. Using Appreciate Inquiry, participants were asked to describe what is functional about the current food system and to create a vision for a food system in Skagit County that would provide easy access to healthy foods. Audio recordings and detailed notes were analyzed and coded into emergent themes. Mind maps were used to visually represent themes in three main areas: what is working currently, barriers to healthy food access, and participant visions for the future. Listening session results were presented to local stakeholders to inform a planning process for a comprehensive response to improving healthy food access in Skagit County.

1. Mapping Listening Session Responses from Low Income Consumers
Diane Smith MS, RD; Rita Ordonez MA, Erica Lamson MPH, RD, IBCLC
ABSTRACT
Access to healthy and affordable food, while central to a vibrant
community, is a concern for many households in Skagit County facing
hunger and under-nutrition. Skagit Food for Skagit People (SFSP) is a
year-long USDA/NIFA-funded Community Food Planning project with
the goal of bringing together food system stakeholders to develop and
promote a comprehensive response to local food access, farm and
nutrition issues in Skagit County. Often missing from conversations
about food access is the voice of the low-income consumer. A key
component of this project was to actively engage the low-income
consumer in 6 listening sessions conducted in demographically distinct
areas of Skagit County. Using Appreciate Inquiry, participants were
asked to describe what is functional about the current food system and
to create a vision for a food system in Skagit County that would provide
easy access to healthy foods. Audio recordings and detailed notes were
analyzed and coded into emergent themes. Mind maps were used to
visually represent themes in three main areas: what is working
currently, barriers to healthy food access, and participant visions for
the future. Listening session results were presented to local
stakeholders to inform a planning process for. a comprehensive
response to improving healthy food access in Skagit County
METHODS
• Six listening sessions were held in geographically distinct, low-income
areas of Skagit County.
• In each area, a relevant community space and host was identified. The
host was well-known to community members, provided a familiar point
of contact for participants and coordinated recruitment. Hosts included
project steering committee members, food bank directors, church
pastors, and life skills teachers. Each host was provided with
recruitment materials and instructions.
• Listening sessions, one in Spanish and five in English, were conducted
by a trained facilitator and included at least two note takers. Spanish
notes were translated into English for data analysis.
• Sessions were facilitated using an Appreciative Inquiry (AI).
Participants were asked 3 questions:
1. What is currently working about how you get food?
2. What would it look like if getting healthy food was easy?
3. What can be done to make your vision a reality?
• Participants received a $20 grocery store gift card for participating. A
light meal was served during the discussion.
• 54 individuals participated. Of those participants,
• 72% used food assistance in the past year, and
• 35% skipped or cut back on a meal because there was insufficient
money to buy food.
• All group conversations were recorded and detailed notes were taken.
Audio recordings and written notes were analyzed for emergent
themes.
• To improve validity, written notes were provided to all session hosts
and following data analysis, the coding structure was discussed with
SFSP steering committee members, most of whom attended at least one
listening session.
IMPLICATIONS
The implications of this work are multifaceted. Directly applicable to the
local community health assessment process, information gathered can
help to identify priorities, develop food security/food access programs and
guide transportation planning. Lessons learned and findings can also be
used to inform regional and state level community planning efforts,
support vision statements and align health strategies and priorities at the
local and state levels.
For further information, please contact Diane Smith at diane.smith@wsu.edu 360-428-4270, ext 235.
The Skagit Food for Skagit People is funded in part by the USDA NIFA Grant Number: 2014-33800-22341. This project has been funded at least in part with Federal funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The contents of this publication do not necessarily reflect
the view or policies of the of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.”
CONCLUSIONS
• Wider food system stakeholders were engaged in the process through
two all-day meetings and were kept informed by discussion, listserv
and email newsletters. Some stakeholders expressed an interest in
working on programs to address need. Others were interested in
creating a local food policy council to align efforts with the Washington
State Food System Roundtable.
• The act of convening people in listening sessions and stakeholder
meetings created new connections. This generated a ripple effect
which led to additional healthy food access activities outside the
immediate scope of this project.
• The AI approach surfaced community-driven solutions to community-
level problems and allowed discussions to remain focused on solutions
rather than becoming mired in barriers. Barriers did surface
organically in each discussion, and facilitation was required to keep the
discussion solutions-focused.
• A strategy to engage low-income consumers in the process beyond the
initial listening session is needed. Questions include: How to create
community of belonging? How to build community when you are
calling out a group based on economic status? Future efforts need to
employ strategies which build on community capital and create deeper
community involvement.
Figure 1: Action areas identified by listening session participants to improve healthy food access in Skagit County
Figure 2: Definition and supporting quotes for each action area identified by listening session participants
RESULTS
• In addition to visioning the future, participants identified five methods
that currently facilitate access to healthy food: 1) home gardening; 2)
smart shopping (using coupons, bulk buying, etc.); 3) cooperative
systems (trading garden produce, transportation sharing to food
outlets); 4) being in an agricultural area; and 5) food banks operating a
shopping model.
• Participants also identified four main barriers to accessing healthy
food: 1) limited availability at food banks (long lines, limited hours, lack
of produce and/or culturally appropriate foods) and farmers markets
(limited hours and expense); 2) food is expensive (higher cost of healthy
food and lack of sufficient food assistance); 3) transportation (high cost
of personal vehicle and limited public transportation options); and 4)
no space to garden.
• Figure 1 uses a mind map to display the actions needed to increase
access to healthy food as visioned by participants.
• Figure 2 provides further explanation for each primary action area and
highlights salient participant quotes from the sessions.