Best Practices Among Food-Based Community Organizations: A Qualitative Analysis

Abstract

Food-based community organizations (FBCO) have positive impacts on community health, yet little is known about best practices that facilitate organization sustainability. To identify strategies among FBCOs used to facilitate member engagement/retention, reach future members/participants, and support organizational growth, key informants from four FBCOs in Texas participated in in-depth interviews. Semi-structured interviews were informed by grounded theory, voice recorded, and transcribed. Results from eight interviews, representing four organizations, indicated five themes for organization sustainability: commitment to a mission, supportive leadership, physical meeting space, clear communication, and community partnerships. Implementation of these strategies may benefit other FBCOs by helping them create sustainable organizations.

Introduction

Over the last 10 years, there has been an increasing focus on the food environment and how it may be associated with the health of the US population (Ding et al. 2012; Morland and Evenson 2009). Within food environment research, there is a growing interest in food-based community organizations (FBCOs) (Corrigan 2011; Davis et al. 2016, 2011; Freedman, Bell, and Collins 2011). FBCOs are organizations that strive to increase access to fresh food and food-related education, such as nutrition and gardening education, within the communities, neighborhoods, and schools in order to improve individuals’ nutrition, health, and development (Tontisirin and Bhattacharjee 2008). Specifically, FBCOs can increase access to fresh fruits and vegetables, a strong correlate of fruit and vegetable consumption and positive health outcomes such decreased risk of obesity and cardiovascular disease (Bazzano 2006; Mirmiran et al. 2009; Pearson, Biddle, and Gorely 2009; Swinburn et al. 2004).

FBCOs may include organizations that focus on community gardens, school gardens, cooking classes, and farmer’s markets. Each of these programs used by FBCOs serve unique populations, use methods tailored to specific populations, and can improve dietary patterns and health. For example community gardens are closely associated with a community’s social and economic development and provide a way to both obtain healthy food and increase consumption of fruits and vegetables (Alaimo et al. 2008; Corrigan 2011; Lyson 2002). Community gardens have also been suggested as a site for community building, civic engagement, and social well-being, such that community gardens can improve residents’ attitudes about the neighborhood and lead to other neighborhood issues being addressed (Armstrong 2000; McCormack et al. 2010). Garden-based interventions within schools have also become a major research area for childhood nutrition as they have been shown to improve dietary intake and knowledge of vegetables, nutrition, and gardening, as well as decreased risk of obesity (Davis et al. 2016, 2011; Gibbs et al. 2013). Availability of farmers markets has also been found to increase accessibility to and consumption of fruits and vegetables in a variety of settings (Freedman, Bell, and Collins 2011; McCormack et al. 2010; Pitts et al. 2013). Together, this research suggests FBCOs have an important role in promoting and improvement the nutrition and health of our population.

Research on FBCOs has primarily focused on identifying and evaluating health and nutrition related outcomes of FBCO programs. Although this work provides important outcome results of FBCOs, it provides little information on how successful FBCOs are able to sustain their organizations. Identifying best practices among successful FBCOs may provide useful, practical information for individuals working within and with these organizations. Therefore, the primary aim of this study was to identify strategies across active FBCOs to better understand how they engage and retain current members, reach future members and participants, and support continued growth of organization programs.

Methods

A case study approach was used to identify current FBCOs in a single metropolitan area in Central Texas to participate in interviews on program sustainability within their respective organization. In total, seventeen organization managers, directors, and members representing nine organizations were contacted via email to participate in a 45 minute to 1-hour interview with the lead author. Of the seventeen individuals contacted, six refused to participate, two were unable to schedule an interview, one did not respond to the request to participate, resulting in eight key informants that were willing to participate and able to scheduled interviews.

Prior to the interview, key informants were asked to provide informed consent and complete a short survey with basic demographic information. Questions included key informants age, gender, years at the organization, and experience with other FBCO’s. Each question was used to identify the key informants’ involvement with the organization they were representing.

