than a one-off event. Even more importantly, integrating healthy food prescriptions and farmers markets into a clinical setting requires the hospital system to integrate information about the markets, SNAP and Link Matchinto all patient visits, food insecurity screenings and outreach. This demands a lot of commitment and willingness to alter protocols and processes. 4)Not accustomed to the demands of operating a farmers market, CCHHS outreach efforts were lacking. It took a long while to get signage created and postedwithin each location; Experimental Station ultimately provided banners and other signage. Additionally, after Experimental Station created a promotional video about the Fresh Markets, it took months to get it up on CCHHS CCTV. 5)With the duties of the market manager (outreach, vendor recruitment, community engagement, onsite organization, and data reporting) split between numerous people, a number of these functions were not done well or at all. For instance,noeffort has been made to recruit additional vendors, although Black Oaks Center soldsome foods produced by other farmers or distributors. We continue to advise CCHHS thatthe introduction of new vendors and products will help to grow their markets and attractmore customers. However, as a result of these challenges, the CCHHS and Black Oaks partnership under this FINI award was not as impactful as we would have liked to see. Funds originally intended to support incentives at the CCHHS markets were reallocated in 2019 to other markets. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?In 2018 and 2019,in addition to providing one-on-one trainings to partner markets and food cooperatives on implementation and tracking (FM Tracks) of nutrition incentives,Corey Chatman, Program Manager,presented ata number of conferences about SNAP redemption and incentives. Several of these included conferences ofthe Illinois Farmers Market Association,Farmers Market Coalition, and Illinois Farm Bureau. Connie Spreen, Executive Director, has spoken to legislators, farmers, food policy advocates, students, and othersabout Link Match. Among these are Illinois state law and policy makers (including Governor J.B.Pritzker, Illinois Department of Human ServicesSecretary Grace Hou, State Representative Robert Peters), Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Illinois Department of Human Services Budget Office,and Illinois Farm Bureau members. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?A primary means of disseminating results has been our annual Link Up Illinois Report, which is mailed (with a cover letter) to every Illinois state legislator and emailed to stakeholders of all types (funders, other policy makers, partner markets, food and hunger policy advocates, incentive program managers), as well as any other interested party. We have provided hard-copy versions of the Report to NIFA staff and to FINI recipients from around the country. We also post an archive of Link Up Illinois reports on our website. Our Link Up Illinois-produced Illinois Farmers Market Brochure, which lists all markets in Illinois accepting SNAP/Link and offering Link Match,is mailed to Illinois Department of Human Services offices throughout the state. Corey Chatman and Connie Spreen also presented Link Up Illinois' FINI project results toFINI recipients via a FINI Community Webinar. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Experimental Station will continue to work with Cook County Health & Hospitals System and Black Oaks Centerto help to ensure that the CCHHS Fresh Markets will continue to operate and grow after the end of the grant period. During the remainder of the 2019 market season, Link Up Illinois will grant out the remaining 2017 FINI funds to partner markets to implement Link Match during the 2019 season and early 2020 season. In July-August 2019, Experimental Station will undertake the television, direct mobile and email Link Match advertising campaign, planned and produced in May and June. We will continue to advertise on CTA buses and trains through the end of the market season. In August-September 2019, we will complete the CCHHS Fresh Markets survey evaluation. In December-January, we will receive end-of-year reports from partner markets and food cooperatives and will begin to compile 2019 data for the annual 2019 Link Up Report.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
