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Community Food Security Coalition Evaluation Program
Summary of Services and Resources

Updated October 2010

Background:

The Evaluation Program of the Community Food Security Coalition (CFSC) was launched in 2002 to build the capacity of Community Food Projects in program evaluation. Since that time, we have expanded to provide training and technical assistance to other community food practitioners as well.

The goals of the CFSC Evaluation Program are:

  • To strengthen community food security projects by building evaluation capacity.
  • To develop evaluation tools and templates specific to community food security projects.
  • To strengthen understanding of the operating elements of successful community food projects.

We hope to support community food practitioners to:

  • Develop effective programs that include innovative and effective evaluation activities.
  • Hear and respond to the interests and needs of their participants and stakeholders.
  • Highlight their organization's accomplishments.
  • Meet the evaluation requirements of their funders.

A hearty thanks to the USDA/NIFA Community Food Projects Competitive Grants Program for funding the CFSC Evaluation Program.

For more information contact:
Jeanette Abi-Nader, CFSC Evaluation Program Director
Charlottesville, VA
Ph: (434) 973-4435
Email:

Services and Resources:

We are excited to offer the services outlined below and invite Community Food Project grantees and other community food security practitioners to take advantage of these resources to strengthen their projects and to build evaluation capacity.

  1. Evaluation Materials: We have a tool box of evaluation materials that were developed in collaboration with dozens of Community Food Project grantees. This page contains information on the following evaluation materials including excerpts from these documents and sample evaluation surveys that you can download and modify.
    • Whole Measures for Community Food Systems: New release (September 2009)
    • Community Food Project Evaluation Handbook: Updated and Expanded Third Edition (March 2006).
    • Community Food Project Evaluation Toolkit: Updated and Expanded Third Edition (March 2006) and TOOLS ONLY TEMPLATES.
    • Excel Data Analysis Training Guide
  2. Whole Measures for Community Food Systems: This new planning and evaluation tool provides a lens for community food projects to dialogue about how their work affects whole communities. It includes a set of six core fields of value-based practices against which projects can measure the impact of their work. CFSC, in partnership with the Center for Popular Research, Education, and Policy and Seeds of Solidarity, is currently working through an intensive mentoring project with three dynamic organizations who are utilizing Whole Measures CFS as a central planning or evaluation tool for their work. For more information, or to get involved with the Whole Measures CFS Learning Community contact Jeanette Abi-Nader at .

    Download the six core fields and practices of Whole Measures CFS. [PDF]
  3. Evaluation Learning Community: Starting in November 2010, CFSC launched a new Evaluation Learning Community focusing on Whole Measures for Community Food Systems. This learning community involves around a dozen organizations engaged in peer learning around using Whole Measures CFS. Lessons learned and organizational stories from both the Learning Community and Intensive Mentoring Project will be shared in the fall of 2011.
  4. Community Food Project Outcome Tracking - New Tool!
    Beginning with FY10 reporting, CFP grantees will use a new tool called the Community Food Project Indicators of Success (IOS). This online reporting tool will track outputs and outcomes across CFP grantees. The toolkit also includes a participant impact survey. Grantees are asked to assess the impact of their work from the participants perspective and report their results in a collective data base. To view the CFP Indicators of Success and a guide for its use, go to the following links.
  5. Evaluation Results and Research:
    CFSC has been working with CFP grantees over the past five years to collect information on common outputs and outcomes across programs. We aim to strengthen an understanding of the operating elements of successful community food projects and to share the many results and accomplishments of CFP grantees. Our new report, The Activities and Impacts of Community Food Projects 2005-2009, compiles five years of results from the Common Output Tracking Form. This report builds on the earlier CFSC research report Building Community Food Security, which highlighted best practices of successful CFPs.
    • The Activities and Impacts of Community Food Projects, 2005-2009
      This report compiles data from across CFP grantees and shows impressive results in economic and social equity, environmental stewardship, healthy food access, and increased community infrastructure.
    • Building Community Food Security: Lessons Learned from Community Food Projects, 1999-2003
      This first-of-its-kind research project was conducted by Dr. Kami Pothukuchi with support from Jeanette Abi-Nader of the CFSC Evaluation Program. Building Community Food Security research is based on analysis of CFP project narrative reports from 1999-2003, CFP focus groups, and relevant literature. It outlines a summary of activities for which these projects engaged and include characteristics of successful community food security projects, factors for success, challenges CFP grantees faced, and, lessons learned.

  6. Feedback and How to Get Involved: Community Food Project grantees and other community food security advocates have a variety of ways to provide their feedback and to get involved with the CFSC Evaluation Program. If you would like to provide your feedback through one of these venues or participate in one of these activities, contact Jeanette Abi-Nader at or (434) 973-4435.

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