Grounded theory was used to create a single interview guide that was used during each interview. Each interview was semi-structured to identify key duties of the interviewees, mission of the organization they represented, best practices they have used to develop the organization, and lessons learned while working with FBCOs. See Appendix A for the Key Informant Interview Guide. Additional questions were asked when appropriate throughout the interview as conversation evolved (e.g., How digital media helped facilitate community engagement?). All interviews were voice recorded and transcribed verbatim. Informed, signed consent was collected prior to the initiation of the survey and interview.

After completion of each interview, trained data collectors transcribed the interview by listening to each recording and simultaneously typing a transcript of the conversation between the interviewer and interviewee. A separate data collector checked each transcription by concurrently listening to the recording and reading the transcript. All transcriptions were uploaded into HyperRESEARCH, software used to manage and organize qualitative data (HyperRESEARCH 2014).

To identify codes and themes present within interviews, the project director reviewed each interview transcription. Codes were developed and applied to each transcript. After initial coding, codes continued to be refined through an iterative process until themes became clear and concise. This allowed for the identification of themes and common ideas across all organizations interviewed. The University of Texas at Austin approved measures and methods used in this study.

Results

FBCOs included one small, established organization (A) (n = 2), one large, established organization (B) (n = 2), one medium, established organization (C) (n = 3), and one small, emerging organization (D) (n = 1). Key stakeholders’ median age was 47 years old (range = 26–80), 75% were female, the median number of years with their respective food organization was 4.5 years (less than 1 – greater than 5), and 37.5% had experience with another FBCO before coming to their current position. See Table 1 for additional characteristics of FBCOs including within this study.

Table 1.

Characteristics of Participating FBCOs (n = 4).

Organization	A	B	C	D
Year Established	1998	1993	1979	2010
# FTE Employees	½	27	0	1
# Volunteers/Members	500	251	200	1000
Primary Funding	Donations	Grants	Plant Sale	Donations
Annual Budget	n/a	$2,120,319	$43,888	$200,000

Five key themes from interview transcripts emerged. Themes included 1) Commitment to a distinct, clear mission, 2) Having supportive leadership within the organization, 3) Maintaining a physical space for collaboration and organization activities, 4) Establishing clear communication between organization members, staff, board, and others within the community, and 5) Developing and maintaining community partnerships.

Defined mission statement

A mission statement is a written commitment to an organization’s core purpose that rarely changes over time and often includes the target population (BusinessDictionary.com 2016). Key informants suggested that mission statements “need to be really specific and strategic” and to have considered the organization’s “relationship with the community.” This will “ensure that what you are focusing on in your mission has value to within that community and that culture (A).” Others suggested that mission statements “guide the overall process of not just operational planning, but also day-to-day planning … [and] help with boundaries and declining process that aren’t in line with [the organizations] mission and goals (B).”

Supportive leadership

Maintaining a strong and supportive leadership board was suggested to aid in proper functioning of the organization. For example, one key informant said that an organization needs both, a “good board” and that the “board has to work, they have to raise money, and they have to help you with your events (D),” suggesting that an organization’s board should be actively involved in day-to-day organizational activities and decisions. If organizations do not have supportive leadership, initiating or updating programs can become particularly difficult and the organization may become paralyzed. For example, when discussing the implementation of a new program, one key informant responded that “it is hard to get [new programs] executed [because of] people saying, “No, we don’t do that. No, that is not a good idea. You know, we are a board driven organization (C).” This implies that without a supportive board, innovative programs and initiatives within organizations may be limited.

Physical space

Having a physical space for the FBCO was discussed across all key informants in varying contexts. Some viewed a recent move to a new physical space as a “pretty big accomplishment (D).” Others believed that having a new space (e.g., teaching kitchen) expanded the programs reach. Specifically, one participant believed that “[having a new space] has allowed us to really expand our work beyond the free classes, so we can offer one-day cooking classes at low cost to folks who’ve been asking (B).” Another organization said that having a “little garden center, a place where we could actually grow out own food and give the food away,” is the next step for the organization because it would provide them a “place for education (A).”

Although physical space appeared to be important, maintaining physical space can be a challenge. For example, when asked about challenges within the organization, one key informant responded that their organization has “great land insecurity” and that future goals of the organization are “making sure that we still have this place (C),” suggesting that maintaining a physical space may also be difficult for the organization, as land ownership is becoming increasingly difficult, particularly in urban areas.

