Progress 09/01/20 to 08/31/23
Outputs
Target Audience:The Food Trust's (TFT) Food Bucks program engages a growing number of participants and other stakeholders in the public and private sectors. SNAP Users: TFT's Food Bucks program makes fresh fruits and vegetables more affordable for shoppers using SNAP. Over the course of this project, an annual average of 70,000 households in key regions of Pennsylvania (PA) and New Jersey (NJ) earned incentives during SNAP transactions. The number of people engaged with Food Bucks fluctuated greatly year to year, in part because of the temporary nature of pandemic-related SNAP allotments, and in part because of changes in the retail network. Overall, the program continues to have a significant impact for families using SNAP benefits. In total, thanks to USDA's GusNIP program, families in PA and NJ were able to redeem over $1,180,000 in Food Bucks for fresh fruits and vegetables during this 3-year grant, of which over $440,000 were redeemed in the last grant year. This redemption figure includes funding support from a corresponding GusCRR award, which allowed the program to sustain operations at GusNIP sites and add new ones. See below quotes from participants and store owners demonstrating impacts on shopping behaviors: "Good healthy meals come from fresh foods. You can make meals cheaper by buying fresh food...Food Bucks help to make good healthy eating possible." "I think it is a great program. I often save my food bucks until the end of the month. Once my stamps have run out and my funds get low I use my Food Bucks to make ends meet." "The reason I have enough money for quality food is because of EBT and Food Bucks. Because of this program I can shop at the farmers market and support the vendors, try new foods and always have enough to eat." "Patience sends her two teenagers to pick up her order, and they love fresh pineapple. The children ask their mom to buy $6 in cut pineapple for their snack, and Patience then uses the matching $6 in Food Buck vouchers to purchase a 5 lb bag of potatoes for the family meal several days later." "[One shopper] comes in about once a week and buys a large salad for $6.75 with SNAP when she has it. Then the next week she comes in again with the $6 in vouchers she got the week before plus 75 cents for another salad. She has been doing this since she discovered us and this program - maybe 2 years" Retail Firms: This project includes a variety of grocery and farm-direct settings, including corner stores, superettes, food co-ops, independent supermarket chains, farmers markets and mobile markets. Throughout the grant period, TFT partnered with retailers to offer Food Bucks at over 100 locations. Brick-and-Mortar Firms: A total of 27 brick-and-mortar firms have participated in Food Bucks under this GusNIP grant. TFT prioritizes working with independent, family-owned businesses that are open daily and offer convenient, affordable, culturally appropriate fresh fruits and vegetables for families using SNAP benefits. Farmers and Farmers Markets: Much work was done to support and expand opportunities for farmers through Food Bucks programming. During this grant period, the Food Bucks program benefited over 120 farmers across PA and included farmers markets in 14 counties, with farmers from neighboring counties vending as well. In addition to boosting SNAP sales at farmers markets, the program generated ~$400,000 of Food Bucks redemptions for fresh produce at farm-direct sites during the grant period (a key source of revenue for many farmers). Below is a summary of geographies, firms and annual average number of SNAP households* served through this project: Philadelphia: ~46,000 households, 31 firms 7 supermarkets (representing 3 independently owned chains), 1 co-op, 2 corner groceries, 2 public market produce vendors and 19 farmers markets Eastern PA (outside Philadelphia, including Berks, Delaware and Lackawanna counties): ~2500 households, 6 firms 2 supermarkets and 4 farmers markets Pittsburgh and Allegheny County: ~10,000 households, 29 firms 6 corner stores, 1 co-op, 21 farmers markets and a mobile market with 17 stops Western PA (outside Pittsburgh, including Washington, Indiana and Westmoreland Counties): ~7,500 households, 4 firms 2 supermarkets (independent chain), 2 farmers markets Central PA (Adams, Centre, Cumberland, Perry and York Counties): ~700 households, 7 firms 1 mobile market, 2 brick & mortar farm markets, 4 farmers markets or farm stands Camden, NJ (Camden County): ~4,000 households, 2 firms 1 superette, 1 corner store *Note: Since few sites can provide the number of unique program users, the above numbers represent TFT's best estimates of households reached based on the number of SNAP or incentive transactions and data from comparable sites. Additional feedback from a corner store owner and long-time Food Bucks partner: "We saw an immediate increase in produce sales with the start of the FB program. During the pandemic years when there were extra EBT allotments, we saw a corresponding increase in EBT purchases at our store, and an increase in produce purchases. Our produce purchases were also greatly boosted by [Food Bucks] vouchers being returned by repeat customers. However, as the pandemic ended and pandemic EBT disappeared, those increases have leveled off. We continue to have fairly high produce sales because we are now known as a good place to buy fresh produce, but sales are not continuing to increase, just staying steady". Other Government and Community Partners: In each active geography, TFT fostered relationships with government, foundation and community partners. In Camden, NJ, TFT continues to collaborate with partners from the 10-year Campbell Soup Healthy Communities Initiative and multi-year Roots to Prevention project to sustain and build on what was achieved under these initiatives and continue with coalitions such as the Camden Food Security Collective. In southeastern PA, TFT continued longstanding partnerships to enhance Food Bucks programming, including the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, and various community-based organizations and County Assistance Offices. TFT is also a partner in COACH (Collaborative Opportunities to Advance Community Health), a group of hospitals and nonprofit partners working together on community health efforts. TFT Nutrition Incentive and SNAP-Ed staff continue to collaborate closely; for example, several SNAP-Ed retail sites have transitioned to also offering Food Bucks, and nutrition educators helped to promote the program during lessons. TFT also partnered with United Neighborhood Centers of Northeast PA to offer Food Bucks at farmers markets in Scranton and Carbondale. In central PA, TFT coordinated with several regional partners, including Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, Project SHARE and the Partnership for Better Health. Food Bucks programming in Reading is enhanced by support from the Friends of Reading Hospital and the Greater Reading Chamber Alliance. These partners helped bring additional capacity and boosted outreach efforts, and in some cases offered direct funding to the Food Bucks program. In Pittsburgh and western PA, strong partnerships with Just Harvest, the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, the Pittsburgh Food Policy Council, the American Heart Association and the Allegheny County Health Department, along with several grassroots community organizations, enabled the Food Bucks program to serve a wide range of neighborhoods and communities. Additionally, TFT strengthened relationships with other grantees through the Nutrition Incentive Hub, GusNIP's National Technical Assistance and Evaluation (NTAE) Center. TFT is participating in the Hub as both a grantee in a learning capacity as well as a partner/TA provider. TA staff have been convening communities of practice focusing on incentive programming in corner stores, as well as SNAP-Ed/nutrition education. Changes/Problems:Below are several key challenges faced during the project, though none led to major changes in the core objectives and deliverables of this project: Balancing expansion and budget: Like many grantees, TFT has found interest in SNAP incentive programming currently exceeds available funding. The goal of offering Food Bucks in as many geographies as possible across PA and NJ continues to be balanced against the goal to offer a meaningful incentive amount at existing firms. Furthermore, the original goal of offering a 100% match was not feasible on a wide scale due to SNAP and Food Bucks volume (though some farm-direct and corner store sites used a capped 100% match). Determining the incentive models and caps that strike the optimal balance between being high enough to influence consumer behavior and low enough to maintain room for expansion is a