Progress 09/01/23 to 08/31/24
Outputs
Target Audience:This GusNIP project targets all SNAP participants in Hawaii. As of April 2024, there were 83,779 SNAP households in the state, which represents 156,019 individuals. These are the last figures reported by our State SNAP Agency, the Hawaii Department of Human Services. Changes/Problems:We have had the ongoing challenge of not being able to collect 2019 baseline data on local produce SNAP sales from the majority of our partner retailers due to retailers not having SNAP-authorization in 2019, or not having the point-of-sale storage capacity to pull data that is more than two years old. Using 2020-2022 as baseline data is not ideal due to the unique economic conditions created by the COVID-19 pandemic. During this period, grocery sales across all food categories surged as residents prepared most of their meals at home, and emergency SNAP benefit and p-EBT benefits were issued alongside regular deposits. These factors contributed to extraordinarilyhigh local produce SNAP sales during the pandemic, as reflected in our data from partner grocery stores. Setting a goal to increase local SNAP sales by 300% compared to inflated pandemic levels is unrealistic. Going forward, we will need to use 2023 as our baseline year. It is also difficult to provide empirical evidence of the impact of DA BUX nutrition incentives on local produce SNAP sales because of frequent, external macro-economic factors that have a large influence on shopping behavior and determine the total volume of SNAP dollars available to SNAP participants in Hawaii in any given month. For example, starting on October 1, 2024, federally mandated cuts to SNAP benefits were imposed on all Hawaii SNAP households due to USDA adjustments to the calculation of SNAP benefits in the Thrifty Food Plan. These cuts in addition to high cost of living are driving thousands of low-income Hawaii residents to move out of the state, which also reduces the amount of SNAP benefits circulating in the local economy. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?In Year 3, our Project Director, Kristin Frost Albrecht and Co-Project Director, Chelsea Takahashi, were invited as guest speakers to the Nutrition Incentive Hub's "Self & Systems Change Community of Practice" Zoom meeting held on October 25, 2023. We presented our holistic approach to achieving food sovereignty for our state through our programming, including through DA BUX nutrition incentives. On December 4-6, 2023, Ms. Albrecht, Ms. Takahashi, and DA BUX Finance Manager, Mercy Nakayama, attended the NIFA FY2023 Community Nutrition Project Directors' Meeting in New Orleans. At this convening, we attended sessions hosted by USDA-NIFA staff on federal regulations governing the financial and operational management of our GusNIP project. In the fall of 2024, our external evaluator, Dr. Vanessa Buchthal, hired two undergraduate work-study students in the spring 2024 semester to support statewide survey collection for the "DA BUX Double Up Food Bucks SNAP Participant Awareness and Usage Assessment." These jobs offered new career development experiences in the public health field, including CITI ethics training and certification in human subjects research, and application of this training while conducting in-person intercept surveys with SNAP participants. Ms. Takahashi also engaged with UH Manoa students in the fall 2024 semester as a guest speaker in the online Community Nutrition undergraduate course. The presentation covered the various ways The Food Basket is providing healthy food access to people in need. Lastly on August 21-24, 2024, Ms. Albrecht, Ms. Takahashi, Ms. Nakayama, and Dr. Buchthal participated in the Nutrition Incentive Hub "Food, Land, and Culture" Mini-Convening on Oahu Island. We were invited as guest speakers to present on our experiences implementing our GusNIP project across the state. Attendees were represenatives from other GusNIP projects across the country. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Our key advocates for DA BUX promotion are our partner grocery stores and food hubs. Grocery store marketing staff have internal protocols for regularly marking DA BUX-eligible produce with the program logo. The DA BUX logo is often printed directly on to the price signage or as a stand-alone "self-talker" that is placed next to the price signage. Some stores choose to print the logo on food-safe stickers that are affixed to individual produce items for added visibility of the logo. Grocery stores also support DA BUX promotion by allowing SNAP shoppers to sign up for a DA BUX Access Card at their customer service counters. These DA BUX Access Cards are needed to expedite the application of the discount on eligible produce items during checkout. All partner food hubs maintain webpages and social media accounts for their retail operations that include information on how SNAP participants can benefit from DA BUX discounts. Many of our partner food hubs operate online order-and-delivery models. Most digitally add the DA BUX logo to the photos of their available fruit and vegetable products. Partner food hubs who operate in-person sales display promotional banners at their retail sites advertising the 50% discount on local fruits and vegetables to SNAP shoppers. Outreach for the launch of DA BUX at Kilauea Market + Café has been facilitated by our non-profit partner, Get Fit Kauai. Their Executive Director, Bev Brody, who shops regularly at this market and maintains personal relationships with the store management, has provided valuable on-the-ground support. Early in the launch, Ms. Brody identified that low incentive redemption rates were partially due to the small size of the DA BUX logo on the price