11-1B Boston Collaborative for Food and Fitness
Grant Round:
2011 Spring
Grant Program:
Boston Grants
Grant Type:
Other Grants
Grant amount requested:
8,000.00
Attachments
Please provide a brief description of the project for which you seek funding.
The Boston Collaborative for Food & Fitness (BCFF) seeks to increase consumption of healthier foods by residents of two disadvantaged Boston neighborhoods by overcoming gaps in availability in the small retail markets consumers must rely on. The goal is to connect the small markets with farmers already participating in weekly farmers’ markets; building the capacity of the small markets to display, distribute and store fresh healthy food; and developing materials to spread these techniques and knowledge to other small retail markets.
We are requesting funds to support neighborhood resident participation in this corner store project. Existing project funding is not supporting marketing and outreach training and stipends for participating residents. East Boston and Mattapan residents have been working with the Boston Public Health Commission and BCFF’s Food Committee to identify markets in their neighborhoods that are willing to sell expanded offerings of fresh produce. Therefore, marketing and outreach efforts are needed to get their neighbors to buy the fresh produce from these corner stores. We propose to hire a marketing consultant who will conduct workshops and work one-on-one with residents to develop and implement their outreach strategy.
A second part of the project is to create a “Guide to Healthier Corner Stores” documenting the East Boston and Mattapan activities. This is needed so that efforts for healthier eating can be replicated throughout the Mattapan and East Boston neighborhoods and in other neighborhoods.
Primary Issue Area:
Food
Please break-down/categorize the program expenses:
| Proposed Item | Estimated $ Amount | Would grant funds be used for this item? |
|---|---|---|
| Marketing/Outreach consultant | $3,000.00 | Yes |
| Community leader stipends | $2,500.00 | Yes |
| Marketing materials | $1,000.00 | Yes |
| Guide | $1,500.00 | Yes |
Whom does your group need to make this project happen?
Please explain how your group will engage members from your community in this project.
Both neighborhood coalitions in Mattapan, Mattapan Food & Fitness Coalition (MFFC) and Neighborhood of Affordable Housing, Inc. (NOAH) and their East Boston partners are working with corner stores to increase healthy options for residents. This has been a focus of both communities in the past year. The goal is to extend their effort, in both more stores and more residents taking part in the community change. There is at least one active corner store owner in each neighborhood currently participating with others in the process of being finalized through recruitment.
Community Coalitions of neighborhood residents and community organizations are working to promote active living and healthy eating in both East Boston and Mattapan Related to the corner store projects, neighborhood residents first conducted a survey of the produce offerings at the corner stores. They then were involved with recruiting stores to participate in the projects. Currently, four markets, two in East Boston and two in Mattapan, have been selected to pilot the work (three have already signed a Memoranda of Understanding, one more will sign shortly). Residents will now be involved in conducting the marketing and neighborhood outreach to encourage their neighbors to buy the newly stocked produce at the corner stores. Funding is requested to hire a consultant to provide training for those conducting the outreach, and stipends for those spending additional time on the project.
The population of the target neighborhoods, East Boston and Mattapan, is primarily people of color with low incomes, high incidence of diabetes and obesity, and no easy access to full service supermarkets. Located in a compact peninsula on the ocean and accessible by tunnel under Boston Harbor, East Boston (population 38,413) has Boston’s highest percentage (44%) of immigrants, including from El Salvador, Colombia, Brazil, Italy, Vietnam, Mexico, Guatemala, Peru, and the Dominican Republic. East Boston is home to Boston’s largest Latino community, comprising 39% of residents.
Mattapan (population 19,724) is a vibrant neighborhood in Boston’s southern section of predominately Black (83%) and Latino (7%) residents, including the state’s largest Haitian community. About one third of residents were born in other countries, including Haiti, Jamaica, Barbados, Dominican Republic, Trinidad, and Sierra Leone.
Currently, East Boston has only one full service supermarket and Mattapan has none. Access to affordable fresh fruit and vegetables in a key factor in the widespread prevalence of obesity and diabetes. Among adults with diabetes, 35% indicate they cannot afford fresh fruits and vegetables, in contrast to 21% of non-diabetics (Health of Boston 2010, Boston Public Health Commission, figure 8.20). The target beneficiaries of our project are the children, youth and families of these neighborhoods, especially those with low incomes.
If your group receives a NEGEF Grow grant, how do you plan to pay for remaining expenses?
| $ Amount | Source |
|---|---|
| $8,000.00 | NEGEF BGI Grant |
Please list these materials or services
| $ Amount | Item |
|---|---|
| $2,400.00 | Training of volunteers @ $1,200 per session (2) |
| Meeting space estimated value $200/meeting |
Please describe what changes will occur in your community and its environment when your group's project is successful.
Collaborative members come together around the following vision: BCFF envisions a city where community demand for affordable, locally grown and healthy foods is met by a state and region where farming is a strong and viable activity, so that farmers are able to provide affordable, locally grown, and healthy foods are readily available to all residents in all neighborhoods of Boston. We also envision a city that facilitates active living and an extraordinary quality of life for all, achieved through citizens’ advocacy, relationship building and leadership.
Specific to the corner store project, our objectives over the next two years are:
* At least 8 small- to mid-size retail stores per neighborhood will be selling culturally appropriate local/regional produce in amounts sufficient to meet WIC vendor participation thresholds
* At least 8 stores per neighborhood will be participating in the promotional program to increase shelf space for healthy foods by a specified percentage each year.
* Produce purchasing at these stores will see a steady increase so that the stores will be willing to continue to sell produce.
Please list how many people in your community your group expects to actively engage in this project.
1 000