Progress 09/01/20 to 08/31/22
Outputs
Target Audience:Curbside Groceries ("Curbside") is a mobile grocery truck that visits at least three unique locations weekly in Washington, DC's Ward 8 with the goal of creating equitable access to nutritious food at affordable prices. "The food store that comes to you" provides residents in areas with few nutritious grocery options with a full market basket of high-quality produce, meat, dairy, fish, baking, and healthy shelf stable pantry items. The mobile grocery truck accepts cash, credit, debit, and SNAP EBT. Curbside was created based on what the Capital Area Food Bank ("CAFB") has consistently heard from its clients: families want access to good, healthy groceries close to where they live or work, but they face transportation and affordability barriers. In a survey that CAFB conducted of nearly 2,000 people it serves, 90 percent of respondents expressed interest in affordable options for groceries and cooking within walking distance of their home. Survey results illustrate that food insecure communities that rely on food assistance also have some budget for food, and the vast majority want to purchase their food. This survey helped to identify gaps that a mobile retail model was uniquely positioned to fill. The mobile retail grocery option is intended to remove transportation barriers, create access to nutritious food, and enable healthier diets for residents across our region. The innovative design of the truck provides a shopping experience unlike anything currently available in the communities it serves. Curbside currently provides an affordable mobile grocery option for primarily low-income residents of Ward 8 in Washington, DC, at twelve community locations. Through Curbside, CAFB increases access to affordable fresh produce in neighborhoods with the highest food insecurity rates, the highest percentages of households receiving SNAP benefits, and some of the greatest health, economic, and geographic disparities and inequities in our service area. Our goal is that the added convenience and removal of transportation barriers provided by Curbside results in higher demand for low cost, nutritious foods, particularly fresh produce in the Ward 8 communities we serve. With the addition of an incentivization of doubling fruits and vegetables with SNAP purchases through our GusNIP pilot project ("Take Two! Eat fresh for less with SNAP" or "Take Two"), produce purchases and consumption have increased among our customers. This in turn, will lead to improved health outcomes for Ward 8 residents. CAFB identifies areas, down to the Census tract-level, with high levels of food insecurity and low access to healthy, affordable food and transportation. Based on these indicators, the Curbside team solicits feedback from community stakeholders, policymakers, its nonprofit partners, and its client network to develop site locations that will provide the most convenience to those in need. We also use data about food insecurity and food access in Ward 8, along with information about transportation and proximity to community sites such as schools, recreation centers, and apartment buildings in order to identify the neighborhoods that would most benefit from Curbside and our SNAP nutrition incentive pilot. Our Data and Analytics team has also developed data visualization tools, such as our Hunger Heat Map, which aggregates Census data and key correlative indicators of hunger to help determine where we can reach our target clientele. This resource assists us not only in determining where the most vulnerable populations live and where gaps in service coverage are, but it also informs local policymakers from the neighborhood to the county and state levels on the unique challenges and circumstances faced by those who are food insecure. Through this analysis we target specific underserved neighborhoods in Ward 8, such as Washington Highlands, Congress Heights, Fort Stanton, and Anacostia. All Curbside sites are directly within Federal Opportunity Zones or serve people residing in Federal Opportunity Zones. Curbside operates at sites in Census tracts that have the highest food insecurity rates in our service area and the highest percentage of households receiving SNAP benefits in our service area. For example, an estimated 32.1% of residents of Census Tract 74.01 are food insecure and 53.8% of residents receive SNAP benefits. Of those who receive SNAP benefits, 81% also live below the poverty level. Data guides our targeted outreach through Curbside and our SNAP incentive pilot, particularly for Ward 8, where low-income residents face a confluence of challenges and inequities that inhibit access to adequate nutrition. Over a quarter of the roughly 80,500 residents in Ward 8 are food insecure due primarily to a lack of access to affordable, healthy food. Compounding the issue is the fact that only one supermarket exists in an area where public transportation is scarce and unreliable, illustrating the challenges that residents face in a food desert with few retail grocery options that do not provide adequate nutrition. This inability to access affordable, healthy food widens health disparities. For