signage. She communicated this feedback to the store management, who promptly addressed the issue by increasing the logo size, making it easier for customers to identify eligible items. We have seen incentive redemptions gradually increase at Kilauea Market + Café since the new signage was implemented. General DA BUX outreach was executed by our staff at the events listed below. We aimed to inform community-based organizations, SNAP participants, and the broader public of the DA BUX discounts available. HILO, HI, Sep 22, 2023 - Hui Malama Na Oiwi's Ladies' Night Out HILO, HI, Oct 2, 2023 - The Food Basket's Partner Agency Meeting HILO, HI, Oct 17, 2023 - Akamai Seniors Meeting KAILUA-KONA, HI, Oct 23, 2023 - The Food Basket's Partner Agency Meeting HILO, HI, Nov 28, 2023 - Hilo Women's Club meeting KAPOLEI, HI, Dec 14-15 - Transforming Hawaii's Food System Together HONOLULU, HI, Feb 8 - Ag Day at the Capitol ONLINE, June 13, 2024 - Aloha Aina Workshop for Department of Education Faculty Lastly, our DA BUX Data Management Specialist, maintains our searchable "Find A Retailer" map on our program website DABUX.org. SNAP participants can find the most up-to-date operating hours and locations for participating retailers through this map. Map content is managed through a hosting software called Metalocator. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We have very minimal funds remaining in this grant to accomplish the project's goals. During the next reporting period, we plan to use the remaining funds to sustain ongoing availability of DA BUX at all 57 food retailers (which excludes Foodland-Lahaina that stopped operations due to the Lahaina Wildfires) and to promptly answer public inquiries that we receive through our program phone number, email, website contact form, and social media. Reaching our unmet goals related to increasing access, awareness, and usage of DA BUX will require a new infusionof program fundingto allow us to add more retail sites and implement a re-vamped marketing campaign. Reaching our goals under a new funding source will require staffing increases and time for staff training and strategic planning. We plan to contract an evaluator to conduct focus groups with SNAP participants and gather feedback on the design of amarketing campaign.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Goal 1: DA BUX Program Access In Year 3 of this GusNIP project, we completed our project expansion plan, onboarding 15 new retailers in rural Hawaii. We launched DA BUX at our last retailer, Kilauea Market + Café, in September 2023. Kilauea Market + Café is a grocery store located on the north shore of Kauai Island. The owner of Kilauea Market + Café is the Sullivan Family of Companies, who we were already partnering with to implement DA BUX at two of their other grocery chains. Kilauea Market + Café managers and cashiers were required to receive online training prior to launching DA BUX. Training material was created by the Co-Project Director, Chelsea Takahashi, and Foodland corporate staff, who manage the Sullivan Family of Companies operations in Hawaii. Foodland corporate staff oversee the store protocols for marking qualifying DA BUX fruits and vegetables with the DA BUX logo on store shelves. The launch of DA BUX at Kilauea Market + Café significantly expands program access to an estimated 1,605-2,393 SNAP households within its Census block. The SNAP population in this Census block is relatively high compared to most Census blocks on Kauai Island. Prior to the launch, there were no other retail access points within this Census block where DA BUX was available. We can reasonably assume we did not reach our Outcome 1.1 to increase program access to 90% of SNAP households in the state. Our external evaluator, Dr. Vanessa Buchthal of the University of Hawai?i at M?noa's Office of Public Health Studies, volunteered her time to conduct a GIS spatial analysis of the DA BUX program reach by estimating the number of SNAP households living within shopping distance of DA BUX retail locations at the end of 2022. By the end of 2022, we had only onboarded 13 out of the 15 retailers in our expansion plan. Dr. Buchthal provided her final results in the fall of 2023, reporting 83% of SNAP households in the State or 45,771 SNAP households were living within reasonable shopping distance of a DA BUX retail site. While our expansion increased program access, we do not have enough evidence to support that we reached our target of increasing access to 90% of SNAP households. Hawai?i SNAP Households (%) Living Within Shopping Distance of a DA BUX Retail Site: 2018 - 29% 2020 - 77% 2022 - 83% Goal 2: DA BUX Program Awareness and Usage We did not reach our target outcomes of 84% of surveyed SNAP participants reporting awareness of DA BUX and 60% of surveyed SNAP participants reporting using the DA BUX program within the last month. We contracted Dr. Bucthal to measure these outcomes through a "DA BUX Double Up Food Bucks SNAP Participant Awareness and Usage Assessment." This assessment conducted surveys in two waves. Wave 1 was conducted in project Year 1 (between February-June 2022), and Wave 2 was conducted in project Year 3 (between February-June 2024). In Year 3, Dr. Bucthal and two work-study students completed 396 intercept surveys with SNAP participants statewide. Surveys were collected at community locations where SNAP participants were likely to be encountered, including public housing common spaces, food pantry distributions, farmers markets, and shopping centers. All survey sites were neutral sites where no retail services were offered in conjunction with a DA BUX incentive promotion. Potential participants were screened to ensure they resided in a SNAP household prior to survey