Bright Spot: Farm to Work

Photo by Damien Creatz on Unsplash

This bright spot was originally published in the 100 Million Healthier Lives Change Library and is brought to you through partnership with 100 Million Healthier Lives and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.

Overview

Detailed Description

Farm to Work increases access to fresh fruits and vegetables in the work environment by providing a weekly opportunity for purchase and delivery of fresh produce from local farmers.

*The Center for Training and Research Translation worked with Farm to Work developers to review the evidence in support of the intervention and develop detailed guidance on how to implement it in practice*

Expected Outcomes

To promote Individual/family and group-level change by modifying the work environment to increase access, availability, purchases, and use of healthy fruits and vegetables from local farms.

Increased knowledge of local produce
Increased fruits and vegetable consumption
Increased access to local produce

Evidence

Emerging bright spot (emerging evidence)

Cost Details

Costs:

The costs outlined below are specific to this Farm to Work program. Depending on the worksite and program specifics, costs will vary.

Program costs included:

Website development - $2,600 (plus $1500 for annual maintenance)
Plastic bags for produce (4 boxes of 200, 13 gallon bags) $120
Trade box bin (4, 12.5 gallon recycle bins) $82
Signage $150
Advertising and incentive items - Posters (220, 11x17) - $235
Canvas bags with screen printed logo (580) - $4,965
T-shirts (50), aprons (50), and table skirts (24) with logo - $2,194
Promotional items such as recipe books (20) - $360

Key Steps for Implementation

Determine program feasibility* The first step in establishing a Farm to Work program is determining its feasibility
Determine interest level of employees
Identify an Internal Farm to Work Coordinator
Identify an External Farm to Work Coordinator
Find the farmer or group of farmers to supply produce
Identify a distribution site
Get approvals both to implement the program and to address liability issues/concerns
Establish an external ordering/payment system
Determine a communication channel
Raise awareness and market the program
Launch the program!

Partnerships

Local farms

Required Staffing (FTEs)

An Internal Farm to Work Coordinator
An External Farm to Work Coordinator
Clipboards, plastic bags, trade box bin at each site, posters, canvas bags, T-shirts, aprons, and table skirts, signage

Training

External coordinator provides training to farmers in customer satisfaction and to worksite coordinator in start-up, promotions, and customer service. External website coordinator provides training to farmers in use of the farmer-administrative section of the website where the farmer can update the basket contents and access the list of orders to fulfill, and also trains the external coordinator in use of administrative section of website to access the list of orders which includes customer order and contact information.

Types of Staff

Internal and external coordinators are needed as well as farmers in the local area who are willing to participate in this program.

Outcome Measures

Increased intake of fruit and vegetables
Support of local agriculture and support of local economy
Access to local produce

Process Measures

Those considering copying this intervention should consider a trial run: Coordinate a mini-delivery to test the program and delivery system. One suggestion is to only promote the first delivery day among those employees who responded to the survey and to limit the number of orders that can be accepted during the first delivery.