example, Ward 8 residents are five times more likely to die from diabetes than those in Ward 3, and life expectancy in Ward 8 is over 30 years less compared to Ward 3. We believe through greater access to affordable fresh produce we can improve health outcomes in Ward 8 where primary barriers to healthier lives are brought on by transportation challenges and food deserts. Only five Census tracts out of twenty-three in Ward 8 are not classified as food deserts and half of all food deserts in DC are located in Ward 8. Overall, our outreach in the community has been positive and well received, with most of our sales coming from SNAP EBT. As part of our efforts to target senior populations for our SNAP incentive, we learned that many believe they are not eligible for SNAP. This learning brought about by our GusNIP pilot, presents an opportunity for greater SNAP outreach in the community. Our primary customer base for the Take Two promotion enabled by our GusNIP pilot has been low income SNAP-dependent populations, particularly seniors and families with children. Part of this is due to the locations in which the Curbside truck stops at, which now includes senior-centered areas such as apartment complexes. Changes/Problems:The greatest challenge to project implementation has been interruptions to Curbside's operations brought on by COVID-19 and mechanical issues on the truck. When our pilot started, Curbside had just resumed service after COVID-19 forced us to suspend operations. During the reporting period, we have encountered some additional disruptions to operations that have of course impacted promotion of our SNAP incentive (including the truck being off the road for all of August 2022 and some weeks previously). Much focus early in the reporting period was also around increasing awareness again of Curbside in general, after service was suspended due to COVID-19. Additional safety measures and practices on the truck had to be developed as well. Due to the disruptions in Curbside operations, we were approved for a one-year no cost extension and a budget change to better align our sales projections and better reflect our need for increased outreach. During the reporting period, we have also learned that sometimes patrons have noted that they did not participate in the SNAP incentive promotion because it would lead to an excess of produce in their homes that they would not want to waste. This was most apparent for seniors, who expressed difficulty with carrying double the amount of produce items. We also have encountered that many seniors do not qualify for SNAP or believe that they do not qualify. This has of course limited somewhat our reach and ability to grow the SNAP incentive initiative. For future SNAP promotions, we will target more families over other populations such as seniors. Additionally, a learning from this grant is that we will use "eaches" as a better measurement over weight for how much food we sell to minimize waste in incentive promotions. Automatically doubling up on produce proved to be excess for many customers. We also encountered that many customers were benefitting from COVID stimulus money, which gave them extra money to use on the Curbside truck. However when these benefits dissipated, some customers did not necessarily return to the truck. Because almost everything on the truck is SNAP-eligible, many customers only shop at the beginning of the month and not at the end of the month when they have already used their SNAP benefits. Finally, with serving a largely Hispanic and immigrant population, language barriers have hindered sales and outreach. Having Spanish-speaking staff/volunteers would be beneficial. Additionally, many immigrant families are not eligible for SNAP, which hindered the effectiveness of our SNAP incentive promotion. While we had originally stipulated our intention to pilot a "produce for produce" incentive model whereby customers would receive a 1:1 match on produce for every purchase made via SNAP EBT on GusNIP-qualifying produce, we were approved to shift our incentive model to a "any SNAP-eligible food purchase for produce model." In this model, customers receive a 1:1 match on produce for every purchase made via SNAP EBT on any SNAP-eligible food items, albeit preferably on produce purchases. This incentive model change has enabled us to better meet our customers' purchase preferences as well as best enabled us to expend incentive costs. All the while, this model has still encouraged greater consumption of fruits and vegetables. Training Shiftsmart staff on the truck was also a challenge, particularly around administering and promoting the SNAP incentive. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Although not an original goal of our GusNIP grant, during this reporting period we have offered job training to Shiftsmart workers on the Curbside truck as an added benefit. Trainings have entailed aspects such as learning best practices for customer engagement, recognition of produce items, food safety education including proper storing of perishables, and learning the importance of regular cycle counts such as accounting of specific items. Shiftsmart workers also assisted with promotion of the truck and community engagement. As members of the communities we reach, this was particularly beneficial in spreading the word about the truck and the Take Two GusNIP SNAP incentive. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?In order to promote our SNAP incentive, we progressed in our goals to engage our Curbside sites in a targeted outreach campaign, including communications through social media and partner websites, mailed flyers to specific zip codes, as well as general outreach by program staff in Ward 8. Posted information on the Curbside truck also informs customers of the SNAP incentive. It is important to note that the Curbside truck itself is an effective marketing tool simply by its presence in the community. With stops at or near densely apartment complexes, word of mouth travels to market Curbside and then in turn the Take Two SNAP incentive promotion. During the reporting period, we have also created a dedicated website to Curbside (https://curbsidegroceries.org/). Featured prominently on the home page is an advertisement for our SNAP incentive pilot reading, "Check out 'Take Two! Eat fresh for less with SNAP.' When you buy one item with EBT, you get your choice of free produce at equal or lesser value!" Specific examples of outreach to the community to raise awareness and visibility of our SNAP incentive have included: Regular social media posts to Curbside partners with schedule and promotion information. Instagram and other social media posts on Curbside's schedule and menu offerings. Sponsored ads on Facebook. Postcard mailings to specific zip codes announcing the "Take Two" SNAP incentive promotion. Advertisements of Curbside at Metro and Metrobus stops. Scheduled tours around Ward 8 with the Curbside truck for visibility. Staff participation in community events to raise awareness and conduct outreach, including at Advisory Neighborhood Council meetings where staff promoted the SNAP incentive promotion which in turn helped overall Curbside Groceries marketing and outreach. Distribution of marketing collateral such as stickers, flyers, etc. (Due to suspension of Curbside operations at various points during the reporting period because of mechanical issues and COVID-19, not all advertising collateral was able to be utilized on the truck). Curbside also aims to encourage additional investment in the creation of affordable retail options for Ward 8 residents. The initiative aims to prove there is a market for alternative format grocery stores that can provide viable returns and meet a social need in areas that currently lack access to affordable, healthy food. We hope to share costs, margins, and other data with impact investors and entrepreneurs in efforts to encourage greater investment in the region. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Through Curbside Groceries, a mobile grocery truck, which offers affordable groceries for sale at community partner stops in Ward 8 of the District of Columbia, Capital Area Food Bank has increased access to and purchase of affordable fresh produce and other nutritious items by low-income families and individuals living in food deserts and in neighborhoods with the highest food insecurity rates, the highest percentages of households receiving SNAP benefits, and the greatest health, economic, and geographic disparities. To achieve this outcome, Curbside Groceries' GusNIP incentive initiative has increased the purchases of fresh fruits and vegetables among SNAP customers by offering the opportunity for customers to double up on the produce they receive when making a purchase of any SNAP-eligible item on the Curbside Groceries truck. In this reporting period, we have accomplished our two main goals for our GusNIP SNAP incentive pilot, "Take Two! Eat Fresh for Less with SNAP": Goal 1: Increase quantity of fruits and vegetables purchased; and Goal 2: Increase SNAP EBT as a higher percentage of all sales. 1. Increase quantity of fruits and vegetables purchased In this reporting period, produce was by far our top selling item, more than double that of other product categories on the truck. Additionally, over half of the transactions are connected to SNAP users. Before the start of our GusNIP initiative, SNAP EBT transactions accounted for 13% of all purchases, which was lower than cash and credit/debit transactions. Through our SNAP incentive pilot, we have successfully increased SNAP EBT as a higher percentage of all sales. In the reporting period, the majority of sales on Curbside were made via SNAP EBT. This illustrates how an incentivization for produce items that are typically not available due to cost and the absence of grocery store options in Ward 8, has led to an increase in SNAP EBT transactions. By design, Curbside creates access to affordable fresh produce where there previously was not access. 