The bolstering and building capacity for double up across texas gusnip project (covid relief expansion) proposed by sustainable food center (SFC) aims to address the urgent health and economic needs…

The Sustainable Food Center (SFC) was awarded a $650,000 Project Grant from the US Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture under the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP) to bolster and build capacity for Double Up across Texas through August 2024. The grant aims to address urgent health and economic needs in central and west Texas by expanding SFC's Double Up SNAP incentive programs at farmers markets, mobile markets, and grocery retailers. Key deliverables include realizing $352,590 in SNAP incentive sales for fresh produce at four grocery sites through August 2023 and $30,000 in sales through a curbside delivery service in central Texas by August 2024. The grant will also support engagement of 3,000 participants annually through SFC's food access help desk by August 2024. Additional COVID relief funds through GusNIP will enhance food security and resilience for low-income communities.

The bolstering and building capacity for double up across texas gusnip project (covid relief expansion) proposed by sustainable food center (SFC) aims to address the urgent health and economic needs of communities with high food insecurity in the central and west texas regions by bolstering double up snap incentive programs at participating farmers' market, mobile market, and grocery retailer locations. This will be achieved by building on the success of innovative direct-to-consumer marketing and food delivery strategies developed by SFC and farmshare austin (FSA) during the height of the pandemic in 2020. The project will also expand the capacity of double up west texas (DUWTX) to serve more low-income households deeply affected by the economic downturn brought about by the pandemic. Proposed project goals include the continued success and further growth of DUWTX and the optimization and scaling of FSA's curbside delivery and SFC's food access help desk outreach and marketing service. We aim to achieve the following objectives over the proposed 36-month project period:realize snap incentive sales of $352,590 for the purchase of fresh fruits and vegetables at four double up west texas grocery retail sites between september 2021 and august 2023.realize $30,000 in snap incentive sales for texas-grown fresh fruits and vegetables in central texas through fresh for less curbside delivery service by august 2024.achieve an annual average of 3,000 participants directly engaged through SFC's food access help desk, with a conversion rate of 25% by august 2024.