challenge that will hopefully become easier as the coordinated national evaluation provides insights into the comparative impacts of different program models. Lastly, while TFT prioritizes including rural areas as part of this project, those geographies necessitate a higher amount of staff time and program costs relative to the Food Bucks redemption volume and number of households reached (this places rural programming a bit at odds with the USDA goal of maximizing federal funding spent on incentive redemption). Overall, TFT relies on conversations with and feedback from retailers and program participants to assess the impacts and perceptions of incentive cap amounts and to guide related decisions. Staff also continue to use an online database and other tracking spreadsheets to monitor spend across sites. Ongoing shifts in SNAP allotments and food prices: Additional SNAP funding and pandemic EBT was crucial for many shoppers and also created higher volume at many GusNIP sites. It was extremely helpful that the GusCRR program allowed TFT and partners to accommodate this increased Food Bucks volume. However, February 2023 marked the end of SNAP Emergency Allotments, which were a key source of additional food dollars, particularly given the rise of food prices. While TFT is still assessing the impacts on this GusNIP project, generally with fewer SNAP dollars to spend, there is a lower volume of Food Bucks distribution and redemption. In addition, see below quote from a program participant: "I know the program is aimed at increasing consumption of vegetables and fruits, but prices are going up and even with Food Bucks you can't get the same amount you did before the program started" Retail technology: An ongoing difficulty has been the inability of stores' POS systems to identify the tender (payment) type early enough in the transaction to distribute a coupon tied to the use of SNAP benefits. TFT has made significant progress with retail partners and continues to customize solutions for stores to effectively distribute incentives based on eligible SNAP purchases. These solutions have led to substantial increased reach of incentives to households relying on SNAP. TFT has also contributed to efforts coordinated by the Nutrition Incentive Hub to develop and disseminate national standards for POS incentive solutions to help advance the field as a whole. Retail staff turnover and capacity: Many retail partners experience high staff turnover and staffing shortages, which pose challenges to keeping all staff trained and familiar with the Food Bucks program and limit store capacity to take on new projects like SNAP incentives. TFT works closely with retail partners to train staff and develop reference materials, and where possible, include information about incentives in staff onboarding procedures. TFT staff also respond promptly whenever feedback from community partners or program participants indicates that additional cashier training is needed. Because of implementation delays related to retail partner capacity limitations, TFT maintains a diverse partner pipeline, knowing that only a portion of interested firms will progress all the way to launching Food Bucks programming. In addition, while TFT aims to collect as much data from stores as possible (including SNAP sales, produce sales and number of unique shoppers) to show the impact of GusNIP programs, not every store provides this data consistently or has bandwidth to do so. One solution has been for TFT to directly run reports from a store's POS system during in-person visits. Evaluation: The most significant evaluation challenge came in the final year of this grant, when TFT was required to undergo an independent IRB process, rather than be included under an umbrella IRB through the Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition. As a community-based grantee that is not a research institution and serves as an intermediary for the national evaluation, the IRB process was time consuming and challenging. Estimating Unique Household Reach: As noted in the "Target Audience" section, TFT does not receive data from all retail partners on unique households participating in the Food Bucks program, as the program does not require an enrollment process (in order to reach as many eligible shoppers as possible). Project staff use SNAP and/or incentive transactions to estimate reach based on figures from similar sites that are able to track unique households, but there is no current national standard for estimating program reach across various firm types. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Over the course of this grant, many opportunities for professional development have arisen for both project staff and participating firms. As new staff members joined the project team--including three new full time staff--all received training in preparation for their work on outreach, community engagement, program implementation and reporting. Non-GusNIP TFT staff working in the community on other projects (particularly the PA and NJ SNAP-Ed programs) also received training about the nutrition incentives program so they could provide information about Food Bucks along with other resources. Ongoing training on implementation, tracking, data collection and promotion of the Food Bucks program was provided to all retail partners. Additionally, training on surveying and data collection was provided by Candace Young of New Leaf Consulting, who has research expertise in the area of nutrition incentives. TFT also provided training on the Food Bucks program (covering eligibility, redemption sites and how to access the program) to organizations working with low-income populations. These trainings reached staff members at social service agencies, health clinics, faith-based organizations, early childcare centers and food pantries. Additional opportunities for training and professional development included: TFT staff have participated in Asset-based Community Development training and ongoing training related to trauma-informed approaches to nutrition security TFT staff continue to participate as coordinators, presenters and attendees in webinars and communities of practice organized by the Nutrition Incentive Hub How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results have been shared through a variety of venues to reach interested stakeholders, with project staff sharing findings in the following venues: USDA NIFA Project Directors meetings Nutrition Incentive Hub's annual convenings National Rural Grocery Summit and the Nutrition Incentive Hub's Rural Incentives Convening Nutrition Incentive Hub's 2023 Statewide Scale Mini-Convening Jefferson University advocacy program for medical students Presentations to Rowan University public health students and Temple University community development students Participated in meetings of the Cumberland County Food System Alliance (CCFSA) Presented to Jefferson University medical students participating in the JeffSTARS advocacy program and the JeffHOPE free clinic Presented on the Food Bucks program as part of the "Where To Turn Fair," a resource-sharing event for service providers in western PA. Outreach events organized by program partners TFT social media pages In addition to sharing results with communities of interest, program staff continue to connect with potential participants and promote the Food Bucks program across all sites to engage more shoppers. Outreach materials were created for the Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Central PA regions, and distributed through TFT and organizational partners, including County Assistance Offices and WIC offices. Outreach efforts that both share results and promote the program have reached approximately 15,000 potential participants through a combination of presentations, tabling at events, distributing (non-USDA funded) Community Food Bucks and organizational partnerships. Some notable examples include a partnership with The Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, who distributed (non-GusNIP funded) promotional Food Bucks to Allegheny County WIC families, as well as at food pantry and healthcare clinic sites. The American Heart Association (AHA) also distributed (non-GusNIP funded) promotional Food Bucks among grassroot and faith based organizations in Pittsburgh. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