Communication

“Communication is essential in a food-based organization (B).” This includes communication with organization members, volunteers, and those within the community. For example, FBCOs need to maintain “personal engagement” with volunteers because they need to “feel like their time has been valued (A).” Without this personal engagement, key informants suggested that volunteers are less likely to return. Others said that having open dialog with organization members allows a needed time for reflection on programs and goals that allow the organization to grow effectively (B). Learning to work with “different personalities” and “be kind (C),” also facilitates rapport building among FBCO members.

Key informants also suggested that “making sure your staff is as representative of the community as possible” can improve communication with the target population (B) and have a more effective partnership with the community (A). For example, one FBCO’s cooking classes are “taught by folks from the community. It’s not a dietitian, not a nutritionist at the front of the class … It’s somebody from the community, who’s gone through our training and they teach the classes, so that may look like you or speak your language, go to the same congregation, be your neighbor. [This] speaks volumes because that automatically makes you feel a bit more at ease.”

When discussing communication across all organizations, the emphasis on digital media was clear. Each key informant independently mentioned and discussed the importance of digital or social media within their FBCO and how it was used to communicate with current organization members, reach out to potential members, showcase successes, and advertise upcoming events. For example, social media (e.g., Facebook, Twitter) is often considered “powerful (D)” or “a big one (B).” It is also “the main way [they] promote anything. [They have] not yet thought [of] advertising in any of the older ways (D).” All organizations also reported sending out digital newsletters or email to their current members as a primary means of communication.

Although digital media is heavily used by many FBCOs, there are limitations. Key stakeholder suggested there may be limitations to social media and emailed newsletters. For example, one key stakeholder suggests that people who use “social media read our newsletters … [and] maybe attends our classes, but there’s still a sector that just I feel still not heavily involved with us (B).” Another key informant also suggested that “face-to-face canvasing for future participants [will continue as] social media does not always reach those in need (A).” Given this, it appears that digital and social media can support communication and outreach, but it needs to be carefully considered for the population an organization is trying to reach.

Community partnerships

Leveraging resources and relationships among FBCOs is another strategy worth considering. For example, the largest of the FBCOs within the study suggested that to build a successful FBCO it is important to “contact other organizations with similar interests to make sure there isn’t already a program with similar mission/goals. This way both organizations won’t be fighting for the same resources, grant money, constituents, and participants (B).” Further, this “collaboration with other local organizations and educational institutions to achieve goals (B)” will benefit everyone involved. Community partnerships mentioned by organizations include partnerships with schools, community centers, shelters, and organizations of similar missions (A). By building effective partnerships, organizations are able to share their resources, extend their reach, and further their programs. See Table 2 for additional examples for each theme presented within key informant interviews.

Table 2.

Key Themes from Key Informant Interviews.