2. Increase SNAP EBT as a higher percentage of all sales. Through our "Take Two!" pilot so far, we have increased access to affordable fresh produce in neighborhoods of DC's Ward 8 with the highest food insecurity rates, the highest percentages of households receiving SNAP benefits, and the greatest barriers to food access and affordability in our service area. Through this initiative, patrons have had the opportunity to match the amount of any GusNIP qualifying fruits and/or vegetables they receive upon purchase of any SNAP-eligible item. We have not previously administered this incentive program for Curbside, but believe this program will continue to enable us to better achieve our goal of increasing fresh produce availability, affordability, and consumption in DC's Ward 8. As mentioned previously, customer survey results have illustrated that about half of Curbside customers are participating in our "Take Two" SNAP incentive and over 95% state that they have greater access to and are purchasing more healthy and nutritious groceries. Additionally, when possible, we strive to offer locally-sourced products, particularly fresh produce from local farms. Part of the challenge of sourcing from local farms is in volume and delivery that requires additional logistical coordination. The Take Two SNAP incentive promotion contributed to greater sales overall as well on the Curbside truck. Total sales from SNAP-EBT customers over the reporting period include: 2020: $2,056.50 2021: $8,532.88 2022: $5,119.35 (we did lose at least 4 weeks of operating time at the end of the grant due to mechanical issues on the truck)
Publications
|
Progress 09/01/20 to 08/31/21
Outputs
Target Audience: Curbside Groceries("Curbside")is a mobilegrocerytruck that visits at least three unique locations weeklyin Washington,DC's Ward 8with the goal of creating equitable access to nutritious food at affordable prices. "The food store that comes to you" provides residents in areas with few nutritious grocery options with a full market basket of high-quality produce, meat, dairy, fish, baking, and healthy shelf stable pantry items. The mobile grocery truck accepts cash, credit, debit, and SNAPEBT.Curbsidewas created based on what the Capital Area Food Bank ("CAFB") has consistently heard from its clients: families want access to good, healthy groceries close to where they live or work, buttheyface transportation and affordability barriers. In a survey that CAFB conducted of nearly 2,000 people it serves, 90 percent of respondents expressed interest in affordable options for groceries and cooking within walking distance of their home.Surveyresults illustratethat food insecure communities that relyon foodassistance also have some budget for food, and thevast majority want to purchase their food. This survey helped to identify gaps that a mobile retail model was uniquely positioned to fill.Themobile retail grocery option is intended to remove transportation barriers, create access to nutritious food, and enable healthier diets for residents acrossourregion. The innovative design of the truck provides a shopping experience unlike anything currently available in the communities it serves. Curbside currently provides an affordablemobile grocery option forprimarilylow-income residentsof Ward 8 in Washington, DC,at seven community locations:Kramer Middle School,Ketcham Elementary School,Anacostia High School,UPO - Petey Greene,Hart Middle School,Ingenuity Prep Public Charter School,andNew Parkchester Housing Cooperative.Through Curbside, CAFB increases access to affordable fresh produce in neighborhoods with the highest food insecurity rates, the highest percentages of households receiving SNAP benefits, andsome ofthe greatest health, economic, andgeographicdisparitiesand inequitiesin our service area. Our goal is that the added convenience and removal of transportation barriersprovidedby Curbsideresultsin higher demand for low cost, nutritious foods, particularly fresh producein the Ward 8 communities we serve. With the addition of an incentivizationof doubling fruits and vegetables with SNAP purchases throughourGusNIPpilot project("Take Two! Eat fresh for less with SNAP" or "Take Two"), producepurchasesandconsumptionhaveincreased among our customers. This in turn, will lead to improved health outcomes for Ward 8 residents. CAFB identifies areas, down to theCensus tract-level, with high levels of food insecurity and low access to healthy, affordable food and transportation. Based on these indicators, the Curbside team solicits feedback from community stakeholders, policymakers, its nonprofit partners, and its client network to develop site locations that will provide the most convenience to those in need.We also use data about food insecurity and food access in Ward 8, along with information about transportation and proximity to community sites such as schools, recreation centers, and apartment buildings in order to identify the neighborhoods that would most benefit from Curbsideand our SNAP nutrition incentive pilot.Our Data and Analytics team hasalso developeddata visualization tools, such as our Hunger Heat Map, which aggregates Census data and key correlative indicators of hungerto help determine where we can reach our target clientele. This resource assists us not only in determining where the most vulnerable populations live and where gaps inservicecoverage are, but it also informs local policymakers from the neighborhood to the county and state levels on the unique