This GusNIP project increased purchasing and consumption of fresh produce by shoppers using SNAP benefits by sustaining and expanding the Food Bucks program at supermarkets, corner stores, farmers/mobile markets and other non-traditional retail outlets. Because this project received critical support from a corresponding GusCRR award, much of the data collection and surveying have been combined. Over the course of the project, the Food Bucks program added new retail firm locations, made significant progress developing and refining incentive technology, and deepened community-level partnerships. These efforts reached an estimated 70,000 households annually, across 27 brick-and-mortar firms and over 75 farm-direct sites and mobile market stops, providing a boost to local food economies and enabling families to eat more fruits and vegetables. In total, with supporting GusCRR funds in some months, this project provided over $1,180,000 in Food Bucks redemptions. Data Collection: Staff customized systems for each firm to track Food Bucks distribution/redemption. Firms used various data collection methods (e.g., paper tracking, point of sale (POS) systems), and paper Food Bucks distributions/redemptions were tracked individually by serial number in a database. Below are metrics and other data collected from firms and participants to assess impacts (note: not all metrics collected from each site): # of individual Food Bucks coupons distributed and redeemed $ amount of Food Bucks distributed and redeemed # of outreach organizations and materials Monthly SNAP sales and # of SNAP transactions # of unique SNAP households Customer surveys and feedback # of vendors/farmers at farmers markets Sales receipts from Food Buck transactions Other sales data from POS systems, including $ amount of produce Major Activities and Findings: Objective 1: Reach more shoppers by increasing the number of firms and geographies participating in Food Bucks. Added 25 new firms (14 farm-direct, 11 brick-and-mortar), plus additional firms exclusively under GusCRR Farm Direct: 58th & Baltimore & Northern Liberties farmers markets (Philadelphia); Carbondale & South Side FM (Northeast PA); Pine Grove Mills & Farmers on the Square FM, East Berlin Roadside Stand & New Eastern Market (Central PA); Baldwin, Carnegie, Garden Dreams, Monroeville & Wilkinsburg FM (Pittsburgh); Indiana FM (Western PA) Brick-and Mortar: Bamba Produce, Cousins Fresh Market Woodland Ave, Iovine Brothers, OK Produce, Save A Lot & South Philly Food Co-op (Philadelphia); Fresh Grocer of Upper Darby (Eastern PA); Five Points Farm Market & Greenhouse (Central PA); Farmer Girl Eb (Pittsburgh); Shop 'n Save Pittsburgh St & Rt 66 (Western PA) Reached 7 new PA communities, mostly in more rural areas Summary Statistics and Key Outcomes Approximately 70,000 households annually received Food Bucks incentives across ~100 locations (78 firms plus mobile market stops) 25 new sites started to offer Food Bucks during this grant period. For example, TFT onboarded Farmer Girl Eb, a Black-owned business located in a neighborhood with limited fresh food options; the owner is also an urban farmer and supplies the store with some of her produce. Another notable partnership was with Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia, an indoor year-round farmers market and one of the highest SNAP redemption sites in the state See quotes around impact from shoppers and store owners (in "Target Audience" section) Objective #2: Increase fresh produce purchasing at participating firms by utilizing technology, digital incentives and best practices to implement efficient, replicable incentive models. Offered all farm-direct partners the option of an uncapped 5:2 incentive model or a capped 100% match, with several farm-direct sites opting for the capped 100% match Introduced earn-on-produce model and 100% match (capped) at some corner stores Launched new automated POS- and/or loyalty-based incentive solutions at several Shop 'n Save locations, a Save A Lot store in Philadelphia and South Philly Food Co-op Participated in the Hub's Nutrition Incentives POS Requirements Working Group, which created national standards for POS incentive solutions to guide POS providers in developing solutions that meet incentive needs across diverse settings, geographies and grantee incentive models Summary Statistics and Key Outcomes Owners and managers representing 58 farm-direct and brick-and-mortar firms responded to a retailer survey about the Food Bucks program. Of these respondents, 98% reported participating in Food Bucks was profitable (88%) or cost-neutral (10%) for their business. 88% reported produce sales had increased as a result of the Food Bucks program. Note many of these retailers also participate as redemption sites for the Food Bucks Rx produce prescription program, which maximizes impact on sales volume. Shoppers redeemed over $1,180,000 in Food Bucks for fresh produce across all firms supported by this award (with additional redemptions at several sites supported solely under GusCRR). Utilized automated POS- and/or loyalty program-based incentive across 14 brick & mortar locations Survey data across the 3 years of this grant showed a positive impact on produce consumption. 720 Food Bucks participants across PA and NJ completed surveys as part of the NTAE center's national evaluation. At most sites, respondents were randomized into identical GusNIP or GusCRR surveys, so responses were pooled for analysis. Of the 720 total respondents, 520 respondents had been participating in Food Bucks for at least a month and answered questions about their experience: 76% of this sub-sample reported their fruit and vegetable consumption had increased since they started using Food Bucks; 88% said Food Bucks were important (21%) or very important (67%) in helping them purchase fresh fruits and vegetables; and 95% rated their experience as positive (23%) or very positive (72%). Using the Dietary Screener Questionnaire, participants who had used Food Bucks for at least 6 months reported consuming the equivalent of a third of a cup more of fruits and vegetables per day than those who were new to the program (2.93 cups versus 2.57 cups). The food insecurity rate decreased from 63% for first time participants to 54% for newer participants (up to 6 months) to 45% for longer participants (> 6 months). Objective #3: Increase awareness of the Food Bucks program through community engagement, rigorous outreach and retail staff training. Ongoing training of new SNAP-Ed funded community outreach associates in Philadelphia to highlight Food Bucks in their community conversations, conduct outreach related to TFT's food access and nutrition education work, and share feedback from residents with the project team Updated citywide Philadelphia and Pittsburgh Food Bucks outreach materials and created countywide outreached materials for distribution through County Assistance offices and community partners Promoted Food Bucks in conjunction with SNAP-Ed nutrition education programming across the Food Bucks network, including on TFT's Online Learning Hub that was developed to meet the need for virtual lessons during the COVID-19 pandemic Partnered with 68 community organizations that distributed promotional (non-USDA funded) Food Bucks to key populations Provided comprehensive retail staff training as part of program launch and on an ongoing basis Summary Statistics and Key Outcomes ~14,500 people reached with Food Bucks program information outside participating retail sites (via distribution of program fliers, in-person outreach and trainings provided to community partners) 75 community partners (13 new in Year 3) supported program outreach ~750 people who visited food pantries in Allegheny and Cumberland counties received Food Bucks to complement their pantry staples with fresh produce (through non-USDA grants)
Publications
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Progress 09/01/21 to 08/31/22
Outputs