intiation. All survey takers received a $20 grocery gift card as a stipend for their time to complete the survey. The study protocol was reviewed and approved by the Social and Behavioral Sciences Institutional Review Board at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Survey results revealed nearly half (46%) of SNAP participants are aware of DA BUX. This rate varied by county with Honolulu County having the highest rate of awareness at 56% and Maui County having the lowest rate at 20%. We modified our evaluation of program use by asking the SNAP participant how often they received a DA BUX discount within the last 12 months. This modification was made to capture DA BUX program use among SNAP participants who may use the program sporadically as needed rather than on a monthly basis. Survey results revealed nearly a quarter (24%) of SNAP participants, an estimated 37,226 individuals in April 2024, have used DA BUX within the last 12 months. Goal 3: SNAP Household Purchase and Consumption of Local Fruits and Vegetables In Year 3, we successfully acheived Outcome 3.1 by identifying a positive correlation between our DA BUX participants' time using the program and consumption of fruits and vegetables. In Year 2, we collected 128 participant surveys. The Center for Nutrition and Health Impact (CNHI) provided the survey instrument, which included a 10-item Dietary Screener Questionnaire (DSQ), adapted from the National Cancer Institute DSQ, which measures fruit and vegetable intake in the last month. In Year 3, CNHI converted the DSQ responses into "cup equivalents" of fruits and vegetables, using a scoring algorithm provided by the National Cancer Institute. To provide a more robust analysis, we aggregated CNHI-converted survey responses from this project with CNHI-converted survey responses from our GusCRR project which used the same survey instrument. By aggregating data between the two projects, we found marginal statistical signficance (p=0.1) between respondents' participation in DA BUX measured in months, and average daily fruits and vegetables consumed measured in cups. Participants using DA BUX for over 12 months consumed the highest daily average of fruits and vegetables (2.95 cups), while those using DA BUX for less than a month consumed the lowest daily average (2.55 cups). In year 3, we did not reach Outcome 3.2 of a 300% increase in SNAP local produce sales at all retailers. We collected baseline 2019 monthly averages of local produce sales to SNAP shoppers from 36 out of the 59 participating retailers. Retailers who were unable to report their baseline 2019 average were either grocers who did not have the POS capacity to retrieve data history older than 1-2 years, or they were food hubs that were not yet authorized to accept SNAP in 2019. Out of the 36 retailers asessed, 29 were grocery stores. None reached the target of a 300% increase in local produce sales to SNAP shoppers as of June 2024; however, 16 grocers (57%) reported increases ranging from 2%-161%. The remaining 7 retailers assessed were food hubs offering farm-direct services, including farmers markets, community-supported agriculture programs, and online order-and-delivery services. All 7 food hubs reported sales increases ranging from 43% to 6,177%--4 out of the 7 reached the target of a 300% increase in local produce sales to SNAP shoppers as of June 2024.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/22 to 08/31/23
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for this reporting period was 157,544* statewide SNAP participants. *Hawaii Department of Human Services, August 2023 Changes/Problems: In Aug 2023, we were informed of the rejection of our FY '23 GusNIP application. Given that our existing FY '21 GusNIP and FY '21 GusCRR projects are expiring in Aug 31, 2024, we must strategize on how to secure long-term funding to keep our DA BUX program alive. While local philanthropy has generously provided the bulk of cash match needed for a series of FINI/GusNIP/GusCRR federal grants that established and grew our program statewide over the last six years, the reviewer comments in our rejection made it clear that we need to build our longer-term funding strategy that is more diversified in our funding sources and not as dependent on the federal GusNIP grants. One of the retailers we had planned to onboard, Hawaii Eco Experiences, does not yet have SNAP authorization. In Feb 2022, Hawaii Eco Experiences reported their application for SNAP authorization was filled out inaccurately and returned to them by USDA FNS. We have since connected them with Joe Lesausky at Michigan Farmers Market Association, Tarissa Johnson at USDA, and our local contact, Donna Mitts, with the Hawaii Farmers Market Association to assist them with their application. We need to collect programmatic data from the 23 grocery stores owned by QSI, Inc. The company has only been providing incentive transaction data that is sufficient for reimbursement; however, they have been failing to provide timely data needed to evaluate our success in achieving our project goals since July 2023. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?In year 2, Project Directors, Kristin Frost Albrecht and Chelsea Takahashi, presented on the DA BUX program on many occasions for various community meetings, leadership development programs and higher education classes. Of note, on September 29, 2022, Ms. Takahashi presented at the 2022 Physical Activity and Nutrition (PAN) Summit hosted by the Hawaii State Department of Health (DOH) to a mixed audience of public health leaders from DOH, healthcare providers, community-based non-profits, and the University of Hawaii. On March 24, 2023, Ms. Takahashi and Communications Specialist, Robert Munoz, were invited to co-present at the monthly meeting of the Queen's Clinically Integrated Physician Network Provider work group. On June 6, 2023, Ms. Albrecht and Ms. Takahashi were invited by the National Grocers Association to speak on their panel session "Developing and Maintaining Partnerships in GusNIP Projects"at the national Nutrition Incentive Hub convening. And on July 29, 2023, Ms. Albrecht and Ms. Takahashi were speakers at the 2023 Changing Faces Women's Leadership Seminar which brought together innovative, women entrepreneurs from the United States and the Asia-Pacific region to enhance their entrepreneurial capacity and leadership skills. In year 2, Ms. Takahashi, has provided technical assistance for food hubs interested in participating in the USDA SNAP Online Purchasing Pilot. Ms. Takahashi has provided up-to-date intel on policy changes governing the authorization process, the latest third-party providers and platforms approved to accept SNAP online payments, and first-hand experience navigating the authorization process as we pursue this for our community-supported agriculture operation. Ms. Takahashi's technical assistance has also included guidance on reconciling SNAP refund transactions and general training on SNAP retailer compliance. Ms. Takahashi has provided one-on-one consulting for food hubs, and has shared information through regular meetings of the Hawaii Good Food Alliance and the Hawaii Food Hub Hui, who convene our participating food hubs statewide and facilitate knowledge sharing. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We announced the launch of DA BUX at Hoola Farms' Hawaii Farm-to-Car program by working with Hoola Farm to co-publish a press release. We also both made announcements on our respective social media accounts. Additionally, Hoola Farms made efforts to communicate the launch in-person to their SNAP customers as they picked up their produce orders and paid with their SNAP-EBT cards. Results from the first wave of surveys from the "DA BUX Awareness and Usage Assessment" were published on our website, dabux.org/for-advocates, in Oct 2022. The webpage url to this document was shared with our advocate, Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice (also known as "Hawaii Appleseed"). Hawaii Appleseed re-published summary awareness and usage data from our report in their Jan 2023 "Hawaii SNAP" report assessing the effectiveness of the SNAP program in Hawaii (hiappleseed.org/publications/hawaii-snap). Hawaii Appleseed presented their findings to the state SNAP agency, State Department of Human Services, as well as in an in-person meeting with the Western Region SNAP Office Director, Charles Tobin on Jan 20, 2023. General program updates are provided to stakeholders through the DA BUX Project Directors? regular participation in statewide networks, including the Hawaii Good Food Alliance, Hawaii Food Hub Hui, Hawai'i Public Health Institute Healthy Eating + Active Living Coalition, and the Hawaii Hunger Action Network. Hard copies of the "DA BUX Double Up Food Bucks 2020-2021 Outcomes Report" were distributed at the inaugural Hawaii Food Systems Summit held Jan 11-12, 2023. This summit was attended by more 100 individuals representing multiple counties, sectors and interest groups. The summit resulted in the prioritization of 12 food and agriculture policies that were supported by diverse subject matter experts and food systems advocates in the 2023 state legislative session. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Goal 1: DA BUX Program Access We will work with Sullivan Family of Companies to onboard the last of our targeted 15 retailers in our project expansion. We identified their SNAP-authorized grocery store, Kilauea Market + Cafe, to be onboarded in year 3. Onboarding will require training of their cashiers on how to issue the 50% discount through their POS system prior to announcing the program launch to SNAP shoppers. We will work with a graduate student in the University of Hawaii Natural Resources and Environmental Management program to provide in-kind GIS mapping services. This graduate student will repeat the 2022 analysis of Dr. Buchthal assessing the percentage of SNAP households living within "reasonable shopping distance" from a participating DA BUX retailer. This analysis needs to be repeated for calendar year 2023 because we were unable to complete our full project expansion to 15 retailers by the end of 2022. Goal 2: DA BUX Program Awareness and Usage We will work with our program evaluator, Dr. Vanessa Buchthal, in her spring 2024 semester, to plan and execute her second wave of statewide surveys assessing program awareness and usage among SNAP participants. We will publish Dr. Buchthal's results in a research briefing. The results will be published online at dabux.org/for-advocates. Our Communications Specialist and Digital Marketing Designer will work together to create program "Impact Videos" featuring our SNAP shoppers, farmers and food industry partners who are benefitting from DA BUX. Additionally, they will develop County Fact Sheets for statewide advocates to have a more localized view of program impacts. Goal 3: SNAP Houshold Purchase and Consumption of Local Fruits and Vegetables Outcome 3.1 Progress - Consumption In year 3, we are required by the NTAE to collect a minimum of 100 participant surveys. Responses from these surveys will allows us to asses our progress in reaching our goal of increased fruit and vegetable consumption among participants. We previously were collecting participant surveys under the same IRB used by the NTAE to conduct their GusNIP participant research; however, the hosting IRB insitution, the University of Nebraska Medical Center, determined that the NTAE does not have direct oversight of our collection of surveys in Hawaii, and can no longer authorize our survey collection as exempt research. In year 3, we will work with our program evaluator, Dr. Buchthal, to obtain an IRB review from her academic institution, the University of Hawaii at M?noa. This partnership will require that Dr. Buchthal takes on oversight as principal investigator of the collection of participant surveys. Outcome 3.2 Progress - Purchasing Planned activities to reach Goal 2 (mentioned above) of increased program awareness and usage should also support us reaching our Goal 3 metric target of a 300% increase in retailers' local produce sales to SNAP shoppers.