2020 Accomplishments
Fresh Food Financing Initiative: The ACFPC connected Penn State Extension Educator, Jay Eury, with WellSpan Health Outreach Coordinator, Yeimi Gagliardi, and others to reach out to local businesses eligible for PA Dept of Ag Fresh Food Financing Initiative (FFFI) grants. Those connections led to Adams County food retail businesses being awarded over $280,000 in grant money for COVID-19 related expenses and their expansion of fresh produce, meat, and dairy offerings.
Food System Dashboard: ACFPC launched the Food System Dashboard to compile statistics across the food system and from a multitude of organizations and resources.
Healthy Options: The ACFPC’s Healthy Options program continued to serve 130 families (which comes out to 516 individuals, including 232 children) and 75 seniors. Thanks to a collaboration with The Gleaning Project, families were also able to access USDA food boxes weekly.
Fruit and Veggie Bucks: Thanks to funding from Wellspan Health and Gettysburg Hospital Foundation, Fruit and Veggie Bucks for SNAP recipients received 50% off up to $25 worth of fruits and vegetables at Kennie’s throughout the year due to the pandemic.
USDA FMPP Grant: The ACFMA (Adams County Farmers Market Association) was awarded a Farmers Market Promotion Program grant from the USDA equalling over $93,000 over a 3-year project timeline. The grant will help the farmers market strengthen its various outreach and wellness initiatives, as well as achieve greater overall sustainability.
South Mountain Partnership Mini-Grant: ACFMA was awarded a mini-grant from the South Mountain Partnership, which will be used for strategic planning and board development. The grant will also be used to increase the number of educational activities and exhibitors at the farmers market by showcasing various SMP partners during the 2021 farmers market season.
COVID-safe operations: In 2020, farmers’ markets were determined by Gov. Wolf to be essential businesses. The ACFMA was able to launch its 2020 farmers market season as planned and operated safely throughout the season. Being able to operate benefited many customers in Adams County, especially those facing hunger-related issues. This was also extremely beneficial for the small businesses that relied on revenue generated from the farmers’ market.
Highest gross annual sales: Gross annual sales of the vendors at the Adams County Farmers Market grew by 42% over the total sales from 2019.
E-Commerce launched: The Adams County Farmers Market was able to successfully launch an e-commerce platform using the service provider Local Line to give customers a reduced-contact shopping option in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. This e-commerce initiative was so successful that ACFMA intends to retain it into the future.
Children’s Health and Nutrition Task Force: Because of Covid-19 the CHNTF was unable to do direct nutrition education activities in 2020. We distributed a survey to the public to help us set future priorities regarding children’s nutrition, physical activity, and social and emotional health. Based on survey results, we are currently working on a set of talking points we will use to contact local organizations that work with children and youth. We invite people who want to help our county support healthier children to join us at our Children’s Health and Nutrition Task Force meetings. We meet the third Wednesday of every month at 4 pm and are currently meeting via Zoom. For meeting information, contact Etta Saltos at ettanick@msn.com.