Making Healthy Food More Accessible 5060 Commercial Circle, Ste. C, Concord, CA 94520 in the San Francisco Bay Area (925)771-2990 |freshapproach.org| [email protected] Letter of Interest
Since its foundation in 2008, Fresh Approach has worked to mitigate food insecurity and challenges related to access to and consumption of healthy food, addressing the increased risk of developing diet-related chronic disease among low-income populations throughout the Bay Area. Fresh Approach began its work in Contra Costa and Santa Clara counties, as the community-based programs wing of a traditional farmers’ market association, and since then has grown to offer a multi-level approach that is grounded in preserving dignity and focused on building inclusive and equitable neighborhoods. The primary programs include access points to healthy food through financial incentives, affordable farmers’ markets and farm boxes, nutrition education with “prescription” vouchers to spend on fruit and vegetables (VeggieRx program), and opportunities for community engagement through urban agriculture.
Fresh Approach operates a farmers’ market on wheels (the Mobile Farmers’ Market) that travels to underserved neighborhoods across the Bay Area (with two routes in the East Bay and two in the South Bay) and offers a 50% discount for customers who receive assistance benefits such as SNAP/CalFresh, Unemployment Benefits, or food pantry services. Fresh Approach also coordinates nutrition financial incentives at two traditional farmers’ markets (East Palo Alto and Richmond), providing a dollar-for-dollar match to access free produce for low-income households. As a response to the pandemic, Fresh Approach expanded its food access work by coordinating the distribution of free boxes of fresh fruit and vegetables to food insecure populations.
Fresh Approach offers the VeggieRx nutrition and cooking program targeting food-insecure families and individuals who are at risk of diet-related diseases to address barriers to accessing healthy food and nutrition information. The program offers a series of eight classes over 16 weeks and gives families “prescription” vouchers to spend on fruits and vegetables at local farmers’ markets. Class sessions offer group discussions on nutrition education and health topics, hands-on learning activities, as well as cooking demonstrations. The nutrition curriculum is framed around trauma-informed practices to help participants cope with COVID’s disruptions and better tackle food insecurity.
Since 2019, Food Access and Education programs have been supported by paid Community Ambassador positions, which are recruited from program participants and residents from the community seeking experiences and credentials that lead to meaningful, living-wage careers.
The proposed program is designed to connect children and their caregivers with the Mobile Farmers’ Market service in San Pablo and with nutrition education and resources. Fresh Approach has implemented similar projects that combine food access and education activities in other local municipalities, including Antioch, Oakland, Richmond, East Palo Alto, San Bruno, San Mateo, and San Jose. This program will result in increased fruit and vegetable purchasing and consumption among low-income populations at risk of diet-related diseases, an increase in awareness around healthy food and farmers’ markets, and improved community health.
Approach, Management, and Evaluation Plan
This program is designed to encourage more equitable access to healthy food choices among families with young children and support their healthy eating patterns. Fresh Approach (FA) provides easy access to healthy produce for752 unique San Pablo residentsbyre-launchingthe route of the Mobile Farmers’ Market (MFM) 1 Making Healthy Food More Accessible 5060 Commercial Circle, Ste. C, Concord, CA 94520 in the San Francisco Bay Area (925)771-2990 |freshapproach.org| [email protected] in San Pablo.FA provides financial incentives (as a 50% discount) to customers who receive CalFresh, WIC, SSI/SSDI, Medi-Cal, uses food pantry services, or those who identify as food insecure.
This program also directly engages children and their caregivers who receive WIC vouchers from the San Pablo WIC office in complementary nutrition education and resources.Two cohorts of 20 children and their caregivers will participate in two series of 16-week VeggieRx nutrition and cooking workshops(one seriesin English, one in Spanish). VeggieRx workshops offer appropriate nutrition interventions that take into account cultural preferences, economic constraints, digital and health literacy levels; cover topics like shopping healthy on a budget, how to eat seasonally and locally, and reducing food waste. The curriculum is designed to teach caregivers how to support the health of the whole family, including nutrition and healthy behaviors specific to youth, and includes two classes designed for youth to participate in age-appropriate activities. Class participants receive VeggieRx vouchers (for $7/household member/week of the program) to spend on fruit and vegetables at local farmers’ markets, including the MFM in San Pablo. The vouchers work as incentives for families to begin to shop at their local farmers’ market and learn more about other financial incentives (i.e., CalFresh/SNAP) that can be used to purchase fruit and vegetables, creating lasting impacts after this project ends. Finally, Fresh Approach will recruit, train and hire two Local Residents as Community Ambassadors.
Through the training provided (16 hours) Ambassadors will learn about principles of nutrition education, local food systems and agriculture, customer service and sales. After completing the training, the Ambassadors will commit to work as paid interns for 4 hours/week, 5-month term. 14 years of offering nutrition classes, nutrition incentives, and managing mobile and traditional farmers’ markets serving low-income and communities of color across the Bay Area demonstrate FA’s capability and experience in program monitoring, evaluation, and reporting. FA is adequately staffed and uses accurate management systems to be able to successfully manage projects and monitor the performance of this program.
Under the supervision of the Education Program Director, the Education Program Manager takes the responsibility for the coordination of the education activities; MFM operations are managed by the East Bay Food Access Manager.
Number of transactions and dollar amount of incentives distributed (collected through Square Point-of-Sale system) is used to measure the scale and depth of impact for the MFM. Number of participants in the VeggieRx classes, and amount of vouchers distributed (tracked in in Salesforce) is used to determine the reach and scale of the education activities. Pre- and post-surveys with customers and class participants are used to determine changes in eating and shopping habits.
