Monadnock Food Access Alliance
GET INVOLVED: The Monadnock Food Access Alliance meets the 2nd Thursday of every month from 8:30am - 9:30am on zoom. If you are interested in joining the Alliance meeting, email coordinator@mfccoalition.org
PRIORITY AREAS:
Increase participation in federal nutrition programs (SNAP, WIC) by 10% with a focus on seniors, disabled individuals, single-parent families, and individuals in recovery from substance or alcohol abuse. (Outreach, one-to-one events)
Support The Community Kitchen Mobile Food Pantry program
Improve access for all community members to fresh, locally produced food by promoting current programming
Engage stakeholders with policy advocacy that works to best stem hunger in our region and state
HISTORY: Since 2018, the Monadnock Food Access Alliance (Alliance) one of MFCC’s work groups, leads the food access Community Health Improvement Plan of the Healthy Monadnock Alliance. The Alliance brings together 10 - 15 food access experts who actively participate in monthly meetings and communicates with and distributes updated resources, policy alerts, workshops, and events to a listserv of 324 participants.
SNAP 10 INITIATIVE: Over the last two years, the Alliance worked to increase enrollment in SNAP benefits: developed and distributed outreach (flyers, rack cards, brochure) for individuals and service providers, a :30 second video about how to use SNAP at farm stands, farmers markets (30k online views), and held a workshop for food providers and nonprofit agencies to help increase enrollment in SNAP nutrition program and its ancillary benefits like double fruit + vegetable purchasing power, auto-enrollment in Free & Reduced meals at schools, reduced fees at venues throughout New England + more. We’ve distributed over 1500 NH Food Bank brochures and SNAP advocacy flyers at hospitals in the region and shared outreach widely throughout the Alliance constituency.
Events: The Alliance tables at local events like the Winchester Food Festival to promote SNAP enrollment and recently, we offered a DIG IN: KIDS GROW FOOD event with the afterschool program at Keene Recreation Center. Children learned about seeds, how to plant, and were given plant starts, recipes, and instructions (tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, Three Sisters) to take home to plant in their backyards. Parents participated in a FREE RAFFLE (backyard composter, cookbooks, garden plots at Monadnock View Community Garden) and learned about other benefits to SNAP beyond food assistance.
FOOD ACCESS POLICY: The Alliance shares policy alerts with our constituency through social media posts and the listserv. We work closely with NH Hunger Solutions to develop strategies to best inform and call community members to action on behalf of nutrition programs and legislation that keeps dollars in the pockets of local farms.
FREE MEALS + CHARITABLE FOOD LIST: The Alliance is updates the Free Meals and Charitable food available in the region.
MONADNOCK MOBILE FOOD PANTRY: In 2021, the Alliance implemented a feasibility study for a Monadnock mobile food pantry to distribute food to rural areas experiencing food insecurity, identified in our Monadnock Region Food Access Analysis (below). We worked hand-in-hand with The Community Kitchen to launch the first set of “POP-UP” events offering food and resources such as heating assistance, pet food, food insecurity surveys, and SNAP enrollment. Since then, The Community Kitchen Mobile Food Pantry program has expanded its # of distributions, developed on-site “volunteer infrastructure” necessary to successfully transport food and connect with community members, and is developing plans to offer food deliveries to communities year round.
MONADNOCK GROWN MOBILE FUND (Locals’ Local Fund): Over the last 7 years, the Coalition raised almost $100,000 to purchase local products (eggs, cheese, meat, dairy + dairy products, vegetables) for distribution on the mobile food pantry. Access to fresh vegetables and fruits was the #1 priority for individuals surveyed in our Monadnock Food Access Analysis.
MONADNOCK FOOD ACCESS ANALYSIS + PLAN: In 2021, the Alliance hired SW Region Planning Commission to develop a “baseline of hunger” in for our region, and co-designed ten projects (The Monadnock Food Access Plan) with households with lived experience of hunger and other community members.
Annually, the “Plan” is updated by Alliance work group members to streamline outcomes and to adapt to new and developing changes affecting access to food and federal nutrition programs. Read more about the Analysis + Plan, below.
Check out the “Story Maps” of the
Analysis, below.
ASSEMBLING THE FOOD ACCESS PLAN
Starting in Spring 2021, the Alliance hired SW Region Planning Commission to implement a comprehensive nutrition program gap and asset analysis, conduct over 300 surveys with households experiencing hunger, and generate a baseline for the experience of hunger in the region. The 2021 Monadnock Region Food Access Analysis (Analysis) includes the findings. The Alliance used report key findings to develop a “Food Access Plan” that fills identified gaps in programs and services and outlines funding opportunities.
In Fall 2021, the Alliance hosted a two-hour community forum and four, 2-hour listening sessions with the Food Access Council, a recruited team of voices with lived experience of hunger who could provide feedback on the Monadnock Region Food Access Analysis and inform initiatives going forward.
Subsequently, Alliance members summarized listening session and forum participant feedback and rankings of the key findings of the Monadnock Region Food Access Analysis. Ten projects identifying gaps and addressing needs based on this feedback inform the Monadnock Region Food Access Plan.
