Food Initiative Team

FOOD

ACTION TEAM

WE MAKE IMPORTANT FOOD SYSTEMS ACCESSIBLE TO ALL OUR RESIDENTS

Ensuring food security for 100% of county residents. The 100% New Mexico food action team identifies challenges, researches solutions and supports organizations in improving services. The long-term goal is creating a countywide system of food security programs with collaboration and coordination with all city government, county government and non-governmental organizations within the county’s borders.

The 100% New Mexico food action team collects and analyzes data then identifies gaps in food security services. The 100% Community survey data, including informational interviews with residents of all communities within the county’s borders, reveal which populations and communities lack easy access to food security services. The survey also reveals why services may be difficult to access. Difficulties may include a lack of awareness of programs, lack of transport to programs, lack of easy-to-access hours or no easy-to-access services with supplies.

The 100% New Mexico food action team focuses on identifying which organizations currently need capacity-building in order to meet the need. The team identifies partnerships to improve services. This can be done through a process of continuous quality improvement (the data-driven “assess-plan-act-evaluate” process).

The 100% New Mexico food action team focuses on identifying which private sector businesses can help address food insecurity throughout the county. The team works to create partnerships between businesses and food security programs.

The 100% New Mexico food action team focuses on identifying how to use technology, including websites and apps, to increase awareness of food insecurity, increase resources to provide food, and increase alignment of services across all cities and communities within the county’s borders. The team also works to address the digital divide to increase access for all county residents to mobile devices and the Internet through community access points.

The 100% New Mexico food action team focuses on reaching all county residents in order to mobilize community teams to address food insecurity. The team works to engage all county residents who have free time (retirees, college students, etc.) to support food security efforts. The team also works to create opportunities for all county residents to share their ideas for problem solving.

The 100% New Mexico food action team focuses on strengthening the capacity of all schools to increase their food security efforts with free breakfasts and lunches for students, as well as finding additional funding and staff to support supplying meals in the evening, on weekends, during school vacations and summer breaks.

The 100% New Mexico food action team focuses on identifying which individuals and programs working with local higher education can support food security efforts. This includes identifying support for surveying, data analysis, researching solutions, and creating campus food pantries and food banks, along with engaging students and staff in food security efforts.

The 100% New Mexico food action team focuses on identifying the capacity of city and county government to strengthen their current food security efforts and expand them to meet the need. This includes a special focus on meeting the needs of the county’s most vulnerable residents. Teams will recommend to local government the most up-to-date methods and software to accurately track program effectiveness.

The 100% New Mexico food action team focuses on identifying which programs the federal and state government offer to support countywide food security. This process includes networking, advocating and grant writing.

The 100% New Mexico food action team focuses on the long-term goal of creating a county-city “Department of Food” to focus on food security challenges. This includes surveying residents on their access to food security programs, their need for the programs and why they might be difficult to access. This proposed department could also support ongoing research in food security programs and support local efforts to ensure food security across the county.

MISSION

To identify gaps in county services, strengthen service organizations, and create a networked countywide system of services, timely support and empowerment. Identifying solutions that meet the needs of those county residents with and without access to the web.

Food insecurity is strengthened with food pantries and food banks in all community centers, schools and campuses — with support from new public-private sector partnerships and apps to organize distribution.

The 100% New Mexico action team on food focuses on food security. The team assesses where gaps in food security services are and works to implement solutions. Food banks at schools, colleges and other venues are explored for feasibility and innovations are developed. Private and public sector partnerships are developed between the food industry and local food banks and pantries.

SEVEN STEPS TO 100%

Step 1: Survey your county residents

Initiative teams implement a countywide survey that assesses resident’s access to 10 vital services for surviving and thriving (like health care, transport and job training) and why barriers exist. You’ll learn that different populations will have different challenges.

How are our families surviving?

Initiative teams are surveying families across their county, getting the answers about gaps in vital services. Review the Rio Arriba County Survey Report.

Step 2: Review Survey Results

Initiative teams review the survey data to learn what percentage of county residents struggle to access vital services, and why challenges accessing services exist and where they exist in the county. You can review the data from the countywide survey, especially the barriers to accessing services. Each barrier (such as unfriendly hours, lack of transport to services) will require analysis and a plan to address it.