Target Audience:The Food Trust's (TFT) Food Bucks program engages a growing number of participants and other stakeholders across the public and private sectors. SNAP Users: TFT's Food Bucks program makes fresh fruits and vegetables more affordable for shoppers using SNAP. In the past year (September 2021-August 2022), over 120,000 households in key regions of Pennsylvania (PA) and New Jersey (NJ) earned incentives during SNAP transactions. With increased SNAP enrollment and higher benefit amounts in response to the ongoing financial hardships stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, there was continued demand for the Food Bucks program. In total, families in PA and NJ redeemed over $463,000 in Food Bucks for fresh fruits and vegetables (this redemption figure includes funding support from a corresponding GusCRR award, which allowed the program to sustain operations at GusNIP sites). Below is a summary of geographies, firms and corresponding SNAP households* served through the GusNIP project: Eastern PA: Greater Philadelphia, Reading, Chester (~82,000 households, 30 firms) Western PA: Pittsburgh and Allegheny County, Washington County, Westmoreland County (~32,000 households, 23 firms, including a mobile market with multiple stops) Central PA: Cumberland, Centre, Perry, York Counties (~1,000 households, 4 firms, including a mobile farmers market with multiple stops) Southern NJ: Camden (~5,000 households, 2 firms) *Note: Since few sites can provide the number of unique program users, the above numbers represent our best estimates of households reached based on the number of SNAP transactions and data from comparable sites. Brick-and-Mortar Firms: Across the grant, project staff supported a variety of grocery settings, including corner stores, superettes, food co-ops and independent supermarket chains. In the second year of the GusNIP grant, TFT added three new brick-and-mortar firms into the Food Bucks program. A total of 23 brick-and-mortar firms participated in Food Bucks under GusNIP during the second year: Camden: Fayers Market, Junior Supermarket Central PA: Butcher's Farm Market Philadelphia area: The Fresh Grocer (five locations), Olivares Food Market, Bamba Produce Market, Cousins Fresh Market (two locations), Save A Lot and two produce vendors located within Reading Terminal Market, Iovine Brothers and OK Produce Western PA: The East End Food Co-op, Shop 'n Save (2 locations), Dylamato's Market, Produce Marketplace, Rocks Express, In 'n Out Corner Market and Farmer Girl Eb. Farmers: Much work was done to support and expand opportunities for farmers through Food Bucks programming. During this grant year, Food Bucks benefited over 120 farmers across PA, with new farmers markets added to the program in Philadelphia and Carlisle, PA. In addition to boosting SNAP sales at farmers markets, the program generated ~$140,000 in Food Bucks redemptions for fresh produce at farm-direct sites. Other State and Community Partners: In each active geography, TFT fostered relationships with government, foundation and community partners. In Camden, NJ, TFT continues to collaborate with partners from the 10-year Campbell Soup Healthy Communities Initiative to sustain and build on what was achieved under the initiative. TFT also worked with multiple partners as part of the Roots to Prevention BUILD Health project, which has facilitated further Food Bucks outreach in Camden. In southeastern PA, TFT continued longstanding partnerships to enhance Food Bucks programming, including the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, Jefferson Health, various community-based organizations and Community Development Corporations, Philadelphia's County Assistance Offices and others. TFT is also a partner in COACH (Collaborative Opportunities to Advance Community Health), a group of hospitals and nonprofit partners working together on community health efforts. TFT Nutrition Incentive and SNAP-Ed staff continue to collaborate closely to amplify impact in communities and retail sites where both programs operate. In central PA, TFT coordinated with several regional partners, including Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, Feeding Pennsylvania, the Cumberland County Food System Alliance, and the Partnership for Better Health. Food Bucks programming in Reading is enhanced by support from the Friends of Reading Hospital and the Greater Reading Chamber Alliance. In Pittsburgh and western PA, strong partnerships with Just Harvest, the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, the Pittsburgh Food Policy Council, the American Heart Association and the Allegheny County Health Department, along with several grassroots community organizations, enabled the Food Bucks program to serve a wide range of neighborhoods and communities. Additionally, TFT strengthened relationships with other grantees through the Nutrition Incentive Hub, GusNIP's National Technical Assistance and Evaluation (NTAE) Center. TFT is participating in the Hub as both a grantee in a learning capacity as well as a partner/TA provider. TA staff have been convening communities of practice focusing on incentive programming in corner stores, as well as SNAP-Ed/nutrition education. Changes/Problems:Below are several key challenges faced during the project, though none led to major changes in the core objectives and deliverables of this project. Balancing expansion and budget: Like many grantees, TFT has found that interest in SNAP incentive programming currently exceeds available funding. The goal of offering Food Bucks in as many geographies as possible across PA must be balanced against the goal of continuing to offer a meaningful incentive amount at existing firms. Furthermore, the original goal of offering a 100% match in response to the pandemic is not currently feasible on a wide scale due to current SNAP and Food Bucks volume (though the corresponding GusCRR award has provided key support, and some farm-direct and corner store sites are doing a capped 100% match). Determining the incentive models and caps that strike the optimal balance between being high enough to influence consumer behavior and low enough to maintain room for expansion is a challenge that will hopefully become easier as the coordinated national evaluation provides insights into the comparative impacts of different program models. Currently, TFT relies on conversations with and feedback from retailers and program participants to assess the impacts and perceptions of incentive cap amounts and to guide related decisions. Staff also continue to use an online database and other tracking spreadsheets to monitor spend across sites. Retail staff turnover and capacity: Many retail partners continue to experience high staff turnover and staffing shortages, which pose challenges to keeping all staff trained and familiar with the Food Bucks program and limit store capacity to take on new projects like SNAP incentives. TFT works closely with retail partners to train staff and develop reference materials, and where possible, include information about incentives in staff onboarding procedures. TFT staff also respond promptly whenever feedback from community partners or program participants indicates that additional cashier training is needed. Because of implementation delays related to retail partner capacity limitations, TFT maintains a diverse partner pipeline, knowing that only a portion of interested firms will progress all the way to launching Food Bucks programming. In addition, while TFT aims to collect as much data from stores as possible (including SNAP sales, produce sales and number of unique shoppers) to show the impact of GusNIP programs, not every store provides this data consistently or has bandwidth to do so. One solution has been for TFT staff to directly run reports from a store's POS system during in-person visits. Retail technology: An ongoing difficulty has been the inability of stores' POS systems to identify the tender (payment) type early enough in the transaction to distribute a coupon tied to the use of SNAP benefits. TFT has made significant progress with retail partners and continues to customize solutions for stores to effectively distribute incentives based on eligible SNAP purchases. These solutions have led to substantial increased reach of incentives to households relying on SNAP. TFT staff have also contributed to efforts coordinated by the Nutrition Incentive Hub to develop and disseminate national standards for POS incentive solutions to help advance the field as a whole. Evaluation: To address the limited research capacity and budget within the grant for evaluation, TFT worked with the Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition on IRB approval and to receive additional Hub funding to support data collection. TFT has also benefited from the assistance of public health and medical school interns in gathering and analyzing participant-level surveys. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Over the course of this grant, many opportunities for professional development have arisen for both project staff and participating firms. As new staff members joined the project team--including two new full time staff in this grant year--all received training in preparation for their work on outreach, community engagement, program implementation and reporting. Non-GusNIP TFT staff working in the community on other projects (particularly the PA and NJ SNAP-Ed programs) also received training about the nutrition incentives program so they could provide information about Food Bucks along with other resources. Ongoing training on implementation, tracking, data collection and promotion of the Food Bucks program was provided to all retail partners. Additionally, training on surveying and data collection was provided by Candace Young of New Leaf Consulting, who has research expertise in the area of nutrition incentives. TFT also provided training on the Food Bucks program (covering eligibility, redemption sites and how to access the program) to organizations working with low-income populations. These trainings reached staff members at social service agencies, health clinics, faith-based organizations, early childcare centers and food pantries. Additional opportunities for training and professional development included: TFT staff have participated in Asset-based Community Development training and ongoing training related to trauma-informed approaches to nutrition security TFT staff continue to participate as coordinators, presenters and attendees in webinars and communities of practice organized by the Nutrition Incentive Hub How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results have been shared through a variety of venues to reach interested stakeholders, with project staff sharing findings in the following venues: USDA NIFA Project Directors meeting Nutrition Incentive Hub's annual convenings National Rural Grocery Summit and the Nutrition Incentive Hub's Rural Incentives Convening Jefferson University advocacy program for medical students Presentations to Rowan University public health students and Temple University community development students Outreach events organized by program partners TFT social media pages In addition to sharing results with communities of interest, program staff continue to connect with potential participants and promote the Food Bucks program across all sites to engage more shoppers. Outreach materials were created for both the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh regions, and distributed through TFT and organizational partners, including County Assistance Offices and WIC offices. Outreach efforts that both share results and promote the program have reached approximately 4,800 potential participants through a combination of presentations, tabling at events, distributing (non-USDA funded) Community Food Bucks and organizational partnerships. One notable example includes a partnership with The Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, who distributed (non-GusNIP funded) promotional Food Bucks to Allegheny County WIC families, as well as at food pantry and healthcare clinic sites. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?TFT will continue efforts to sustain and expand the Food Bucks program over the coming year, with a focus on partnering with retailers where technology solutions can be utilized to more efficiently distribute, redeem and track incentives. TFT is also looking to introduce SNAP incentive programming in additional PA geographies and has begun conversations with potential partners in several new communities. As the program expands, project staff will monitor distribution and redemption volume and make strategic decisions accordingly regarding new locations, incentive ratios and caps to ensure that a meaningful incentive amount can affect behavior change among participants (see this challenge also noted below in the "Changes/Problems" section). Additionally, TFT plans to continue to transition corner stores/small retailers to an earn-on-produce model (compared to earning on anything SNAP-eligible) at any sites where that is feasible, and will continue to use an earn-on-produce model for any new brick-and-mortar firms. TFT's original corner store model enabled shoppers to earn incentives for fresh produce by purchasing any SNAP eligible items. This model was initially selected to enable Food Bucks to reach a broad population, and to get shoppers used to the idea of purchasing produce at a corner store. While this is still an effective model at many stores, TFT feels that a transition to an earn-on-produce model at corner stores selling high volumes of fresh produce is appropriate, and in better alignment with the priorities of the GusNIP program. All larger supermarkets are using earn-on-produce models currently.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
This GusNIP project has continued to increase purchasing and consumption of fresh produce by shoppers using SNAP benefits by sustaining and expanding the Food Bucks program at supermarkets, corner stores, farmers/mobile markets and other non-traditional retail outlets. Since this project received critical support from a corresponding GusCRR award and the objectives are aligned, much of the data collection and surveying have been combined. In the past year, the project added new retail firm locations, made significant progress developing and refining incentive technology in retail settings, and built community-level partnerships to better connect shoppers with the Food Bucks program (see details below). These efforts in both new and existing geographies reached over 120,000 households, across 23 brick-and-mortar firms and over 50 farm-direct sites and mobile market stops, providing a boost to local food economies and enabling families to put more fruits and vegetables on the table. In the second year, the GusNIP project, with supporting GusCRR funds, supported $463,000 in Food Bucks redemptions; with 5 additional sites added under the GusCRR grant (not otherwise included in this report), the Food Bucks program overall saw a total of $478,000 in Food Bucks redemptions for fresh produce, allowing TFT to sustain the growth that occurred during the pandemic. Data Collection: Staff customized systems for each firm to track Food Bucks distribution/redemption. Firms used various data collection methods (e.g., paper tracking, point of sale (POS) systems) and paper Food Bucks distributions/redemptions were tracked individually by serial number in a database. Below are metrics and other data collected from firms and participants to assess impacts (note: not all metrics collected from each site): # of individual Food Bucks coupons distributed and redeemed Dollar amount of Food Bucks distributed and redeemed # of outreach organizations and materials Monthly SNAP sales and # of SNAP transactions # of unique SNAP households Customer surveys and general feedback # of vendors/farmers at farmers markets Corner store sales receipts from Food Buck transactions Other sales data from POS systems, including dollar amount of produce Major Activities and Findings: Objective 1: Reach more shoppers by increasing the number of firms and geographies participating in Food Bucks. Major Activities Completed Added five new firms to the Food Bucks program Farm Direct: 58th & Baltimore Farmers Market (Philadelphia), Farmers on the Square (Central PA) Brick-and Mortar: Shop 'n Save Rt 66 (Greensburg, SW PA), Farmer Girl Eb (Pittsburgh), Save A Lot Allegheny Ave (Philadelphia) Reached a new geography (Carlisle, PA) with incentive programming Planned for additional programming with sites such as South Side Farmers Market (Scranton), Millvale Market and Freeman Family Farms (Pittsburgh) Implemented Food Bucks programming across 23 brick-and-mortar and 50+ farmers markets and other farm-direct sites, including mobile market stops Summary Statistics and Key Outcomes Over 120,000 households received Food Bucks incentives across ~70 locations (~60 firms plus mobile market stops) Objective #2: Increase fresh produce purchasing at participating firms by utilizing technology, digital incentives and best practices to implement efficient, replicable incentive models. Major Activities Completed Offered all farm-direct partners the option of an uncapped 5:2 incentive model or a capped 100% match, with two farm-direct sites in central PA opting for the 100% match Introduced earn-on-produce model and 100% match (capped) at some corner stores (Produce Marketplace, Dylamato's and Farmer Girl Eb) Launched new fully automated POS incentive solution at a Save A Lot store in North Philadelphia Expanded Food Bucks to additional Shop 'n Save locations, using custom POS incentive solution and loyalty card technology Participated in the Hub's Nutrition Incentives POS Requirements Working Group, which created national standards for POS incentive solutions to guide POS providers in developing solutions that meet incentive needs across diverse settings, geographies and grantee incentive models Summary Statistics and Key Outcomes Owners and managers representing 59 farm-direct and brick-and-mortar firms responded to a retailer survey about the Food Bucks program. 97% of respondents reported that participating in Food Bucks was profitable (91%) or cost-neutral (6%) for their business. 89% reported that produce sales had increased as a result of the Food Bucks program. Many of these retailers also participate as redemption sites for the Food Bucks Rx produce prescription program, which maximizes impact on sales volume. Shoppers redeemed over $463,000 in Food Bucks for fresh produce across all firms supported by this award (with additional redemptions at several sites supported solely under GusCRR). Program staff onboarded a new site, Farmer Girl Eb, which is a Black-owned business located in a neighborhood with limited fresh food options; in addition, the owner is an urban farmer and supplies the store with some of her produce. In the first eight months of programming, Farmer Girl Eb redeemed over $2,500 in Food Bucks for fresh produce. Survey data showed a positive impact of incentives on produce consumption. 