Food Insecurity Coalition Meeting Notes (#11-14)

With leadership from Capital Area United Way, the Food Insecurity Coalition is looking to address and solve the barriers to food access in East Baton Rouge Parish.

Food Insecurity Coalition Meeting Notes

(#14 - March 4, 2021)

Presentation from Jan Ross, Huey and Angelina Wilson Foundation and Subcommittee C on a checklist of items that organizations should have in place when applying for grants. Draft Checklist attached for review.

Breakout Groups Report Out

1. Funders Circle

   1. Discussed next steps on how to do asset mapping more in depth than what might be currently collected.

   2. Provide meaningful information to drive collaborations and partnerships.

2. Distributors/Growers/Service Providers

   1. Discussed funders circle document.

   2. Focused on 10 themes as ways to cluster organizations together and do collaborative grants. Action groups of how to break out in future years.

   3. Discussion on not losing focus on why we are here. Collectively working together by leveraging existing resources to reach a broader population.

   4. Homework: read case for support to ensure we are all driving to the same goals.

3. Data/Policy/Evaluation:

   1. Worked on google sheet to include more partners and events to the matrix.

   2. Look at a public education campaign for food insecurity so more people know about it.

   3. More resources for SNAP.

   4. Better quality food and options available so people can access good, healthy food.

Updates, News Items, Open Discussion

1. Scotland Saturdays are coming up.

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Food Insecurity Coalition Meeting Notes

(#13 - February 18, 2021)

Breakout Groups Report Out

1. Funders Circle

   1. Discussed a number of topics including: individual donor support, asset mapping, capacity building needs, fiscal agents, and how to fill the gaps.

   2. Discussed pilot programs: teaming up with BREC parks, reaching out to farm cooperatives, and sharing the checklist regarding grants publicly.

   3. Discussion: How do we provide resources for the group and how do funders support the coalition overall? How do we create alignment across all the work we do towards one common direction?

2. Distributors/Growers/Service Providers

   1. Continued working through themes for collaboration and narrowed it down to 10 themes.

3. Data/Policy/Evaluation:

   1. Discussion around what types of policy we want to focus in on and the strategies to get there.

   2. Priority could be around changing the systems so that all data needs support that change.

Professional Networking (Speed-dating)

Breaking out into randomly assigned groups, we answered the following questions to get to know each other.

1. Name, Organization and why did you join the FIC?

2. What resources, relationships, and/or contributions can you and your organization make to the coalition?

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Food Insecurity Coalition Meeting Notes

(#12 - February 4, 2021)

Breakout Groups Report Out

1. Funders Circle

   1. Completed the checklist with documents organizations would need for grant applications. Document to be disseminated for review at the 3/4/21 meeting

   2. Discussed opportunities for smaller project grants and larger collaboration grants with the coalition as a whole.

   3. Discussed BREC property for gardens and neighborhood distribution.

2. Distributors/Growers/Service Providers

   1. Reviewed goals and discussed immediate unmet needs

   2. Discussed developing a process by which we can capture needs and match with resources.

   3. Foodbank willing to survey pantries on needs and challenges

   4. Discussed ways to work through smaller groups since Group B has grown in membership

   5. Wants to focus on data driven solutions

   6. Wants to visually tell the story with the data.

3. Data/Policy/Evaluation:

   1. Explore further data collection methods with subgroup B and then decide what data goes into the data presentation when discussing FIC.

   2. Paint a picture of the on the ground real look at food insecurity.

   3. Promote the sharing of studies and reports to the whole group and lead the FIC to collective solutions that address that data.

   4. Discuss funding for data insights tool

   5. Look at policy updates on a federal level

   6. LBP: Shared new data.

      1. 30% of LA is food insecure.

      2. 40% LA families with children are food insecure.

      3. https://www.ipr.northwestern.edu/state-food-insecurity.html

Open Forum for current events and challenges

1. Wilson Foundation has an open grant process.

2. Cheramie talked about the success of the Swipe Program with LSU. Over 2,000 swipes were donated to food insecure students

3. EBR is now serving weekend meals to students.

4. If you want to volunteer with EBR schools around food insecurity, you can register here: https://vipsbr.org/food-box-packing-volunteer-sign-up/

5. Dr. Birch is looking for volunteers to help with her students. Additional information was sent in the meeting reminder email on 2/18/21.