challenges and circumstances faced by those who are food insecure. Through this analysis we target specific underserved neighborhoodsin Ward 8,such asWashington Highlands, Congress Heights, Fort Stanton, and Anacostia.AllCurbside sites are directly within Federal Opportunity Zonesor servepeople residing in Federal Opportunity Zones. Curbside operates at sites inCensus tracts that have the highest food insecurity rates in our service areaand the highestpercentage of households receiving SNAP benefitsin our service area.For example,an estimated 32.1% of residents ofCensus Tract 74.01are food insecure and 53.8% of residentsreceive SNAP benefits.Of those who receive SNAP benefits, 81% also live below the poverty level. Data guides ourtargeted outreach through Curbside and our SNAP incentive pilot, particularly for Ward 8, where low-income residents face a confluence of challengesand inequitiesthat inhibit access to adequate nutrition.Over a quarter of the roughly80,500residents in Ward 8 are food insecure due primarily to a lack of access to affordable,healthy food.Compounding the issue is the fact that only one supermarket exists in an area where public transportation is scarce and unreliable, illustrating the challenges that residents face in a food desert with few retail grocery options that do not provide adequate nutrition.This inability to access affordable, healthy food widens health disparities. For example,Ward 8 residents are five times more likely to die from diabetes than those in Ward 3, andlife expectancyin Ward 8 is over 30 years lesscompared toWard 3.We believe throughgreateraccess toaffordablefresh produce we canimprove health outcomesin Ward 8 where primary barriers tohealthierlivesare brought on by transportation challenges and food deserts.Only five Census tracts out of twenty-three in Ward 8 are not classified as food desertsand half of all food deserts in DC are located in Ward 8. Overall,our outreach in the community has been positiveand well received, withmostof our salescoming from SNAPEBT.As part of our efforts to targetsenior populations for our SNAP incentive,we learned that manybelieve theyarenot eligiblefor SNAP.Thislearningbrought about byourGusNIPpilot,presents an opportunity for greater SNAP outreachin the community. Changes/Problems: The greatest challenge to project implementationhas beeninterruptions to Curbside's operations brought on by COVID-19 andmechanical issues on the truck. When our pilot started, Curbside had just resumed service afterCOVID-19 forcedus to suspend operations.During the reporting period, we have encountered someadditionaldisruptions tooperationsthat have of courseimpacted promotion of our SNAP incentive.Much focusearly in thereporting periodwas alsoaroundincreasing awareness again of Curbside in general, afterservice was suspended due to COVID-19. Additional safety measures and practices on the truck had to be developed as well.Due to thedisruptionsin Curbside operations, we were approved for a one-year no cost extensionand a budget change tobetter align our sales projections andbetter reflectour need for increased outreach. During the reporting period, we have also learned that sometimespatrons have noted that theydidnot participate in theSNAP incentive promotionbecause it wouldlead toan excess of produce in their homes thattheywouldnot want towaste.This wasmost apparentfor seniors. We also have encountered thatmany seniorsdo not qualify for SNAP or believe that they do not qualify. This has of courselimited somewhat our reach and ability to grow the SNAP incentive initiative. While we had originally stipulated our intention to pilot a "produce for produce" incentive model whereby customers would receive a 1:1 match on produce for every purchase made via SNAPEBT onGusNIP-qualifying produce, wewere approved toshift our incentive model to a "any SNAP-eligible food purchase for produce model." In this model, customers receive a 1:1 match on produce for every purchasemade via SNAPEBT on any SNAP-eligible food items, albeit preferably on produce purchases.This incentive model changehasenabledus to better meet our customers' purchase preferences as well as best enabledus to expendincentive costs. All the while, this modelhasstill encouragedgreater consumption of fruits and vegetables.? What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Although not an original goalof ourGusNIPgrant, during this reporting period we haveofferedjob training toShiftsmartworkerson the Curbside truckas an added benefit.Trainings have entailed aspects such as learning best practices for customer engagement, recognition ofproduce items, food safety education including proper storing of perishables, andlearning the importance of regular cycle counts such as accounting of specificitems. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? In order to promoteourSNAPincentive, wehaveprogressed in our goals toengage ourCurbsidesites in a targeted outreach campaign, including communicationsthroughsocial media and partner websites, mailed flyers tospecificzip codes,as well asgeneral outreach by program staff in Ward 8.Posted information on the Curbside truckalso informscustomers ofthe SNAP incentive. During the reporting period,we have alsocreated a dedicated website to Curbside(https://curbsidegroceries.org/). Featured prominently on the home page isanadvertisement for our SNAP incentive pilot reading,"Check out'Take Two! Eat fresh for less with SNAP.'When you buy oneitem with EBT, you get your choice of free produce at equal or lesser value!"