Farm to School Program Evaluation – Is it worth the time and resources? Learn why evaluations are valuable, and what a well-designed evaluation can tell you, your partners and your funders. Using real examples from work in Arkansas, this session will help you understand different types of evaluations, what to measure, and how to present results. Interactive exercises will engage those who are new to evaluation as well as those with some experience Andrew Carberry, MS, MPH; Rachel Schichtl, MS, RD. Arkansas Grow Healthy Study, a program of the Childhood Obesity Prevention Research Program at the Arkansas Children’s Hospital Research Institute (AR).

1. Farm to School Program Evaluation
Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group
January 17, 2014
Andrew Carberry MS,MPH
Rachel Schichtl MS, RD
Childhood Obesity Prevention Research Program
Arkansas Children’s Hospital Research Institute
Department of Pediatrics, UAMS
uams.edu

2. Overview of COPRP
Mission
Addressing childhood obesity
through a coordinated
community-based approach
targeting modifiable individual
risk behaviors, environmental
risk factors, and state and
national risk reduction
policies. Our approach
is focused on food systems
and sustainable agriculture
strategies.
uams.edu

3. Delta Garden Study
uams.edu

4. Intervention Components
Full time Garden Program Specialist for 1 year
 Designs and develops garden
 Builds/refurbishes greenhouse
 Develops planting/harvesting calendar
 Co-teaches all DGS lessons in the garden
uams.edu

5. Intervention Components
1-acre Garden, built over the course of the year, with:
 Vegetables
 Fruits
 Composting
 Herbs
 Rainwater Harvesting System
 Chickens and Worms
uams.edu

6. The Arkansas Grow Healthy Study
About



USDA AFRI grant
5 site collaboration
Pilot Program Next
Year
uams.edu

7. Arkansas Grow Healthy



Farm to school pilot program
Coordinated effort offering local procurement,
nutrition education and social marketing
Increasing access to and variety of fresh fruits
and vegetables for 2-8 year olds in Head
Starts and Public Schools in Arkansas
uams.edu

8. Arkansas GardenCorps
uams.edu

9. Arkansas GardenCorps

AmeriCorps service member program

Mission is to promote the use of school and
community gardens to increase environmental
awareness and sustainable agriculture practices to
address childhood obesity in Arkansas communities

Focus on garden development/maintenance, gardenbased education, volunteer recruitment, and food
access
uams.edu

10. Why is Evaluation Valuable?
Internally
 Improve outcomes
 Improve production or
increase revenue
 Stop doing things that
don’t work
 Monitor and adjust to
improve efficiency
Externally
 Increase consumer
confidence
 Positive Public Relations
opportunities
 Grantors/funders want
data
uams.edu

11. Who will be your audience?
Internally
 Employees
 Yourself
Externally
 Parents
 Students
 Peers
 School administration
 Community partners
 Funders/investors
 General Public
 Legislators
uams.edu

12. Evaluation Examples from
Arkansas
uams.edu

13. Types of Evaluation
- Formative
- Process
- Impact
- Outcome
uams.edu

14. Formative Evaluation
Measurements or observations made before or
during program implementation (pre-testing or pilot
testing)
Examples:
 Delta Garden Study- Focus groups, pilot testing of
instruments and interventions
 Arkansas Grow Healthy: Taste testing of new
recipes, focus groups with Child Nutrition Directors
 Arkansas GardenCorps: Needs Assessments
uams.edu

15. Taste Tests
Formative Evaluation Example
uams.edu

16. Taste Tests
Formative Evaluation Example
uams.edu

17. Resources Needed

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Top 10 resources needed to increase
fruit and vegetable processing
Refrigerator
Staffing
Wedger
Corer
General Space
6. Slicer
7. Chopper
8. Dicer
9. Knives
10. Storage Space
uams.edu

18. Farm to School Barriers
1. Lack of local producers in my area from whom to purchase
2. Food safety
3. Don't know where to find local produce
4. Delivery considerations
5. Inadequate volume of local produce
6. Seasonality of Arkansas produce products
7. Federal and state procurement regulations
8. Cost is too high
9. Payment arrangements
uams.edu

19. Process Evaluation
Measurements during implementation to control,
assure or improve the quality of performance or
delivery
Examples:
 -Delta Garden Study: Teacher Reflections, Structured
Observations, Planting and Harvest logs, Volunteer
logs
 - Arkansas Grow Healthy: Procurement and
Production Records
 -GardenCorps: Service Hour logs
uams.edu

20. Process Evaluation (cont)
Other examples include:
-number of pounds of produce sold or donated
-number of servings of a particular fruit or vegetable
served in the lunchroom
-number of students/parents/educators to attend farm
tours or workshops
uams.edu

21. Impact Evaluation
Immediate, observable effects of the program,
changes in behavior, awareness, knowledge,
attitudes and/or skills.
Examples:
 -Delta Garden Study; Fruit and Vegetable Survey,
Knowledge Questionnaire, Physical Activity
Questionnaire, School Bonding Survey,
 Arkansas Grow Healthy: Taste tests with students
 Arkansas GardenCorps: Taste tests, environmental
awareness surveys
uams.edu

22. Impact Evaluation (cont)
Other examples include:
Number of dollars brought in by certain events or
broken down by produce type
Student Lunch participation rate
Changes in eating patterns/shopping behaviors
Fruit/vegetable preference
Fruit/Vegetable identification
uams.edu

23. Outcome Evaluation
Ultimate goal or product of a program- for health
related research this is generally morbidity/mortality
rates among participants.
Examples:
 Delta Garden Study: reduction in Body Mass Index
 Arkansas Grow Healthy: feasibility of an integrated
Farm to School Program
 Arkansas GardenCorps: Increasing students’ interest
in farming as a career
uams.edu

24. Outcome Evaluation
Other examples include:
- Increase of X% in local food served in cafeteria
- Improved cafeteria operating budget due to increased
school meals participation
uams.edu

25. Qualitative and Quantitative


Quantitative – numeric datacounts, ratings, scores,
classifications
Qualitative - narrative, descriptive
data
uams.edu

26. What/Who Will you
Measure?





Behaviors
Knowledge
Attitudes
Purchasing/Production records
Sample Measurement Tools
http://www.farmtoschool.org/files/resources_644.pdf
uams.edu

27. Design



Pre-post design
One time data collection (pre or
post)
Control groups
uams.edu

28. Practice Sharing Results




Dream
Write down your dream result
Choose an audience
Share!
uams.edu

29. Reference

McKenzie, J., Neiger, B., Thackeray, R.
Planning, Implementing, & Evaluating Health
Promotion Programs: A Primer. Pearson
education. San Francisco. 2009
uams.edu

30. Where to Find Us

ACHRI Childhood Obesity Prevention Research Program

http://www.achri.archildrens.org/ObesityPrevention.htm

The Arkansas Grow Healthy Study

http://growhealthy.uark.edu/

The Delta Garden Study


www.arteengarden.com
Arkansas GardenCorps

http://arkansasgardencorps.com/
Contact:
Andrew Carberry
Rachel Schichtl
ANCarberry@uams.edu
RLSchichtl@uams.edu
501-364-6555
501-364-3360
uams.edu