6. Cheramie and LSU Dining have employment opportunities available that includes a free meal. Please contact her for additional information.

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Food Insecurity Coalition Meeting Notes

(#11—January 21, 2021)

Large Group Discussion and Presentation

Presentation from Korey Patty, Feeding Louisiana on policy issues and current state in Louisiana.

Breakout Groups

Goal:

1. Confirm short-, medium- and long-term goals as a group.

2. Create action steps to be achieved by February 18th meeting.

3. What group or information needs to be a presentation to help us achieve our goals?

1. Funders Circle

   1. Confirmed and Accepted Goals:

      1. Short Term:

         1. Finalize organizational standard for funding checklist.

         2. Complete list and prioritize prospective funders for FIC.

      2. Medium Term:

         1. Discuss/create a system for prioritizing what projects, partners, etc. will be funded and how.

         2. Research and discuss grant writer arrangements for long term sustainability.

         3. Consider an organizational assessment tool for prospective grant partners.

      3. Long Term:

         1. Contract with a grant seeker to reach national, governmental and other funders.

   2. Create action steps for February 18th:

      1. Group A will have the comprehensive funders list completed with information that addresses basic information like who is the contact, what are the funding priorities, what is the grant process/cycle, what are the due dates, where are the collaborative opportunities, and matching opportunities.

      2. Mary Bergeron will put together an evaluation rubric to identify and point out where to priorities our funding sights.

      3. Based on the evaluation of grants, the group will identify the key/top five grant opportunities to pursue first. From there, we will use our foundation leads to make connections with these primary funding agencies.

      4. The goal of these foundation leads (Jan, Chloe, George, Lois, and Lori) is to meet separately and identify the full list of potential funders and build out the list to identify our top 5 national funders. The goal I to grab those national dollars first then move into the more local space.

   3. Additional information/presenters: several partners were identified to explore for future presentations.

2. Distributors/Growers/Service Providers

   1. Confirmed and Accepted Goals:

      1. Short Term:

         1. Engage various trusted groups and organizations into the conversation that can help meet immediate needs of FIC.

            1. Faith based groups

            2. Medical providers

            3. BREC

            4. City Council

            5. Grocery Stores

         2. Create a mechanism to meet the immediate need and fill in the food gaps that currently exist.

         3. Rethink how we engage with clients and partners to better understand the issue and create more impact. For example: face to face conversations with consumers while grocery shopping about their budget, choices and resources. Instead of working with school administration, work with social workers, counselors or teachers who may be able to identify the children needing resources more efficiently.

      2. Medium Term:

         1. Expand partnerships to see how we supplement what partners are doing to create more impact and leverage resources. For instance, if church-based pantry only has non-perishables, how do we supply them with fresh food as well. Or provide more volunteers and best practices to smaller partners to increase capacity.

      3. Long Term:

         1. Transition from just feeding people to helping feed people with healthy food and better food options.

         2. Better access and equal access to healthy and appropriate food resources.

         3. Change the mindset of the population around food and eating.

   2. Action Steps by February 18th:

      1. Compile the information needed to create a map of locations and services available so people can better access the resources. To be included on FIC website in future.

   3. Additional information and presenters:

      1. Healthcare centers and providers in schools to better understand childhood hunger and issues.

3. Data/Policy/Evaluation:

   1. Confirmed and Accepted Goals:

      1. Short Term:

         1. Clear understanding of what currently exists with food insecurity.

         2. What data exists -Whats being provided, who is providing it

         3. What is data for – Distribution and resource allocation

         4. Know who we should market programs to

         5. What data FIC wants?: Who needs the food?

      2. Medium Term:

         1. FIC Social Media presence

         2. FIC website

         3. Define root causes

         4. Collaborate on summit

         5. Instead of using data visualization, use the data to create an easier to use toolkit/format

      3. Long Term:

         1. Reduction or mitigation of food insecurity with a # and % goal.

         2. Clear policy interventions for FIC and other organizations.