Community Food Security Coalition Evaluation Program
Summary of Services and Resources

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.
• Hear and respond to the interests and needs of their stakeholders.
• Highlight their organization's accomplishments.
• Meet the evaluation requirements of their funders.

A hearty thanks to the following funders who support the CFSC Evaluation Program:

• USDA Community Food Projects Competitive Grants Program
• UPS Foundation
• W.K. Kellogg Foundation

For more information contact:
Jeanette Abi-Nader, CFSC Evaluation Program Manager
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
   This page contains information on the following evaluation materials. Included in this section of the website are excerpts from these documents and sample evaluation surveys that you can download and modify.
• Community Food Project Evaluation Handbook Updated and Expanded Third Edition (March 2006).
• Community Food Project Evaluation Toolkit and TOOLS ONLY CD ROM Updated and Expanded Third Edition (March 2006).
• Excel Data Analysis Training Guide
• Community Food Project Common Output Tracking Form, Updated Version October 2007.
2. A Field Guide to Evaluation Training
   In the past the CFSC Evaluation Program has offered this comprehensive 2 ½ day workshop in New Orleans, LA. This year, the training will be offered in five module sessions presented through a series of group conference calls. The trainings will be part of our Evaluation Learning Community. The Evaluation Learning Community will be offered from January 2008 through August 2009 and will build on the materials presented in the CFP Evaluation Handbook, CFP grantees' experience with conducting evaluations, and, our in person training.
   
   Participants will have the opportunity to join the calls relevant to their evaluation needs and to share your own insights and learnings in program evaluation. A 'synthesizer' will be on each call to help collate the themes and lessons learned that emerge from the conversation and share these insights with the group.
3. Whole Measures Working Group
   CFSC is launching a new program to help develop a tool for value-based evaluation and planning. We will will work with a core group of 4-6 CFP grantees to develop a Community Food Security Whole Measures document. This core group will work with input from a broad range of CFP practitioners to revise the Whole Measures principles and values to reflect CFS concepts; develop CFS outcomes and indicators; create a draft CFS Whole Measures tool; and pilot test it in their communities and share successes and challenges.
   
   For more information on the current Whole Measures tool, developed for land conservationists, please visit the Whole Measures website.
4. Evaluation Results and Research
   The following links take you to the results from the Common Output Tracking Form and the new CFSC research report Building Community Food Security as well as a summary of results from the past Common Output Tracking Forms.
• New publication! 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.
• Fiscal Year 2006 Common Output Tracking Form (COTF) Results: The COTF includes data from 51 CFP Grantees who completed the form as part of their 2006 fiscal year (October 2005-September 2006) report.
• COTF 2006 Results Executive Summary pdf document (10 pages) includes executive summary, Community Food Projects Competitive Grant Program description, COTF background, methodology and limitations.
• COTF 2006 Results complete document pdf document (49 pages) includes the executive summary, tables with cumulative totals, and, tables with individual activity results.
• Fiscal Year 2005 Common Output Tracking Form (COTF) Results: The COTF includes data from 25 community food projects who completed the form for the 2005 fiscal year (October 2004-September 2005) as part of their end of the year reporting to CSREES/CFP Competitive Grants Program. The introduction to the report includes background information on the development and purpose of the COTF. Basically, the COTF provides an opportunity for CSREES to track across grantees on the quantitative outputs (# of training hours, # of participants, # of food grown, etc.)
• COTF 2005 Results Executive Summary pdf document (9 pages) includes executive summary, Community Food Projects Competitive Grant Program description, COTF background, methodology and limitations.
• COTF 2005 Results complete document pdf document (44 pages) includes the executive summary, tables with cumulative totals, and, tables with individual activity results.




5. 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 to the CFSC Evaluation Program. If you would like to provide your feedback through one of these venues, contact Jeanette Abi-Nader at or 434-973-4435.