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Goal 1: DA BUX Program Access In year 2 of our GusNIP project, we neared our overall project goal to expand DA BUX to 15 rural retailers. We expanded to 1 SNAP-authorized retailer in Feb 2023, bringing our overall expansion total to 14 new retailers. This new retailer added in year 2 was Hoola Farms who operates the Hawaii Farm-to-Car program, which distributes out of the Puna Hongwanji church in the Keaau community on the east side of Hawaii Island. Hoola Farms was not one of the original 15 retailers we had identified in our GusNIP proposal to be a part of our expansion; however, one of the 15 retailers, Hawaii Exo Experiences, had willingly given up their spot for Hoola Farms. Hawaii Eco Experiences was not successful in receiving SNAP authorization as a new applicant and did not forsee having the capacity to complete the needed USDA FNS follow-up and paperwork to receive this authorization in a timely manner. We chose to partner with Hoola Farms because they have a well-known reputation on Hawaii Island working to provide farm training for veterans, and we have a strong relationship through our active memberships in the statewide Hawaii Food Hub Hui, an alliance of farm aggregators providing farm-direct sales for their local communities. The Keaau community that Hoola Farms services is a high-need area because it is located within rural Census blocks reporting SNAP population rates of more than 15% (which is higher than the national SNAP participation rate at 12%). The Keaau community also has limited access to the DA BUX program because we do not currently have the funding to expand to a full-service grocery store in this area. We do not have updated program access rates for year 2. Our program evaluator, Dr. Vanessa Buchthal of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, has agreed to offer her in-kind GIS spatial analysis services on a bi-annual basis. Her last analysis assessed retailers added to DA BUX in calendar year 2022; her next analysis is scheduled to asses retailers added in calendar year 2024. Goal 2: DA BUX Program Awareness and Usage We do not have updated program awareness and usage rates among SNAP participants for year 2. Our program evaluator, Dr. Buchthal, was contracted to lead a statewide "DA BUX Awareness and Usage Assessment" among SNAP participants in two waves of surveys--the first wave was completed in year 1 with the help of her undergraduate work-study students recruited in the spring semester 2022, and the second wave is scheduled to be completed with work-study students in the spring semester 2024. One of the strategies we tested to build program awareness among SNAP participants was a Facebook social media ad campaign featuring simple branded graphics and text such as "Use SNAP-EBT? Learn how to double up your food bucks!" The purpose of the ads was to increase page "Likes." Our first round of ads, that ran from Nov 2022-Feb 2023, generated 745 page "Likes" at a total cost of $516.56. Our digital marketing designer, Mike Kong of MK Designs, determined that the average cost per "Like" was too high at $0.69, so he decided to pause the campaign. Despite the campaign cost, we gained an expanded audience who we can readily keep engaged in the DA BUX program. Those who "Like" our Facebook page receive updates each time we post, which serve as reminders to utilize the program or to share our program information with others. Our marketing team has prioritized posts that feature our participating grocery stores and food hubs, and healthy recipes that incorporate local fruits and vegetables. All posts also share a link to our program website dabux.org. In spring 2023, we finalized a redesign of our program website with the intention to create a simple user experience for SNAP participants learning about DA BUX for the first time. We added our "Find A Retailer" locator map to the front-and-center of the homepage and created new webpages that clarify the differences between the two distinct retail types we work with (grocery stores vs food hubs) and how the processes for receiving 50% off DA BUX discount at each type differs slightly. Lastly, our redesign added a "Featured" section at the bottom of the homepage to allow visitors to easily find the latest program news, such as the release of new reports and the publication of our nutrition education activity books available for free download. Goal 3: SNAP Houshold Purchase and Consumption of Local Fruits and Vegetables Outcome 3.1 Progress - Consumption In year 2, we collected 239 surveys from DA BUX participants across the state. Of this sample size, exactly 200 surveys reported useable data to conduct a linear regression analyzing the relationship between DA BUX participation and fruit and vegetable consumption. DA BUX participation was measured by asking "How long have you been using the "DA BUX Double Up Food Bucks" program to get fruits and vegetables at any of the locations you checked above?" Survey takers were given set response options to select the