296 Food Bucks participants across PA and NJ completed surveys as part of the National Technical Assistance and Evaluation (NTAE) center. At most sites, respondents were randomized into identical GusNIP or GusCRR surveys, so responses from both were pooled for analysis. Of the 296 total respondents, 241 respondents were not newly receiving SNAP and answered questions about consumption and Food Bucks importance: 75% of this sub-sample reported that their fruit and vegetable consumption had increased since they started using Food Bucks, and 89% said that Food Bucks were important (24%) or very important (65%) in helping them purchase fresh fruits and vegetables. Using the Dietary Screener Questionnaire, participants who had used Food Bucks for at least 6 months reported consuming the equivalent of half a cup more of fruits and vegetables per day than those who were new to the program (3.21 cups versus 2.69 cups). Objective #3: Increase awareness of the Food Bucks program through community engagement, rigorous outreach and retail staff training. Major Activities Completed Ongoing training of new SNAP-Ed funded community outreach associates in Philadelphia to highlight Food Bucks in their community conversations, conduct outreach related to TFT's food access and nutrition education work, and share feedback from residents with the project team Updated citywide Philadelphia and Pittsburgh Food Bucks outreach materials for distribution through County Assistance offices and community partners Promoted Food Bucks in conjunction with SNAP-Ed nutrition education programming across the Food Bucks network, including on TFT's Online Learning Hub that was developed to meet the need for virtual lessons during the COVID-19 pandemic Partnered with Greater Pittsburgh Community Bank and Macedonia Family and Community Enrichment Center (FACE) to distribute (non-USDA funded) Food Bucks and provide shuttles to the farmers market for seniors from a neighborhood with limited food access Provided comprehensive retail staff training as part of program launch at all new sites, and ongoing training as needed to address program updates, questions and staff turnover Summary Statistics and Key Outcomes ~4,800 people reached with Food Bucks program information (via distribution of program fliers, in-person outreach and trainings provided to community partners) 51 community partners (19 new) supported program promotion and outreach ~600 people that visited food pantries in Allegheny County received Food Bucks to complement their pantry staples with fresh produce (through a separate grant)
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Progress 09/01/20 to 08/31/21
Outputs
Target Audience:The Food Trust's (TFT) Food Bucks program engaged participants and other stakeholders across the public and private sectors. SNAP Users: TFT's Food Bucks program makes fresh fruits and vegetables more affordable for shoppers using SNAP. In the first year of this grant, over 55,000 households in key regions of Pennsylvania (PA) and New Jersey (NJ) earned incentives. With increased SNAP enrollment and higher benefit amounts due to the ongoing financial hardships of the COVID-19 pandemic, a significant number of households (more than triple the targeted amount) participated in the Food Bucks program, including in two new more rural communities (Westmoreland and Centre Counties, PA). Camden, NJ, saw the continued success of the corner store program at Fayers Market, enabling approximately 2,700 households to receive Food Bucks. In eastern PA, over 41,000 households earned Food Bucks at seven supermarkets, two corner stores and across TFT's farmers markets network. Shoppers in central PA accessed fresh produce at the York Fresh Food Farms mobile market, Pine Grove Mills Farmers Market and Butcher's Farm Market, with over 600 households receiving Food Bucks in that region. In western PA, programming reached roughly 10,800 households using SNAP at 24 retailers.* Below is a summary of geographies served through this project: Eastern PA: Greater Philadelphia, Reading, Chester Western PA: Pittsburgh + Allegheny County, Washington County, Westmoreland County Central PA: York, Perry and Centre Counties Southern NJ: Camden *Note: Since few sites can provide the number of unique program users, the above numbers represent our best estimates of households reached based on the number of SNAP transactions and data from comparable sites. Brick-and-Mortar Firms: Across the grant, project staff supported a variety of grocery settings, including corner stores, superettes, food co-ops and independent supermarket chains. In the first year of the grant, TFT added four new brick-and-mortar firms into the Food Bucks program. A total of 21 brick-and-mortar firms participated in Food Bucks during the first year: Camden: Fayers Market, Junior Supermarket Central PA: Butcher's Farm Market Philadelphia area: The Fresh Grocer (five locations), Olivares, Bamba and Saouty Produce Market, Cousins Fresh Market (two locations) and two produce vendors located within Reading Terminal Market, Iovine Brothers and OK Produce Western PA: The East End Food Co-op, Shop 'n Save, Dylamato's Market, Carl's Cafe, Produce Marketplace, Rocks Express, In 'n Out Corner Market Farmers: Much work was done to support farmers through Food Bucks programming, and project staff worked to expand opportunities for farmers. In Year 1, Food Bucks benefited over 80 farmers across PA, and in addition to increasing SNAP sales at farmers markets, generated $108,000 in Food Bucks redemptions for fresh produce at farm-direct sites. Between September 2020 and August 2021, there was a 38% increase in Food Bucks redemptions at farm direct sites compared with the previous year. Across those same time periods, SNAP sales nearly doubled, surpassing $400,000 during this past year. (This was in addition to the dramatic increase seen from 2019 to 2020, when the pandemic resulted in higher SNAP enrollment and benefit amounts, and a preference for outdoor retail.) $400,000 represents a four-fold increase in SNAP sales at farm-direct sites since TFT's first incentive grant, formerly FINI, supported the Food Bucks program in 2015. Other State and Community Partners: In each active geography, TFT fostered relationships with government, foundation and community partners. In Camden, NJ, TFT has been part of a 10-year partnership with Campbell Soup Healthy Communities Initiative, which has helped identify new corner stores and healthcare partners. TFT is also working with multiple partners as part of the Roots to Prevention BUILD Health project, which has facilitated further expansion of Food Buck Rx and Food Bucks outreach in Camden. In southeastern PA, TFT continued longstanding partnerships to enhance Food Bucks programming, including the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, Jefferson Health, various neighborhood associations and Community Development Corporations, Philadelphia's County Assistance Offices and others. TFT is also a partner in COACH (Collaborative Opportunities to Advance Community Health), a group of hospitals and nonprofit partners working together on community health efforts. In central PA, TFT coordinated with several regional partners, including Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, Feeding Pennsylvania, the Cumberland County Food System Alliance, and the Partnership for Better Health, who are working together and coordinating efforts to better serve over 23,000 SNAP participants. Food Bucks programming in Reading is enhanced by support from the Friends of Reading Hospital and the Greater Reading Chamber Alliance. In Pittsburgh and western PA, strong partnerships with Just Harvest, the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, the Pittsburgh Food Policy Council, the American Heart Association and the Allegheny County Health Department enabled the Food Bucks program to serve a wide range of neighborhoods and communities. A new relationship with Allegheny County WIC enabled participants in that program to receive information about Food Bucks along with their Farmers Market Nutrition Program checks. Additionally, TFT strengthened relationships with other grantees through the Nutrition Incentive Hub, GusNIP's National Technical Assistance and Evaluation (NTAE) Center. TFT is participating in the Hub as both a grantee in a learning capacity as well as a partner/TA provider. TA staff have been convening communities of practice focusing on incentive programming in corner stores, as well as SNAP-Ed/nutrition education. Changes/Problems:Below are several