DEEPENING DOUBLE UP FOOD BUCKS OREGON: REACHING DIVERSE, UNDERREPRESENTED COMMUNITIES AT FARMERS MARKETS, FARM STANDS, CSAS AND GROCERY STORES

Goal 1: Increase the purchase and consumption of Oregon-grown fruits and vegetables by low-income shoppers using SNAP at a variety of outlets across Oregon.Objective 1.1: Distribute $6,840,682 of Oregon-grown and culturally appropriate fresh fruit and vegetable incentives at the point of purchase between 2024-2026.Objective 1.2: Expand the geographic reach of DUFB Oregon by adding 44 new sites by 2026, prioritizing communities with the highest SNAP participation and regions without existing sites.Objective 1.3: Improve utilization of fresh fruit and vegetable purchases by partnering with extension volunteers to offer food waste prevention, food preservation, and SNAP-Ed programming at 5+ farmers markets and 10 CSA educational workshops annually.Goal 2: Reach more SNAP shoppers and increase DUFB participation through innovative outreach that is geographically, linguistically, and culturally familiar and accessible.Objective 2.1: Implement a multi-platform, statewide outreach plan informed by the perspectives of DUFB recipients and integrating multilingual explainer videos and digital outreach tools.Objective 2.2: Strengthen engagement with underserved communities eligible for DUFB by collaborating with DUFB Ambassadors, SNAP CAB, and trusted grassroots organizations in communities disproportionately impacted by food insecurity and SNAP.Goal 3: Expand the number of firms offering DUFB with a focus on high need areas, by offering administrative support to retail sites that face barriers to offering the program.Objective 3.1: Provide one-on-one support and connections to 6 BIPOC owned grocery stores to reduce technology barriers associated with making necessary updates to point-of-sale systems.Objective 3.2: Increase administrative and technological capacity to offer DUFB for an average of 86 current and prospective FM and FS partners annually through the Growth Grant program.Goal 4: Explore and pilot efficient incentive redemption models and innovative technologies to increase DUFB participation and improve user experiences.Objective 4.1: By 2026, conduct a feasibility study examining the relevance of e-commerce platforms that incorporate online SNAP and DUFB incentive programs for CSA programs. *Note: no online SNAP or online DUFB will be piloted or implemented in this project period.Objective 4.2: Building off of our 2023 EBT integration feasibility study, convene key stakeholders twice annually to discuss, plan, and assess the landscape of EBT integration. *Note: EBT integration will not be piloted or implemented during this grant period or with grant funds.Objective 4.3: Pilot a decentralized SNAP and DUFB model, shifting from token use by assisting individual farmer vendors at one FM to accept SNAP and DUFB directly by 2026.Evaluation:FMF is proposing to subcontract the coordination of evaluation activities to Dr. Stephanie Grutzmacher, a community nutrition and Extension professor at University of Arizona (UA) and former professor at Oregon State University (OSU), who has served as the evaluator on DUFB Oregon's GusNIP and GusCRRprojects for the past four years.Building on previous evaluation strategies, the proposed IRB exempt evaluation will include process and outcome assessments that: 1) Collect NTAE individual and firm-level core metrics for each site type, 2) Examine outreach effectiveness and engaging non-participants to tailor future strategies, 3) Evaluate the decentralized tokenless pilot model, 4) Analyze social and community aspects of the FM program, and 5) Conduct in depth analysis of longitudinal data to identify trends in program benefits. Findings will be shared with the NTAE and through presentations, reports, and peer-reviewed publications for local and national stakeholders.Students at OSU who have worked closely with Dr. Grutzmacher and the DUFB evaluation will join her to coordinate survey and interview data collection in synchronous and asynchronous remote approaches. In person surveys will be conducted at FMs and FS by locally based staff, while remote surveys will continue to be used for grocer and CSA participants. FMF and evaluators will cooperate and share all core required process and outcome data with NTAE.