interval of months that reflected their time participating in the progam. Responses were then coded to a single mid-point numeric value for regression analysis. Fruit and vegetable consumption was measured using the 10-question Dietary Screener Questionnaire (DSQ) provided by the Nutrition Incentive Program Training, Technical Assistance, Evaluation and Information Center (NTAE). The NTAE then converted DSQ responses into cup equivalents of fruits and vegetables consumed. Year 2 results found statistical signficance, at a 90% confidence interval, between DA BUX participation and fruit and vegetable consumption (p=0.10, n=200). Average fruit and vegetable intake among groups varying in the amount of time participanting in DA BUX consistently followed a trend of increased fruit and vegetable intake for participants who spend more time using the program. Participants who spent the most amount of time using the program (more than 12 months) on average consumed 2.95 cups of fruits and vegetables per day; at 7-12 months, the average was 2.85 cups; at 1-6 months, the average was 2.73 cups; and at less than a month, the average was 2.55 cups. Outcome 3.2 Progress - Purchasing In year 2, we collected baseline 2019 monthly averages of local produce sales to SNAP shoppers from 37 out of the 58 participating retailers. Retailers who were unable to report their baseline 2019 average were either grocers who did not have the POS capacity to retrieve data history older than 1-2 years, or they were food hubs that were not yet authorized to accept SNAP in 2019. Out of the 37 retailers asessed, 30 were grocery stores. None reached the target of a 300% increase in local produce sales to SNAP shoppers as of June 2023; however, 16 grocers (57%) reported increases ranging from 2%-202%. The remaining 7 retailers assessed were food hubs offering farm-direct services, including farmers markets, community-supported agriculture programs, and online order-and-delivery services. All 7 food hubs (100%) reported increases ranging from 38%-4,014%--4 out of the 7 reached the target of a 300% increase in local produce sales to SNAP shoppers as of June 2023; a
Publications
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
DA BUX Double Up Food Bucks 2022 Awareness and Usage Assessment - published Oct 2022
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Progress 09/01/21 to 08/31/22
Outputs
Target Audience:The Food Basket is targeting low-income SNAP-EBT residents across the state of Hawaii who cannot afford or do not have the means to maintain a healthy consumption of fruits and vegetables. The number of SNAP recipients in Hawaii increased by 26% between 2019 and 2020 (Pruitt et al. 2021) as result of the COVID-19 pandemic. As of June 2022, there were 170,452 individuals (95,437 households) in the state receiving SNAP benefits. We also targeted recipients of the Pandemic-EBT (P-EBT) program, as we were notified by NIFA that P-EBT produce purchases are eligible to earn GusNIP incentives. P-EBT benefits created a new opportunity to service a large population of immigrant families originating from Pacific island nations under the Compact of Free Association (COFA). Many COFA nation households are eligible for P-EBT but do not qualify for SNAP food benefits. DA BUX is now able to offer discounted local produce and raise awareness around healthy food purchasing and consumption to families utilizing food benefits for the first time under the P-EBT program. Changes/Problems:One of the retailers we had planned to onboard, HawaiiEco Experiences, does not yet have SNAP authorization. In Feb 2022, Hawaii Eco Experiences reported their application for SNAP authorization was filled out inaccurately and returned to them by USDA FNS. We have since connected them with Joe Lesausky at Michigan Farmers Market Association, Tarissa Johnson at USDA, and our local contact, Donna Mitts, with the Hawaii Farmers Market Association to assist them with their application. We had also planned to onboard Kilauea Market on Kauai Island because it is located in a region with a high SNAP population relative to the rest of the island, it is the only full-service grocery store available, and our partner Bev Brody, Director of Get Fit Kauai, recommended them as a store that intentionally is sourcing produce form local farms. Unfortunately, the store's IT staff have not been able to prioritize programming our DA BUX discounts into their POS as of the end of the first year of this GusNIP project. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Four training videos were developed to efficiently train newly onboarded retailers and new retailer staff on an ongoing basis. Each video is about 5 minutes in length and is visually engaging. The first video covers an overview of DA BUX to inspire enthusiasm for why the program is important for families, farmers and the local economy rather than as a burden or as an unfair advantage for SNAP cardholders. The second video focuses on compliance around issuing DA BUX discounts. We go over USDA SNAP policies as well as our own programmatic restrictions. The third video covers what qualifies as eligible fruits and vegetables. And the fourth video covers reporting requirements specific to participating food hubs, including how to upload their SNAP processor batch reports and transaction records into our Dropbox reporting folder. Our newly onboarded grocers, Foodland and Malama Markets, developed their own in-house training curriculum to train their staff. All store managers were required to receive this training as a Zoom presentation. The training included how the POS identifies eligible local items, how to manually trigger the discount by swiping the customer's Access Card, and how to recognize cash-EBT