Collective impact

Funding new approach to addressing food insecurity

The folks behind the Vital Signs working groups just got a boost in their deveopment of a Food Security Collective. The concept of a Collective is a relatively new tool, developed at Stanford University, that codifies the way groups work together to foster social change.

“It’s a formal process for organizations to work collaboratively in a more intense way to achieve a common, agreed upon agenda,” says Brian Beiles, president of The County Foundation. “It seems to have attracted the attention of major funders who do long-term funding to address intractable situations.”

The County Foundation has received a $29,966 grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation to support the work of the Vital Signs Food Security Collective in its work developing a cohesive strategy to address food insecurity in Prince Edward County. The Collective received an additional $7,500 from a private donor.

Food insecurity has actually increased in the County since the Vital Signs report was released in 2013, rising from 10.5 per cent to 11.5 per cent in 2016, despite the work of organizations such as Food to Share, Fresh For All and the Good Food Box program, among others. While Beiles acknowledges that these groups may be part of the solution, he says they are not well integrated and “are not systemic in terms of addressing this overarching problem.” He sees the need for more integration and a scaling up of efforts.

“The Good Food Box in Bellville delivers over 1,000 boxes per month,” he says. “In the County it’s 30. The major barrier in the County is the lack of transportation, getting things to the County and then getting it distributed.”

Likewise, he mentions that the Food to Share program operated by Glen Wallis and a team of volunteers is hampered by a lack of industrial kitchen space and a lack of storage space. He is encouraged by the initiative in Sophiasburgh to create a food hub at the school, which he says could be part of a long-term solution to the problem of food insecurity, particularly if it could be replicated in other parts of the County.

The figure of 11.5 per cent translates to approximately 2,500 County residents who experience food insecurity. The underlying factor is poverty, with people not being able to afford a sufficient amount of food, but it is complicated by issues of availability and accessibility for those without means of transportation.

Currently, there are over 40 organizations involved in three Collectives under the Vital Signs umbrella. Getting the relevant organizations to work together under a common agenda is the first phase of the Food Security Collective’s work.

“This is a long time scale project because of the complex nature and the fact we are looking at it from a systemic standpoint, as opposed to individual projects, thinking about things like availability, affordability, accessibility,” says Beiles. “The first phase is basically an assessment phase, mapping the system and seeing what exists and how well it’s working. From that, there will be clear next steps.”

The second phase would be to formulate connections and achieve better integration between organizations, while the third phase would involve getting the funding to make it all happen. At this early stage of the Food Security Collective’s work, a formal long-term goal has not yet been established. The working goal is to alleviate food insecurity, but the degree to which that can be achieved will likely not be known until the second phase is under way.

“One of the fortunate things is that we’ve been able to get on the radar of the Ontario Trillium Foundation, which is one of the only funders in the province that really funds things in the three- to five-year time horizon,” says Beiles. “Subject to how well we execute the deliverables on the first two phases, that will put us in a reasonably good position to get further funding.”