Developing the Food Navigator role at Everyone\u27s Harvest

Everyone’s Harvest (EH) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that operates farmers’ markets. In order to reduce hunger in Monterey County, Everyone\u27s Harvest offers several food assistance programs for low-income people including the Market Match (MM) incentive program which matches CalFresh money, modern day food stamps, dollar for dollar. The problem is that in Monterey County 1 in 4 adults and 1 in 3 children are food insecure. The purpose of the Food Navigator (FN) at EH is to engage with the local community and connect low-income people with food assistance resources, primarily the MM program. This project was a role development and program monitoring project that focuses on developing a standardized operating procedure for the Food Navigator at Everyone’s Harvest. In addition to developing the role, this project included performing the Food Navigator role. Empirical evidence was collected and used to identify the impact of the Food Navigator at the farmers’ markets. The numbers of new and recurring MM participants were tracked and shopper satisfaction surveys were also conducted at the markets. Results suggested the FN manual will provide EH with a stable FN program. Analysis of survey and MM data indicated the FN had a positive effect on the number of new MM participants. Recommendations included continuing the FN internship at EH and hiring one FN at a 0.5 full-time equivalent (FTE)