vs SNAP-EBT. Training was also offered more broadly to ensure the successful implementation of SNAP in farm direct settings. Our Director of Healthy Food Access Initiatives, Chelsea Takahashi, has 7 years of experience overseeing SNAP nutrition incentives for our DA BOX Community-Supported Agriculture program, as well as participating in local and national discussions related to capacity building for food hubs. Given her deep experience with SNAP operations in farm direct retail settings, she has become a statewide resource for food hubs to field questions related to SNAP, including how to become authorized, which EBT vendors are recommended, and recommended models for accepting SNAP at farmers markets. Ms. Takahashi has provided technical assistance to food hubs ranging from those participating in our DA BUX nutrition incentive project to those who are interested in becoming SNAP authorized. For example, she assisted the Wednesday Farmers Market in discussing pros and cons of tokens vs receipts as a mechanism for SNAP payments; and she has connected the Hana Farmers Market with the Farmers Market Coalition to determine whether IRS Form 1099 needs to be filed for their farm vendors. Ms. Takahashi also is regularly invited to present on the DA BUX program in classroom settings, especially for students seeking careers in the broad food systems space, including students from her alma maters Chapman University and Texas A&M University, and students in the Community Nutrition course at University of Hawaii at Manoa. Another unique presentation opportunity was at the 2022 Hawaii Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (HAND) Conference held on May 22, 2022. Ms. Takahashi held a webinar for registered dieticians and other related personnel to learn how DA BUX can complement the clinical interventions used with their clients. Our DA BUX program is helping students receive direct career development experiences through our partnership with Assistant Professor Dr. Vanessa Buchthal of the University of Hawaii at Manoa's Undergraduate Public Health Prorgram. In spring 2022, Dr. Buchthal led a statewide "DA BUX Awareness and Usage Assessment" among SNAP participants and recruited two of her undergraduate students to assist in conducting surveys throughout the semester. Students gained important research experience in identifying and scheduling survey sites, maintaining data integrity and confidentiality in survey collection, data entry and management, and data reporting. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?In July 2022, DA BUX published its first outcomes report entitled, "2020-2021 Outcomes Report: Establishing Hawaii's Statewide Healthy Food Incentive Program." This report is available for download at dabux.org/for-advocates. We sent personalized email copies to all major philanthropic donors funding DA BUX incentives. Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice (also known as Hawaii Appleseed) received both reports as they were conducting a statewide assessment of the SNAP program under contract with our State SNAP agency, Hawaii Department of Human Serices (DHS). Hawaii Appleseed made the recommendation to DHS to continue to support DA BUX funding and expansion to more retail locations to increase access for SNAP participants. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?To complete our planned expansion to 15 rural retailers, we will need to regularly follow up with the last two retailers, Hawaii Eco Experiences and Kilauea Market, who we are waiting to onboard. We will offer support to Hawaii Eco Experiences in successfully completing their SNAP authorization, and we will pressure Kilauea Market's corporate management to prioritize programming our DA BUX promotion into their POS. We are also considering adding a few other retailers beyond the original 15 identified in our expansion plan to achieve our goal of 90% of SNAP households living within shopping distance of a DA BUX retailer. With higher access, program awareness and usage should increase. We will work with Dr. Vanessa Buchthal to copy edit, design and publish her results from her GIS spatial analysis of our DA BUX retail sites at the end of 2022. We will publish this document at https://dabux.org/for-advocates. This analysis is crucial to documenting increased program access resulting from this project's strategic expansion to rural areas with high SNAP populations and limited access to an existing DA BUX retailer. After the Nutrition Incentive Hub sends us back our converted fruit and vegetable intake survey responses as cup equivalents, our staff have the expertise to perform a simple linear regression to determine any relationship between fruit and vegetable consumption and length of time participating in DA BUX. These results will be published in a subsequent Outcomes Report. We will also consider publishing a smaller 1-2 page briefing specifically for this analysis.