INNOVATION GRANT

The Harvesting Health: Fostering Community Wellness project, supported by Wholesome Wave Georgia (WWG) funding, aims to revolutionize food accessibility at the Church St Farmers Market, prioritizing underserved communities, especially SNAP/EBT recipients. Through strategic marketing and outreach, we will implement a multifaceted approach, utilizing 5 large feather flags and a retractable banner to boost market visibility and highlight our SNAP/EBT acceptance and double dollar program. Complemented by the distribution of 500 informative flyers and targeted Facebook ad campaigns, we seek to not only inform but also empower SNAP/EBT beneficiaries to engage with healthy food choices at our market. By fostering inclusivity and awareness, this initiative aspires to elevate the overall market ecosystem, ensuring a thriving, equitable, and nourishing environment for all community members.

The International City Farmers Market will work with local churches and community focused organizations to develop a shuttle system that will provide transportation to and from essential services such as doctors’ appointments, pharmacists, government or faith-based social services, grocery stores & farmers markets, etc. for elderly, low-income families, single parents, and disabled. Participating organizations will only be responsible for their own members. ICFM will provide compensation for vehicle owners as well as a limited line-of-credit available to all participating members for emergency repairs.

The Lilburn Farmers Market has always used social media as a great way to get the word out about our partnership with Wholesome Wave Georgia and Fresh for Less program, but recently after attending the WWG Partner meeting we realized that we could be doing things differently and better! We plan to post bi weekly boosted ads with a larger range of post reach and also to increase the amount we spend on these ads. This increased reach will help us improve our EBT participation. We also plan to advertise in our local direct mailed magazine and the area Hispanic publication. Having our ads in Spanish will also help spread the word in our community as our Hispanic population has increased 46% in the last few years.

Clarke County provides free/reduced lunch to 100% of the students that attend schools in the district due to the high poverty level. Winterville Elementary is on the East Side of Athens, where more of the poverty is concentrated. By partnering with the PTA, and specific teachers in the school system, we intend to implement a program to offer these children a reward system for attending the market. We have already initiated a partnership with PTA to bring awareness to the financial benefits to families for shopping at our market. By developing marketing material and offering the children gift card incentives for attending the markets, we hope to increase the amount of fruits and vegetables consumed as well as increase the number of SNAP recipients taking advantage of the lower pricing our market offers. This grant will provide the funding for the gift card incentives, as well as marketing material and resources for tracking the effectiveness of the program. We intend to begin by identifying one or two grades to participate in the program school wide. After meeting with the teachers and administrators in these grades, children will be provided with information to be sent home, and a “passport” that will track their attendance at the Saturday market. Once certain goals have been attained each child will be awarded a gift card to be used for fresh fruits and vegetables in the market. Our goal is that by building a pattern of regular attendance at the market, with the help of targeted marketing as it relates to SNAP benefits, that families will be made more aware of the financial benefits that SNAP provides at our farmers market, as well as be exposed to educational opportunities and community involvement that will provide a foundation for healthy food choices long term. Due to the incentives that we will pass out through the school system we will be able to track the effectiveness of the program based on the amount of new SNAP users that are a direct result of our project.

The Market Champions program is a weekly program run at the Oakhurst Farmers Market info booth that aims to increase and retain SNAP shoppers by offering incentives for visiting the market and participating in the WWG Fresh for Less Program. New SNAP shoppers will receive a community cookbook focused on seasonal recipes and all new and returning SNAP shoppers will receive a $5 market produce token to spend directly with our “Farmer Champion” of the week. The “Farmer Champion” rotates between the produce farmers at the market and features a weekly Farmer Champion highlight in the market newsletter. This program aims to create lasting memories for our SNAP customers by offering extra incentives and to promote and encourage shopping with our produce farms.

Poplar St Farmers Market in Macon, GA is currently Middle GA’s only producer-only farmers market. We will use WWG Innovation Grant Funds for radio promotion of the use of WWG Fresh For Less Program at the market to reach more members of our community, especially seniors and people who may not use the internet for community information. We anticipate campaigns on 2-3 stations to cover a wider spread of the Middle GA community.