During the grant period, Experimental Station continued to partner with Cook County Health & Hospitals System (CCHHS) and Black Oaks Center to develop the Fresh Markets launched in 2017 and located in/at three southern Cook County suburban community health centers. Each of the community health center locations is in a 'food desert' with high numbers of SNAP clients.Due to the very slow start of the initiativein 2017, Cook County contributed significant funding, in additionto its FINI match pledge,to support the effort, by compensating Black Oaks for carrying out a number of outreach events and activities in the three communities. Our Senior Program Manager hosted conference calls each week to work through problems and needs. Having determined that CCHHS staff was not producing and providing sufficient marketing of the program within the clinics themselves, our Link Up Illinois program assistant produced a video that ran in the Cook County clinics, building awareness among clinic patients ofthe Fresh Markets, their acceptance of SNAP/Link and the availability of Link Match. As the Cook County Health & Hospitals System (CCHHS) Fresh Markets havebeen slower than anticipated to get off the ground, Experimental Station requested and received approval from NIFA for a one-year no-cost extension on this grant. With the extension, FINI funds that were initially intended to fund Link Match at CCHHS markets have been reallocated to support Link Match at farmers markets in Cook County, Illinois, as well as at partner markets and food cooperatives throughout the state. An ongoing goal of Link Up Illinois is to expand Link Match to non-Chicago farmers markets and other direct-to-consumer venues. 37of the 96 sites funded by Link Up Illinois in 2018 were not located in Chicago. Link Up Illinoiswas pleased to partner with the Neighborhood Food Co-op and the Green Top Grocery, both of which instituted Link Match programs in the past year. We have been extremely impressed by the professionalism of both of these partners and the manner in which they are promoting and carrying out the Link Match program. Under this FINI grant, Experimental Station designed and produced a variety of marketing materials (banners, posters, flyers, POS ads, posters) for our food cooperative partners. Experimental Station engaged Dr. Chelsea Singleton, University of Illinois, to carry out a survey of SNAP customers shopping at the CCHHS Fresh Markets. The aim of the survey is to determine the impact of Link Match on SNAP customer purchasing and consumption behavior, as well as self-reported health improvements experienced by SNAP customers since shopping at the Fresh Markets. Dr. Singleton worked with Experimental Station to develop the survey questions (in English and Spanish) and the survey process. Experimental Station hired staff to attend the CCHHS markets and to implement the survey.40 surveys were collected over 4 weeks and are currently being processed by Dr. Singleton and University of Illinois graduate students. We will share survey results in the Link Up Illinois 2019 annual report. With CBS Broadcasting, in June-July 2018, Link Up Illinois produced a 30-second PSA entitled 'I Link Match!' and carried out a 3-week targeted television ad campaign to promote Link Match (nutrition incentives) at farmers markets operating in Cook County and six surrounding counties. Airing the ad approximately 90 times, the campaign reached 2.5 million adults, each viewing the ad 3-4 times. In addition, Link Up Illinois carried out an email and direct mobile campaign, targeting consumers residing within 5 miles of partner markets located outside of Chicago. The CBS advertising campaign was funded through Experimental Station's2018 FINI award. It is reported here, as the advertising campaign helped to amplifythe impact of the 2017 FINI award. In both 2018 and 2019, Link Up Illinois produced and ran Link Match ads in Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) trains and buses, running along lines and routes that serve neighborhoods with high SNAP populations and that have high ridership. We have seen consistent increases in SNAP/Link and Link Match sales since 2013. In 2018, 90% of all farmers market SNAP purchases in Illinois were at Link Up Illinois farmers markets. Since 2013, Experimental Station has been working with a statewide coalition of health and hunger organizations and agencies to establish the Healthy Local Foods Incentive Fund. After six years of work, we have been successful at getting the Healthy Local Food Incentives Fund passed into law, calling for a $500,000 annual appropriation to be support SNAP incentives at Illinois farmers markets and direct-to-consumer venues. At present, we are still working on the appropriation of state funds, but are increasingly optimistic that our new Governor will include the $500,000 appropriation in legislation this fall.
Publications
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
In February-April 2019, Experimental Station produced and distributed a 16-page annual report for Link Up Illinois, which includes information regarding the Link Up Illinois program generally, outcomes and survey results from 2018, a list of our 2018 farmers market partners, market partner spotlights, testimonials reported by farmers market partners about the programs impact in their communities, program goals for 2019, and recognition of our funding partners.
