The purpose of this project is to collect qualitative information from awardees of multi-year community-based and large-scale projects funded by the Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive (FINI) mechanism. This qualitative information will include program implementation and impact across varying incentive delivery types and venues exploring topics such as redemption rates, volume of sales, and program awareness and utilization. It will also include characteristics of funded projects in relation to community demographics, program implementation, and other related setting-level factors, as well as gather information on barriers and facilitators experienced by awardees as part of the proposal development process and program implementation such as the match requirement, potential technical assistance needs for capacity development, identification of any lessons learned, and best practices. A sampling plan will be developed that identifies sites that have received multi-year community based or large-scale FINI projects funded between 2015-2016 and 2016-2017. They will sample between 18 and 22 sites for key informant interviews and will conduct up to three interviews per site. It will oversample projects from the Midwest and South and will include sites from both rural and urban areas
Characterizing Multi-Year Community-Based and Large-Scale FINI Projects: Similarities, Differences, and Experiences across Retail Types
Related Research
June 2019
The Academic, Behavioral, and Health Influence of Summer Child Nutrition Programs: A Narrative Review and Proposed Research and Policy Agenda
Since 1975, the US Department of Agriculture has sponsored the Summer Food Service Program as a nationwide strategy for providing nutritious meals to children and youth (aged 18 years or younger) in low-income communities during the summer months. Many programs are sponsored by community organizations as well as school districts … More
January 2019
Evaluation of the USDA FINI Program Finds Benefits for Consumers, Farmers and Retailers, and Local Economies
In December 2018, Congress passed a new farm bill which included a reauthorization of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive (FINI) Grant Program. This brief summarizes the findings of a recent qualitative evaluation of FINI, which concludes that the program has benefits for consumers, farmers and … More
February 2016
Minimum Stocking Levels and Marketing Strategies of Healthful Foods for Small Retail Food Stores
The healthfulness of foods and beverages found in retail food stores differs widely across the United States, both by location of the store as well as by store type. Some communities have limited access to stores that carry healthful staple foods such as fruits and vegetables, whole grain-rich foods, and … More