? Specificexamples ofoutreach to the community to raise awareness and visibility of our SNAP incentive haveincluded: Regularsocial mediaposts to Curbside partners with schedule and promotion information. Instagramand other social mediapostson Curbside'sschedule and menu offerings. Sponsored ads on Facebook. Postcard mailingsto specific zip codes announcingthe "Take Two"SNAP incentivepromotion. Scheduled tours aroundWard 8with theCurbsidetruckfor visibility. Staff participation in community eventsto raise awareness and conduct outreach. Curbside also aims to encourage additional investment in the creation of affordable retail options for Ward 8 residents. Theinitiative aims to prove there is a market for alternative format grocery stores that can provide viable returns and meet a social need in areas that currently lack access to affordable, healthy food. Wehope to sharecosts, margins, and other datawith impact investors and entrepreneurs in efforts to encourage greater investment in the region. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?In the next reporting period, we will focus primarily onvamping up our outreach in the community to increase awarenessof theSNAP incentiveavailable to Curbside customers.Specifically, we willfocus on implementing a broader marketing campaign to includeadditional strategies such as posters at bus stops and possibly radio advertisements.We will also focuson greateroutreach to specificfood insecurepopulations and communities, such as seniors and veterans.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Through Curbside Groceries, a mobile grocery truck, which offers affordable groceries for saleatcommunity partner stops in Ward 8 of the District of Columbia, Capital Area Food Bankhasincreasedaccess toandpurchaseofaffordable fresh produceand other nutritious items by low-income individuals living in food deserts andin neighborhoods with the highest food insecurity rates, the highest percentages of households receiving SNAP benefits, and the greatest health, economic, and geographic disparities.To achieve this outcome, Curbside Groceries'GusNIPincentiveinitiative hasincreased thepurchases of fresh fruits and vegetables among SNAP customersby offering the opportunityfor customers todouble up on the produce they receive when making a purchase of any SNAP-eligible item on the Curbside Groceries truck. In this reporting period,we have accomplished our two main goals for ourGusNIPSNAP incentive pilot, "Take Two!Eat Fresh for Less with SNAP":Goal1:Increase quantity of fruits and vegetables purchased; andGoal2:Increase SNAP EBT as a higher percentage of all sales. 1. Increase quantity of fruits andvegetables purchased In this reporting period, produce was by far our top selling item,more than double that of other product categories on the truck.Additionally,over half of the transactions are connected to SNAP users.Beforethe start of ourGusNIPinitiative, SNAP EBT transactions accounted for 13% of all purchases, which was lower than cash and credit/debit transactions. Through our SNAP incentive pilot, we have successfully increased SNAP EBT as a higher percentage of all sales. In the reporting period, the majority of sales on Curbside weremade viaSNAP EBT.This illustrates howanincentivization for produce items that are typically not available due to cost and the absence of grocery store options in Ward 8,hasled toan increase in SNAP EBT transactions. 2.Increase SNAP EBT as a higher percentage of all sales. Throughour "Take Two!" pilot so far, we haveincreasedaccess to affordable fresh produce in neighborhoodsof DC's Ward 8with the highest food insecurity rates, the highest percentages of households receiving SNAP benefits, and thegreatest barriers to food access and affordability in our service area. Through this initiative,patrons havehadtheopportunity tomatchthe amount of anyGusNIPqualifying fruits and/or vegetables they receive upon purchase of anySNAP-eligible item. We have not previously administered this incentive program for Curbside, but believe this program willcontinue toenable us to better achieve our goal of increasing fresh produce availability, affordability, and consumption in DC's Ward 8.As mentioned previously, customer survey results have illustratedthat about half of Curbside customers are participating in our "Take Two" SNAP incentiveand over 95%state that they have greater accessto and are purchasing more healthy and nutritious groceries. Additionally, when possible, we strive to offer locally-sourced products, particularly fresh produce from local farms.In this reporting period, we have made connections to a local farm that we hope to incorporate in the next growing season. Part of the challenge of sourcing from local farms is in volume and delivery that requires additional logistical coordination.
Publications
|