Intervention Examples 

• The health department coordinator and the local food council worked with a farmers’ market in a public housing community to implement a SNAP-Electronic Benefits Transfer (SNAP-EBT) which allows SNAP customers to purchase SNAP eligible foods at farmers’ markets. Through discussions with SNAP customers, they found the cost of produce was a barrier to shopping at the farmers’ market. To make the market offerings more affordable, partners reached out to the local hospital foundation for investment in the start of a fruit and vegetable incentive program where SNAP customers are provided with a $10 produce coupon for every $10 in produce purchased using their SNAP benefits. Reach of SNAP customers grew by 153 percent and the increased sales allowed the farmers’ market to expand its services to other public housing communities.  
• A community food pantry was interested in providing healthier options for its participants but didn’t know where to start. Pantry staff reached out to the local health coalition for help. Coalition members along with pantry staff participated in the Healthy Food Access Pantry Training Program and assisted the food pantry staff with completing a food pantry assessment to identify areas where they could make improvements. The local cooperative extension agent assisted the food pantry staff in developing a healthy food list for donors in addition to identifying faith partners that were willing to coordinate donation and storage of produce gleaned from local farms in the area.
• A store owner was hesitant about stocking healthier food and beverages since she didn’t think her customers would buy them. She offered a few healthy items but said they didn’t sell well. Local community partners completed a store assessment and noted the few healthy items available in the store were hard to find. Partners then surveyed customers to identify healthier products they would be interested in buying and barriers to purchasing these items. The survey results indicated customers didn’t know which products were considered healthy. Results also showed customers enjoyed eating fruits and vegetables but didn’t feel confident in their ability to choose or cook a healthy meal. After reviewing the survey results, the store owner was willing to stock a few varieties of fruits and vegetables and a few specific items her customers mentioned. Community partners provided training to the store owner on how to properly place and promote healthier options in the store so that her customers could identify them. Partners purchased signage and promotional materials to showcase the healthier foods being offered. Partners also placed cards with easy recipes in the store along with grouped ingredients from the recipe for easy access to customers. These strategies, along with the local cooperative extension staff offering cooking demonstrations on how to prepare healthy meals with products found in the store, increased the sale of healthy foods.