key challenges faced during the project, though none led to major changes in the core objectives and deliverables of this project. COVID-19 pandemic: Like many grantees, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect TFT's programming, creating both challenges and opportunities. TFT piloted a 100% match at farmers markets and supermarkets between May-August 2020 (under a previous USDA FINI award), as a response to increased food insecurity caused by COVID-19, and saw very large increases in distributions and redemptions. At the time the proposal for this project was submitted, TFT was not yet aware of how dramatic these increases would be. While the goal is to increase the benefit as much as possible, the levels of distributions and redemptions resulting from the 100% match, as well as the significant increase in eligible shoppers due to the distribution of P-EBT benefits to all public school households in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, made maintaining that match level unsustainable. Markets were offered the option to continue the 100% match with a $10 cap on earnings per shoppers, but most ultimately preferred to return to the 40% uncapped match. TFT still plans to implement a 100% match at corner stores that transition to an earn-on-produce model. Fewer farmers market sites: As a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, dozens of pop up farmers markets and farm stands operated by partners in Philadelphia transitioned entirely to emergency food distributions, reducing the number of farm-direct sites where shoppers could earn and redeem Food Bucks. TFT continues to seek out farm-direct and other non-traditional firms to accept Food Bucks and onboarded two new firms (East Parkside Farmers Market, Pine Grove Mills Farmers Market) in Year 1, as well as Virtua Health's Mobile Farmers Market as a redemption-only partner. Evaluation: To address the limited research capacity and budget within the grant for evaluation, TFT worked with the Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition on IRB approval and to receive additional Hub funding to support data collection. TFT has also benefited from the assistance of public health and medical school interns in gathering and analyzing participant-level surveys. SNAP authorization: Delays in SNAP authorization as well as issues with alleged SNAP rule violations have been an ongoing challenge to the continuity of Food Bucks programming. For example, programming at Junior Supermarket in Camden, NJ, a very successful Food Bucks firm added last year, has been paused for most of 2021 due to the new owner's difficulties in obtaining SNAP authorization. Retail technology and reporting: An ongoing difficulty has been the inability of stores' POS systems to identify the tender (payment) type early enough in the transaction to distribute a coupon tied to the use of SNAP benefits. TFT has made significant progress with retail partners and continues to customize solutions for stores to effectively distribute incentives based on eligible SNAP purchases. These solutions have led to substantial increased reach of incentives to households relying on SNAP. In addition, while TFT aims to collect as much data from stores as possible (including SNAP sales, produce sales and number of unique shoppers) to show the impact of GusNIP programs, not every store provides this data consistently or has bandwidth to do so. One solution has been for TFT staff to directly run reports from a store's POS system during in-person visits. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Over the course of this grant, many opportunities for professional development have arisen for both project staff, and for participating firms. As new staff members joined the project team--including three new Project Associates in 2021-- all received training in preparation for their work on outreach, community engagement, program implementation and reporting. Non-GusNIP TFT staff working in the community on other projects (particularly the PA and NJ SNAP-Ed program) also received training about the nutrition incentives program so they could provide information about Food Bucks along with other resources. Ongoing training on implementation, tracking, data collection and promotion of the Food Bucks program was provided to all retail partners. Additionally, training on surveying and data collection was provided by Candace Young of New Leaf Consulting, who has research expertise in the area of nutrition incentives. TFT also provided training on the Food Bucks program (covering eligibility, redemption sites and how to access the program) to organizations serving or working with low-income populations. These trainings reached staff members at social service agencies, health clinics, faith-based organizations, early childcare centers and food pantries. Additional opportunities for training and professional development included: TFT staff continue to participate in Asset-based Community Development training and ongoing training related to trauma-informed approaches to nutrition security TFT staff continue to participate as coordinators, presenters and attendees in webinars and communities of practice organized by the Nutrition Incentive Hub How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results have been shared through a variety of venues to reach interested stakeholders: Participated in meetings of the Cumberland County Food System Alliance (CCFSA) Presented to Jefferson University medical students participating in the JeffSTARS advocacy program and the JeffHOPE free clinic Presented on the Food Bucks program as part of the "Where To Turn Fair," a resource-sharing event for service providers in western PA. Presented during FINI/GusNIP Project Director meetings and annual convenings (see "Training" section above) In addition to sharing results with communities of interest, program staff continue to connect with potential participants and promote the Food Bucks program across all sites to engage more shoppers. Outreach materials were created for both the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh regions, and distributed through TFT and organizational partners, including County Assistance Offices and WIC offices. Outreach efforts that both share results and promote the program have reached approximately 8,000 potential participants through a combination of presentations, tabling at events, distributing (non-USDA funded) Community Food Bucks, and organizational partnerships. With the support of a CDC REACH grant in Pittsburgh, TFT onboarded a new Outreach Associate and contracted with two community leaders, who have led community engagement and outreach efforts for the Food Bucks program. In addition, TFT strengthened a relationship with the Pittsburgh Black Breastfeeding Circles, which have incorporated Food Bucks outreach into a series of regular breastfeeding support groups, combined with nutrition education and shopping trips to the East End Food Co-op. Additional organizational partnerships include the American Heart Association, which has championed the Food Bucks program in several REACH communities by fostering connections with local agencies meeting food access needs. In addition, The Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank partnered with Allegheny County WIC to distribute (non-GusNIP funded) promotional Food Bucks to WIC families to encourage the utilization of farmers markets and WIC FMNP vouchers. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The first year of this grant has laid a strong foundation for continued program growth and expansion, with a focus on supermarket partnerships and utilizing technology solutions to more efficiently distribute, redeem and track incentives. Automated incentive models will launch at a Save A Lot in Philadelphia, with the potential to expand to additional locations. This model was developed in partnership with a company called Snap2Save and is able to identify and distribute incentives to eligible shoppers based on qualifying SNAP purchases, without cashier intervention. Shoppers will earn a $2 Food Buck coupon (redeemable for fresh fruits and vegetables) for every $5 in SNAP they spend to purchase fresh produce. Expansion to two additional Shop 'n Save locations in western PA is also planned with a goal of transitioning away from receipt-printed coupons to electronic coupons stored in shoppers' loyalty accounts, and a similar digital loyalty-based incentive solution is being developed by Weis Markets in central PA. Additionally, TFT plans to transition several large corner stores to an earn-on-produce model. Our original corner store model enables shoppers to earn incentives for fresh produce by purchasing any SNAP eligible items. This model was initially selected to enable Food Bucks to reach a broad population, and to get shoppers used to the idea of purchasing produce at a corner store. While this is still an effective model at many stores, TFT feels that a transition to an earn-on-produce model at corner stores selling high volumes of fresh produce is appropriate, and in better alignment with the priorities of the GusNIP program. Beginning in 2022, TFT will pilot a 100% match, earn-on-produce model in select corner stores. Additional opportunities in the earlier stages include the possibility to distribute Food Bucks to shoppers using SNAP to place online orders through Oasis Grocery, a startup grocery delivery service in Pittsburgh; transitioning to a card-based system in some Camden corner stores; and the opportunity to bring Food Bucks to farmers markets and a mobile market serving three new counties in western PA, through an emerging community collaborative.