Project Experience
Fresh Approach (FA) has been continuously operating its core food access and nutrition education programs in West Contra Costa communities since 2013 when it began offering its Mobile Farmers’ Market (MFM) and providing a 50% discount for customers who receive benefits such as CalFresh, Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), SSI/SSDI (disability), Medi-Cal, Unemployment, or food pantry services. The MFM is a proven food security project that has delivered 200,000+ pounds of produce to low-income West Contra Costa residents. While operating during the pandemic, the mobile market has played a crucial role in feeding low-income families who have been particularly vulnerable during COVID-19 and has seen 2 Making Healthy Food More Accessible 5060 Commercial Circle, Ste. C, Concord, CA 94520 in the San Francisco Bay Area (925)771-2990 |freshapproach.org| [email protected] a 75% increase in demand since COVID-19 began. FA has operated the MFM in the city of San Pablo from 2016 through the summer of 2020 for 38 days/year, distributing ~$50,000 worth of produce to the San Pablo community and $20,000 in free produce via the discount program. Data from the 2019-20 grant term shows that the MFM reached 700 unique San Pablo customers (1,000 San Pablo youth under the age of 18 benefit from their families shopping at the MFM); 80% of customer survey respondents reported increased consumption of fruits and vegetables as result of the MFM in the community; and 75% of low-income customers reported they purchased more than half their produce from the MFM. Our nutrition intervention model has proven impact. Since 2011, more than 5,000 Bay Area participants have completed pre-and post-surveys to the impact on eating behaviors and their health, showing increased fruit and vegetable consumption, and increased the number of meals cooked at home: 80% of VeggieRx class participants increase their consumption of fruits and vegetables by 1 serving/day; 86% report learning about shopping and eating healthy on a budget; 95% report learning how to include more healthy foods in their diet. The program is effective in building long-term healthy eating habits. Twelve months after participation in the program, 60% of participants reported they continued to eat more fruits and vegetables every day, even without the support of vouchers. FA’s VeggieRx programming began in San Pablo in November 2018, offering workshops at Dover Elementary School and the San Pablo Library in partnership with West County Health Center. The VeggieRx workshops offered during the 2019-20 grant term have reached 112 unique participants across 28 workshops; $5,600 in VeggieRx Vouchers were distributed.
By increasing access to and consumption of healthy food among underserved and low-income families, this program directly addresses the need for preventative solutions to mitigate the root causes of obesity and other health disparities. It is well established that food preferences and dietary patterns established during early childhood can lay the foundation for healthy eating habits later in life and can help prevent the onset of diet-related disease. The increased awareness built by this project around farmers’ markets, WIC use, and other financial incentives will also show ripple and lasting effects after this program ends.
Proposed Scope of Services
Clients Type # of
Undupli
cated
Clients,
Total
# of
Unduplica
ted
Clients,
San
Pablo
Residents
# of
Average
Dosage
hours
per
client
Brief description & Proposed schedule:Movement
classes for Pre-K
and their Caregivers for 10 weeks
0-5 years
(early
childhood/pre
school)
40 32 11 1. Nutrition education and resources: Two series of 16-week online VeggieRx nutrition and cooking
workshops for 0-5 years old children and their Caregivers (one series in English, one in Spanish).
The curriculum includes nutrition activities that are
age-appropriate (2 sessions are designed for youth to
attend) and culturally sensitive (i.e., engaging visuals). 3 Making Healthy Food More Accessible 5060 Commercial Circle, Ste. C, Concord, CA 94520 in the San Francisco Bay Area (925)771-2990 |freshapproach.org| [email protected]
2. Farmers’ Market tour: during each of the series,
children and their caregivers will be invited to participate in a tour of the Richmond Certified Farmers’ Market that will be facilitated by our food access team.
3. VeggieRx Vouchers: Distribution of $7/household
member/week of the program (for a total of $15,680) in
vouchers to spend on fresh fruit and vegetables at the
Fresh Approach’s Mobile Farmers’ Market and at other
nearby farmers’ markets.
Adults (18
years of age
and older)
437 350 6 1. Access to affordable healthy food option via the Mobile Farmers’ Market weekly service: The market stops in San Pablo 1 day of service per week, 1.5 hours per site for 38 weeks. The market offers 50% discount for eligible
customers who receive assistance benefits such as
CalFresh, WIC, SSI/SSDI, Medi-Cal, food pantry services, Unemployment Benefits, or are identified as food
insecure via “U.S. Household Food Security Survey
Module: Six-Item Short Form”.
0-5 years 105 84 6 Access to healthy food options from
their families shopping at the Mobile Farmers’ Market.
Kindergarten-
3rd grade
84 67 6 Access to healthy food options from
their families shopping at the Mobile Farmers’ Market.
4th-6th grade 63 50 6 Access to healthy food options from their families shopping at the Mobile Farmers’ Market.
7th-8th grade 42 33 6 Access to healthy food options from their families shopping at the Mobile Farmers’ Market.
9th-12th
grade
21 17 6 Access to healthy food options from
their families shopping at the Mobile Farmers’ Market.
References
● Jeanne Conboy, RD, Site Supervisor San Pablo WIC Program Site, 925-646-5370, [email protected]
● Denise Milosevich, BS, MPH, Contra Costa Health Services Program Manager, 925-313-6712, [email protected].
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