Theme	Reported Use	Example
1. Mission Statement	Guide the strategic planning and processes of the organization.	1. "Well I think they need to, if it’s [just] starting, they need to have a really good mission. They need to be really specific and very strategic with their mission ... You've got to build that sense of a relationship with the community and sure that what you're focusing on in your mission has a value within that community and that culture. (A)" 2. "Clear mission statements and goals are important to guide the overall process of not just operational planning but also day-to-day planning ... I found that clear mission statements also help with boundaries and declining projects that aren’t in line with B's missions and goals. (B)"
2. Supportive Leadership	Catalyst for action and progress.	1. "[The most frustrating thing], for me its just, people saying, "no we won’t do that. No that is not a good idea, you know it is a board driven organization. (C)" 2. "And we have a fantastic Board that’s all committed to the mission. We're all engaged which makes a huge difference. (A)" 3. "Making sure you have a good board, you have to have a good board, you have to have a board that is active ... there's boards that are working boards and that’s what we have, your board has to work, they have to raise money, and they have to help you with events. (D)"
3. Physical Space	Place where members, volunteers, and participants can meet to engage with each other and the FBCOs programs.	1. "Moving, which was also recent development, moving over to this ... was a pretty big accomplishment for us, it fits what we're doing. (D)" 2. "What I would love to see green corn do, I would love to find some land where we could to do our own community garden. (A)" 3. "Now with this new space, we're actually sitting in it, the Teaching Kitchen. It’s allowed us to really expand our work beyond the free classes so we can offer one-day cooking classes at a low cost to folks who've been asking to THK (The Healthy Kitchen) classes. (B)
4. Communication	Traditional and digital media provide outlets for FBCO to connect with those intended to serve.	1. "I've learned that dialog is very important. And I think what I mean by that is, as I think as nonprofits sometimes we get caught up with doing, doing, doing and just growing numbers wise. And something that we're trying to do more here at (B) is really focus on going deeper versus going wider. And a lot of that has to do with just dialog. Internally, just really allowing space and time to reflect on the work we've been doing, the work that we want to do so you know, really just reflection. (B)"
a. Social Media	A "powerful" way to "get the word out," but has limitations.	1. "[Social media is] the main way we promote anything. I've not yet thought of advertising In any of the older ways. (D)" 2. "You know social media reads our newsletters, things like that. Maybe attends our classes, but there's still this other sector that’s just I feel still not heavily involved with us in our say, the way our programs are led. (B)"
b. Digital Mailing List	To "stay In touch with people the best we can" with minimal cost and Increased reach.	1. "Yeah it’s an email mailing list. It’s cheaper to do that. A lot cheaper. No stamps. (D)" 2. "We'll send newsletters out about what we're doing and have more pictures of what we do, posting I think helps. (A)"
c. Face-to-face	To build personal connections with those unable to be reached otherwise.	1. "Yeah, I just go out there with a clipboard and walk around and chat. (A)" 2. "If you, you go shopping at a farmer's market you actually interact with the person who grows your food. So you're really putting a face to this tomato, you know. (B)"
5. Partnerships	A strategic way to spread and share resources and build connections within the community.	1. "We partner with a lot of schools, community centers, shelter things like that, that not only for our gardens but to use as a sense of education. (A)" 2. "We have great support at like the (local food organizations), a lot that we are very similar In mission, we partner together. And where we are not, we don’t ... (A)" 3. "We kind of share the burden to partner together to help that food system. (A)"

Discussion

The present study identified key strategies for maintaining and growing an organization’s participants, members, programs, and funding across four successful FBCOs in central Texas. Research suggests that mission statements are often difficult to write and underused by organization members (Desmidt and Prinzie 2011; Desmidt, Prinzie, and Heene 2008), yet this study suggests that crafting a clear, concise mission statement is worthwhile and should help guide decisions made within the organization, both day-to-day processes and larger organizational decisions. Further, results suggest that organizations should use their mission statement to help to decide when to accept or decline future projects, programs and/or partnerships in order to prevent overstretching of existing resources.

Maintaining a strong leadership board was another strategy identified across all organizations. Similar to previous research (Cornforth 2001), this study suggests that it is essential to have a group of board members that are willing to compromise, work with one another, and work with members of the organization. There should be a seamless flow of information between the board members and other members of the organization to maintain relationships between the board and non-board members. Similar to previous work that suggests boards who help raise funds are more likely to have effective leadership with the organization (Cornforth 2001), key stakeholders emphasized board members should take an active role in fundraising for the organization. Ultimately, board members should be passionate about the organization, willing to compromise, raise funds, and support new, innovative ideas generated from organization members.

Key informants from the FBCOs suggested that having a physical space for an organization provides a place for member interaction and dialog, community events, and can expand the reach of the organization by facilitating more space for community engagement. This need for physical space is supported by previous research which found having a space for social and physical engagement supports program success (Feenstra 2002). Although space appears to be important, physical space may be difficult for organizations to maintain. For example, research among healthcare organizations also has found that physical space is increasingly difficult for nonprofit health care organizations to maintain, and thus, the doctors and hospitals often move away from poor city neighborhoods to suburban areas (Thomas 2014). This may result in organizations having to look outside of the city, which often puts them farther away from the people they are intended to serve. Although healthcare organizations are often larger and more complex than FBCO, gaining and maintaining access to a physical space for a FBCO to meet, organize, and run programs may be worth considering as it can serve as a nexus of communication and action within the organization.