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Goal 1: DA BUX Program Access The DA BUX program increased program access by expanding to 12 rural retailers from Sept-Nov 2021. Foodland-Pupukea (Oahu Island) - grocery store Foodland-Laie (Oahu Island) - grocery store Foodland-Waihawa (Oahu Island) - grocery store Foodland-Ewa Beach (Oahu Island) - grocery store Hana Farmers Market (Maui Island) - food hub Foodland-Lahaina (Maui Island) - grocery store Foodland-Pukalani (Maui Island) - grocery store Foodland-Kehalani (Maui Island) - grocery store Malama Market-Pahoa (Hawaii Island) - grocery store Malama Market-Ocean View (Hawaii Island) - grocery store Malama Market-Honokaa (Hawaii Island) - grocery store Friendly Market Center (Molokai Island) - grocery store We expanded to 1 additional food hub, Hawaii Ulu Cooperative, in Mar 2022. We anticipate reaching our goal of 15 new retailers by the end of the next reporting period. Dr. Vanessa Buchthal of the University of Hawaii at Manoa conducted a GIS spatial analysis to determine our expansion's impact on program access for SNAP households. Dr. Buchthal's preliminary results found that 83% of SNAP households in the state are living within shopping distance of a DA BUX retailer, up from 77% of SNAP households reported at the end of 2020. Goal 2: DA BUX Program Awareness and Usage In spring 2022, we contracted with Dr. Vanessa Buchthal to conduct our first statewide "DA BUX Awareness and Usage Assessment" among SNAP participants. A total of 382 SNAP participants were surveyed. Awareness was measured by asking, "Have you heard about the DA BUX Double Up Food Bucks Program?" Approximately two-thirds (69%) of survey respondents have heard of the program. Additionally, Dr. Buchthal's assessment found that awareness varied significantly by county--an overwhelming majority (92%) of Hawaii County respondents confirmed awareness of DA BUX as compared to 70% of Kauai County, 62% of Honolulu County, and 39% of Maui County respondents. Program awareness was significantly higher among respondents who were in the 25-34 age group (86%) or the 35-44 age group (83%) than in either older or younger age groups. There were no significant differences by ethnic group in program awareness, although awareness appeared notably lower among Chuukese respondents (46%) than within other ethnic populations or the state as a whole. Program usage was measured by asking respondents who were aware of the DA BUX program, "Have you ever received a DA BUX discount when buying local fruits, vegetables, proteins, or other food items?" (Proteins were also included in this question because we briefly offered discounts on locally sourced seafood, ground beef and eggs from Sept 2020-Dec 2020 using incentives funds from federal CARES Act dollars.) Unfortunately, there was an oversight in specifying in the question whether their last discount was within the past month prior to taking the survey. Statewide, exactly half (50%) of respondents reported receiving a DA BUX discount. While we have not yet reached our goals of 84% awareness and 60% usage statewide, these results are encouraging and indicate we can reach our goals within our grant period by expanding our current promotion efforts via social media and radio advertising. Our 2022 results will serve as a baseline to measure progress in spring 2024 when we plan to reuse our survey questions to conduct a second assessment. Goal 3: SNAP Household Purchase and Consumption of Local Fruits and Vegetables Outcome 3.1 Progress - Consumption We were able to complete data collection of DA BUX participants' length of time receiving DA BUX discounts and their consumption of fruits and vegetables using the standard Dietary Screener Questionnaire (DSQ) provided by the Nutrition Incentive Program Training, Technical Assistance, Evaluation and Information Center (NTAE). We collected 345 completed surveys; the majority of surveys were collected through a Qualtrics link distributed via email. We only sent surveys to SNAP participants who had signed up for our program's discount card, known as the "Access Card", and indicated upon registration that they would be willing to be contacted via email to provide program feedback. While we were successful in collecting a large sample size, we do not have the expertise to convert the descriptive responses from the DSQ into numerical cup equivalents of fruits and vegetables. This conversion requires SAS statistical software and the use of the DSQ algorithm. NTAE provides this conversion for all grantees; however, NTAE normally only provides this data after the completion of each fiscal year. Cup equivalents are needed for us to perform a statistical analysis on the relationship between the two variables of DA BUX participation and fruit and vegetable consumption. Preliminary analysis of the descriptive DSQ responses suggest length of time participating in DA BUX positively impacts fruit and vegetable consumption. Participants who reported utilizing DA BUX for more than 12 months had a higher rate of respondents who ate fruits at least 1 time per date compared with participants who utilized DA BUX for less than a month (45.8% vs 30.4% respectively). There are only slight differences in vegetable consumption rates across groups varying in their length of time utilizing DA BUX; however, a similar trend appears as in their fruit consumption results. Participants who reported utilizing DA BUX for more than 12 months had a slightly higher rate of respondents who ate vegetables at least 1 time per day compared with participants who utilized DA BUX for less than a month (29.0% vs. 25.5% respectively). Outcome 3.2 Progress - Purchasing Of the 57 participating retailers at the end of year 1, only 37 (65%) are able to track increases in sales of incentivized local produce to SNAP customers using 2019 monthly averages. The remaining stores have POS storage limitations to be able to pull local produce sales data from 2019. Of the 37 retailers who are able to track sales increases since 2019, 4 retailers have exceeded our goal to increase local produce sales to SNAP customers by 300%--Times Supermarket-Beretania, Hale Puna Farmers Market, Kokua Kalihi Valley Café and Food Hub, and Okoa Farms. The remaining 33 retailers who are able to track sales are averaging a 175% increase (min 16%, max 288%).
Publications
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Takahashi, C. (2022). (rep.). DA BUX Double Up Food Bucks 2020-2021 Outcomes Report. The Food Basket.
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