We’ll use our grant to fund a weekly stipend for a social media intern, Cierra Piggott, a student currently enrolled at Georgia State University. Cierra has committed to working at least 4 hours per week and to, focus on increasing awareness of shoppers being able to use and, double SNAP/EBT benefits. She will meet with our committee member, Katie Brown Bala, weekly to discuss progress and will:

-Create engaging and visually appealing social media posts to promote, our partnership with Wholesome Wave and our farmers market in general.
-Develop a content calendar to ensure consistent and timely posting, across Facebook and Instagram.
-Monitor social media channels, engage with followers, and respond to inquiries or comments.
-Research and implement social media best practices to optimize reach
-Track and analyze social media metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of campaigns.

At Statesboro Farmers Market, we’re on a mission to bridge the gap between food, farmers, and community. From enhancing digital and physical access to our market to championing initiatives like GF4L, we’re dedicated to making fresh, local produce available to all. Now, we’re taking a step further by directly engaging with our community through partnerships with initiatives like the City of Statesboro Village Builder Initiative. By bringing locally grown produce to resource days in underserved areas, offering seasonal food giveaways, and sharing healthy recipes, we’re sowing seeds of connection and belonging.

This summer, Sun Market will host a chef series on the Beltline in partnership with Patagonia, reaching a larger audience than ever before. During this series, we’ll collaborate with chefs to craft dishes using locally grown produce. With grant funding awarded by Wholesome Wave Georgia , I plan to introduce a Golden Ticket program, providing families with EBT access to free produce-focused meals prepared by chefs, allowing them to savor the freshness of Georgia-grown fruits and veggies. Across five markets, our goal is to engage 25 participants per market, totaling 125 participants over the summer. We anticipate that participants will be inspired to experiment with new recipes and foods. The Golden Ticket initiative will cost $1,250, with an additional $500 allocated for a buy-one-get-one-free produce bag incentive for families with EBT, doubling the number of GF4L visitors and encouraging return visits (we’d offer two coupons each market which equals 10 over the summer). In partnership with the Center for Black Women’s Wellness, we aim to promote this program and the Georgia Fresh For Less incentive, further driving SNAP customer engagement and fruit and vegetable redemption. We’ll advertise the chef series, with Golden Ticket details, starting in May and share with the Center for Black Women’s Wellness coupons to distribute to Earth Day attendees (where Sun Market provided Georgia grown sweet potatoes). Families will be able to redeem tickets from May to July. Sun Market will be able to measure the success of this project with coupon redemption and EBT/SNAP data.

Trefoil Gardens will launch an initiative at the Downtown Woodstock Farmers’ Market aimed at making fresh, healthy food more accessible to everyone in our community, including SNAP customers. Our project will involve engaging surveys, fun incentives like market tokens and gift basket giveaways, and a robust marketing campaign to promote awareness and participation. Thanks to the Fresh for Less grant, we’ll be able to cover the costs of incentives, marketing, and administration, ensuring the success of this initiative. We’re dedicated to creating a welcoming space at the market where everyone feels included and can enjoy nutritious food, contributing to a healthier, more vibrant community for us all.

Our aim is to build a SNAP/EBT customer base at our physical market through a series of targeted community outreach and engagement tactics, including: 1) preparing a generic flyer that can be easily changed to address each community by name and distribute them at neighborhood association meetings in the communities surrounding our market, which are English Avenue, Vine City, Washington Park, AUC area, and Grove Park, 2) canvassing at our three local parks: Mattie Freeland, Rodney Cook, and Katherine Johnston, 3) bringing produce items to the residential apartments monthly, and 4) giving flyers and $1 off coupons to all our gardeners. Then, we will have two staff people at the market, one to assist SNAP customers and the other for check out, and we will improve the produce display and table coverings at the physical market to improve customer experience and increase SNAP/EBT customer retention.

To retain and grow our customer base we focus on seniors, families with children, and low-income residents in apartment complexes to ensure the program reaches those most likely to benefit from SNAP and the Fresh for Less program. We also continue to nurture relationships, with senior complexes we’ve partnered with and existing contacts in low income communities, which fosters trust and has led to continued access to potential customers. Our community ambassadors share similar demographics with our target audience, giving us a better understanding of their needs. This includes youth ambassadors who add a unique perspective and connect youth with seniors. Door-to-Door outreach has continued to foster meaningful conversations and individual concerns. At the farmers market booth we communicate the benefits of using SNAP discounts at the farmers market, recipe ideas, and healthy eating tips. We follow-up with participants after initial engagement by email to address any questions and offer support by phone. The program’s success in having reached 100 new attendees in 2023 provides a strong foundation for future growth. We will expand outreach to additional complexes and senior centers in 2024.