Clear, effective communication will help facilitate FBCO member participation, community engagement, and effective fundraising. Interestingly, the emphasis on communication was largely on the use of digital media, such as social media, digital mailing lists, and websites. Digital media, particularly online information, is becoming increasingly common. For example, it is estimated that 60% of adults look for health related information online (Korda and Itani 2013). For FBCOs, digital media may be uniquely valuable as digital media has the ability to be tailored to unique populations needs, is often free, and provides a direct line of communication for organizations to share information directly with their target audience (Korda and Itani 2013; Tobey and Manore 2014). Although there are clear benefits to using digital media, there is a key limitation that is particularly troubling for FBCOs: social media often does not reach the target audience of the organization’s program. For example, research suggests there is a disparity in internet access according to SES and use of digital media according age (Chou et al. 2009; Duggan and Brenner 2013), such that those of lower SES backgrounds have poorer internet access and older individuals are less likely to be users of social media. Given that disparities exist, FBCOs may need to identify more traditional routes of communication with the population they are trying to serve such as door-to-door canvasing, referrals, and outreach at community events.

The final strategy identified across FBCOs was to maintain and develop partnerships with organizations of similar interests with the community. These partnerships will help build and amplify resources as well as provide greater reach and visibility for the program. A similar emphasis on partnerships has been suggested as a way to improve access to resources, capacity to build existing projects, and help identify new projects within sustainable food system networks (Feenstra 2002), Although community partnerships were identified as a best practice, little information was gathered about what types of partnerships are the most beneficial for these organizations. Future research should consider further exploring community partnerships and their implications among FBCOs.

This study strengthens the field of community programs by outlining best practices according to key informant interviews, incorporation of rich, qualitative data, and inclusion of multiple types of FBCOs. Although these strengths are notable, limitations exist such as a limited sample size (n = 4 organizations) within a limited geographic area Austin, TX with a primary mission related to increasing access to fresh food and food-based education. Nonetheless, key informants represented organizations that have become successful in a time when maintaining a FBCO is increasingly difficult. Further, results represent best practices within a growing sector of community organizations. Finally, this study did not measure success or outcomes of the organizations such as participation rates or changes in nutritional status of participants, as the primary focus was to identify helpful strategies by organizations.

Although there are many types of community organizations, FBCOs represent a unique proportion of community programs that have the potential to improve a variety of health behaviors including fruit and vegetable consumption and social support through community engagement. Further, over the last decade there has been a recent surge of interest in improving our community food system and engaging in sustainable local agriculture, both of which are central missions to many FBCOs. Finally, these organizations are unique because they have the potential to reach many populations including youth, adults, minority neighborhoods, and/or impoverished communities due to their focus on providing food within our community.

Ultimately, future and current FBCOs can use information generated from this case study of FBCOs to guide and improve their organization. Each strategy generated has direct implications on the organizational development as well as the day-to-day functioning. Additional research may consider exploring each of these best practices further within other types of organizations.

Appendix A. Interview Guide

1. Tell me a little about your position or involvement with [insert org. name].

2. What is the mission and/or goals of [insert org. name]?

3. What have been your greatest challenges in accomplishing those goals?

   1. Community participation?
   2. Dedicated volunteer staff?
   3. Local government support?

4. Tell me about the greatest accomplishment of [insert org. name].

5. What do you believe has been the most successful piece/program of [insert org. name]?

   1. Please sort cards of in order of most successful to least.

      1. Creating awareness of current food issues
      2. Improving access to fresh foods
      3. Engaging local community members
      4. Educating community members and public officials
      5. Providing support for public policy
   2. Others: Please list.
6. What do you believe are the most important lessons you have learned during your time at [insert org. name] to maintain a successful food-based organization?

   1. Community participation?
   2. Dedicated volunteer staff?
   3. Local government support?

7. In what ways do you maintain and improve community participation in [insert org. name]?

8. What are key recommendations you would provide to someone interested a.) building or sustaining a food-based organization? b.) expanding a food-based organization?

9. What are future directions you see [insert org. name] moving towards?

10. What are additional support your organization could benefit from?

    1. Community involvement?
    2. Additional paid/volunteer staff?
    3. Local government support?