What are barriers to services?

Initiative teams are analyzing survey results to identify where barriers to vital services exist and why. Review the Doña Ana County Survey Report.

Step 3: Assess the ten surviving and thriving services

Initiative teams, including ten action teams created (each one focused on one sector such as food or medical care) learn about the capacity of current services in all 10 surviving and thriving sectors. The goal is to understand challenges service organizations face when meeting the needs of county residents.

What’s the capacity of providers?

Initiative teams are assessing why service providers and organizations struggle to meet local needs and how to increase their capacity. Explore the San Miguel 100% initiative and other initiatives across New Mexico.

Step 4: Ensure that a county directory to ten vital services exists

Each of the county’s ten action teams update an existing online directory to services or create a new updated directory guiding residents to the ten vital services. (Note that directories will need local monitoring and updating based on changes in services due to COVID-19).

How do families find support?

Initiative teams are designing directories and constantly updating them to provide accurate information. Visit the new directory for San Miguel County.

Step 5: Identify innovative policies and programs to fix barriers to accessing ten services

To address the barriers identified in the countywide survey, initiative teams learn about innovations in all ten sectors that can increase access, user-friendliness and quality of services. The book 100% Community and the @100% book series on each of the ten sectors offers many potential innovative strategies to reduce gaps in services and strengthen a countywide system of support. Action Teams can review and prioritize innovations.

How do we ensure access?

Initiative teams are exploring a menu of evidence-informed strategies to ensure all residents can access services. Visit the @100% book series.

Step 6: Get buy-in from local government and stakeholders to support innovation that ensures 100% of county residents have access to ten vital services

Initiative teams identify, support and implement innovations including new technologies, local policies, programs and agency protocols. This is the action phase that requires project management and ongoing tracking of local innovation in ten sectors.

How do we engage local leaders?

Initiative teams are strengthening partnerships with local elected leaders and stakeholders, working in alignment. Read Leadership@100%.

Step 7: Evaluate effectiveness of each innovation and measure the increase in access to ten vital services

Initiative teams measure the impact of innovations on all ten surviving and thriving services with feedback from residents and providers. We work to ensure that our local work on each innovation is moving the needle on improving access to services so that 100% of residents thrive.

How do we track progress?

Initiative teams are using a variety of tools to ensure that they can measure meaningful progress. Read Assessment@100%.

SOLUTIONS

STEP-BY-STEP

FOOD@100% GUIDES THE WORK IN YOUR COUNTY

Our book explores the impact of hunger on families and how county systems of food security can be increased to ensure that no child, student or any community member experiences hunger or food insecurity. Food@100% details how leaders within a county’s borders can collaborate to ensure that a countywide system of food security is created from existing and new public and private food support and industry programs to meet the needs of all residents. This first-of-its kind book focused on harnessing the power of local champions, data and technology to make hunger history. Food@100%, built around excerpts from the groundbreaking 100% Community: Ensuring 10 Vital Services for Surviving and Thriving, inspires in times both calm and chaotic, through public health crises and economic disruptions.

INSIDE: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO INNOVATE

Continuous Quality Improvement Guides Us with Data
Sharing the Vision to Achieve Collective Impact
Food@100%
The 100% New Mexico Survey
Engaging with Elected Lawmakers
100% Community-County Program Org Chart
100% Community-Partnerships
100% New Mexico initiative-Logic Model
100% Community-Timeline
Crisis-proof County Readiness Checklist

THE 100% COMMUNITY BOOK GUIDES THE WORK IN YOUR SECTOR

We are addressing unprecedented challenges that include a public health crisis and economic disruption using:

Team: fully-inclusive collaboration
Tech: the latest in communication and training technologies
Plan: a tested data-driven framework to identify and solve the most difficult problem

100% Community is a training guide for all county agency leadership and 100% New Mexico initiative participants. It provides the framework to:

Assess gaps in vital services
Plan in a collaborative process to address gaps
Act with county/city alignment to increase vital services
Evaluate all progress toward measurable results