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Progress 06/01/17 to 05/31/18
Outputs
Target Audience:With this project, Experimental Station's Link Up Illinois programtargeted multiple venues and audiences: 1) 82 Illinois farmers markets located throughout Illinois, 2) two Illinois food cooperatives located in Bloomington and Carbondale, and 3) threeCook County Health and Hospital Systems clinic sites located in the southern suburbs of Cook County. Forall of these venues, Link Up Illinois provided funding, training and technical support to implement SNAP nutrition incentive programs. All of the sites targeted SNAP clients in their communities. Changes/Problems:We learned in the past year that working with a large bureaucracy, such as the Cook County Health & Hospitals System, can be challenging. Despite a desire to see the 'Fresh Markets' succeed, CCHHS lacks the capacity to provide, at their end, the outreach and promotion required to build these markets. Although Link Up Illinois provided funding to CCHHS for the production ofbanners, flyers, and other promotional materials, these materials were not produced until Experimental Station did so in October 2017--after learning thatCCHHS is required to produce their own banners and posters, but that their machine had been broken for some number of months. Due to the slow sales and financial lossesthat resulted, Black Oaks Center farmers closed the Robbins and Ford Heights markets over the winter, continuing only the Oak Forest Fresh Market from November through May. Experimental Station reached out to NIFA Director, Dr. Jane Clary, to discuss a change to the CCHHS matching funds allocation. She approved the utilization of CCHHS matching funds for capacity building and promotion, rather than for nutrition incentives, as originally planned. Experimental Station Executive Director subsequently reached out to other Cook County officials to ensure the success of the project. Cook County's Deputy CEO for Finance and Strategy has since been in communication with project partners, assuring them that this project will go forward with his support. We are hopeful that with such commitment we will see strong growth in this component of the project in 2018. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?With expansion to brick-and-mortar venues, Link Up Illinois was required to work with both the Green Top Grocery and Neighborhood Co-op Grocery to establish systems, practices andprotocols for carrying out and administering a Link Match program. In addition to a series of conference calls and web-based meetings, including discussions of how to utilize the store's POS system to implement the matching program,Experimental Station Executive Director and Link Up Illinois program manager traveled to Bloomington'sGreen Top Grocery to view the systems in action. We were extremely impressed by the very thoughtful and thorough presentation of the materials, as well as the educational opportunities provided for SNAP clients to learn about Link Match. The Link Up Illinois Program Manager worked with farmers market managers to obtain SNAP authorization, to implement SNAP and Link Match at their markets, and to promote their programs. He also provided webinars forLink Up Illinois partner market managersto learn to implement Wholesome Wave'snew market data tracking system. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Experimental Station produced a Link Up Illinois 2017 Report, which has been disseminated in hard copy to all Illinois State Representatives and State Senators, and in electronic form to funders, farmers market partners, partnering organizations and any other interested stakeholders and parties. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Experimental Station has created a variety of outreach/promotional materials that are being disseminated to SNAP clients at Chicago farmers markets offering Link Match. One of the marketing pieces provides a list of all Chicago markets offering Link Match. This is particularly important in 2018, as the City of Chicago did not produce a flyer bearing that information this year, and as Experimental Station is creating a universal Link Match currency, transferable toany participating Chicago farmers market. We anticipate a June launch ofthe recently created video targeting Cook County Health & Hospitals System patients. This video will run on closed circuit television at CCHHS clinics. We are pleased to have been able to include a number of testimonials from customers shopping at the Fresh Markets this past year, as well as an informative and motivating statement from Dr. Terry Mason, Chief Operating Officer for the Cook County Dept. of Public Health. We will work with Illinois farmers markets and partnering food cooperativesto provide FINI funding, training and technical supportfor the 2018 season.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
1) With CBS Broadcasting, in May-July 2017, Link Up Illinois produced a 30-second PSA entitled 'I Link Match!' and carried out a 3-week television ad campaign to promote Link Match (nutrition incentives) at farmers markets operating in Cook County and six surrounding counties. Airing the ad approximately 90 times, the campaign reached 2.5 million adults, each viewing the ad 3-4 times. 2) In partnership with the Cook County Health & Hospitals System and Black Oaks Center, Link Up Illinois created three 'Fresh Markets' located at three community clinics in Oak Forest, Robbins and Ford Heights. Planning began in April 2017, with the launch of the markets in mid-July. All of the markets offered Link Match, matching up to $20 per cardholder per day. The Oak Forest market continued on a weekly basis throughout the winter, providing nutrition education as well as a broad variety of fruits, vegetables, grains and other products. 3) Working with Green Top Grocery Cooperative and Downtown Bloomington Farmers Market in Bloomington, Illinois, Link Up Illinoislaunched a first brick-and-mortar Link Match program, with Link Match transferrable between the co-op and farmers market. 4) Working with the Carbondale Farmers Market and Neighborhood Co-op Grocery, Link Up Illinois launched a second brick-and-mortar Link Match program, again with Link Match transferrable between the co-op and farmers market. 5) Link Up Illinois provided funding, training and technical support to 85 Illinois farmers market sites, granting a total of $290,334. $XXX of this total came from 2017 FINI funds.Farmers Market supported by Link Up Illinois in 2017 supported 614 small scale farmers and food producers. 6) With 2017 FINI funds, Link Up Illinois hired a part-time program assistant. The program assistant has been extremely helpful with preparation of FINI/Westat reports, providing outreach in communities on Chicago's west side and in the southern suburbs, and creating the outreach video which will air--starting in June 2018--at Cook County Health & Hospitals System clinics.
Publications
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Link Up Illinois 2017 Report
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