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The project brought incentives to two new key geographies in central and western PA, made significant progress developing and refining incentive technology in retail settings, and built community-level partnerships to better connect shoppers with the Food Bucks program. These efforts in both new and existing geographies reached over 55,000 households, across 21 brick-and-mortar firms and over 60 farm-direct sites and mobile market stops, providing a boost to local food economies and enabling families to put more fruits and vegetables on the table. In the first year of this grant, $278,000 in Food Bucks were redeemed for fresh produce across all firms. Data Collection: Staff worked with each firm to create systems for tracking Food Bucks distribution and redemption. Firms use various data collection methods (e.g., paper tracking, point of sale (POS) systems) to serve as inputs for the Food Bucks database, where Food Bucks distributions/redemptions are tracked individually by serial number. To validate the POS systems' data, staff collected and compared receipts with POS figures. Below are metrics and other data collected from firms and program participants to assess impacts (note: not all metrics are collected from each site): # of individual Food Bucks coupons distributed and redeemed Dollar amount of Food Bucks distributed and redeemed (and % redemption) # of outreach organizations and materials Monthly SNAP sales and # of SNAP transactions # of unique SNAP households Customer surveys and general customer feedback # or value of produce items sold at corner stores # of vendors/farmers at farmers market stops Corner store sales receipts from customer purchases where incentive is redeemed Sales data from POS systems, including dollar of produce and SNAP sales Major Activities and Findings: Objective 1: Reach more shoppers by increasing the number of firms and geographies participating in Food Bucks. Major Activities Completed Added seven new firms into the Food Bucks program (two farm-direct,five brick-and-mortar) Farm Direct: East Parkside Farmers Market in Philadelphia, Pine Grove Mills Farmers Market in Central PA Brick-and Mortar: Bamba and Saouty (neighborhood produce market), Iovine Brothers and OK Produce (large volume produce vendors in Reading Terminal Market), Fresh Grocer of Upper Darby (previously only a redemption site), Charley Family Shop 'n Save Redemption only: Virtua Health's Eat Well Mobile Farmers Market and Mobile Grocery Store, serving eight high-need stops in Camden, NJ Reached two new geographies with incentive programming Greensburg, PA (Westmoreland County) - Charley Family Shop 'n Save Pine Grove Mills, PA (Centre County) - Pine Grove Mills Farmers Market Planning for additional programming with Weis Markets, Save A Lot, Farmers on the Square (farmers market in Carlisle PA), additional Shop 'n Save locations, ShopRite and additional Camden corner stores Implemented Food Bucks programming across 21 brick-and-mortar and 60+ farmers markets and other farm-direct sites, including mobile market stops Summary Statistics and Key Outcomes Over 55,000 households received Food Bucks incentives across all 80+ firms Objective #2: Increase fresh produce purchasing at participating firms by utilizing technology, digital incentives and best practices to implement efficient, replicable incentive models. Major Activities Completed Offered all farm-direct partners the option of switching from an uncapped 5:2 incentive model to a capped 100% match, which was implemented by the York Fresh Food Farms mobile market and Community Supported Agriculture program in York, PA New cashier-driven POS incentive solution providing 50% discount (100% match) with $10 cap at Bamba and Saouty Produce Market that greatly streamlined Food Bucks tracking for both store and TFT staff Launch of Food Bucks at Charley Family Shop 'n Save, utilizing custom POS incentive solution and loyalty card technology Fresh Grocer of Upper Darby began distributing incentives using successful automatic POS incentive solution for Fresh Grocer supermarket chain Planning for automated loyalty-based solution at Weis, Save A Lot and additional Charley Family Shop 'n Saves Planning for cashier-driven card-based solution at Camden corners stores Participated in the Hub's Nutrition Incentives POS Requirements Working Group, which is creating national standards for point-of-sale (POS) incentive solutions to guide POS providers in developing solutions that will meet incentive needs across diverse settings, geographies and grantee incentive models Summary Statistics and Key Outcomes 21 out of 80+ farm-direct and brick-and-mortar firms responded to a retailer survey about the program. Of the 21 respondents, 100% reported that participating in Food Bucks was profitable for their business and 90% reported that produce sales increased as a result of participating in the Food Bucks program. Shoppers redeemed $278,000 in Food Bucks for fresh produce across all firms. In the first five months of programming, Bamba and Saouty, a produce market serving a Philadelphia neighborhood where over 45% of residents live below the federal poverty line, redeemed over $18,000 for fresh produce using an immediate discount model. Of 156 surveyed shoppers across PA and NJ who had used Food Bucks, 70% reported their fruit and vegetable consumption had increased since participating in Food Bucks, and 82% said that Food Bucks were important in helping them purchase fresh fruits and vegetables. Farmers markets continued to see increased SNAP sales and Food Bucks utilization. In particular, the Fairmount Farmers Market in Philadelphia was able to shift from being a seasonal market to operating year-round and SNAP sales between March - August 2021 increased by 1083% (to $4,282) compared to March-August 2019 ($362). Food Bucks redemptions saw a 227% increase over the same time period, from $410 in 2019 to $1340 in 2021. Objective #3: Increase awareness of the Food Bucks program through community engagement, rigorous outreach and retail staff training. Major Activities Completed Train (ongoing) new SNAP-Ed funded community outreach associates in Philadelphia to highlight Food Bucks in their community conversations and outreach related to TFT's food access and nutrition education work in the city, and share any feedback from residents with the project team Creation of city-wide Philadelphia and Pittsburgh Food Bucks outreach materials for distribution through County Assistance offices and community partners Promoted Food Bucks in conjunction with SNAP-Ed nutrition education programming across the Food Bucks network, including on TFT's new Online Learning Hub that was developed to meet the need for virtual lessons during the COVID-19 pandemic Partnered with WIC to distribute (non-GusNIP funded) Food Bucks and program information to households in the Pittsburgh region Provided comprehensive retail staff training as part of program launch at all new sites, and ongoing training as needed at existing sites to address program updates, questions and staff turnover Created a virtual farmers market tour for program promotion via social media through a CDC REACH grant in Allegheny County Summary Statistics and Key Outcomes Reached approximately 8,000 people with Food Bucks program information (through distributing program fliers, in-person outreach, trainings provided to community partners) 43 community partners (32 new) supported program promotion and outreach through distribution of materials In western PA, TFT hired an Outreach Associate and contracted with two community leaders to expand outreach of the Food Bucks program, reaching over 100 residents with program information Over 1,000 participants in the WIC program in western PA received Food Bucks program information along with their quarterly FMNP checks (through a separate grant
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