NorthPoint provides more food to more people while saving money
When the NorthPoint Health & Wellness Center Food Shelf moved into a building on its main campus next to medical, dental, and behavioral health services, demand soared.
The food shelf is serving 3,000 more people and distributing 113,000 pounds more food in the first half of 2024 compared to the last half of 2023. At the same time, using a Food Sourcing Analysis Report provided by FFEN, the food shelf reduced its costs by one-third.
“The population we serve looks different, the amount of people we serve looks different,” said Marissa Elliott, director of outreach and health initiatives for NorthPoint. “We’ve been working with FFEN this whole time to talk about how we can improve our operations and where there might be some gaps and opportunities.”
“So much of what we’re doing was just reactionary to what we were seeing. Once we had the reports it helped put things into perspective.”
-Marissa Elliott, NorthPoint
Northpoint has been working with FFEN to receive Food Sourcing Analysis Reports. This flagship service of FFEN’s offers food shelves a snapshot of the mix of food at their location, how food shelf dollars are spent and recommendations on how to stretch them further. In Northpoint’s case, there is enough data to provide trend lines.
“So much of what we’re doing was just reactionary to what we were seeing,” Elliott said. “Once we had the reports it helped put things into perspective.”
The reports have helped Elliott think through the organization’s food purchasing. Historically, she said, the food shelf was providing a lot of non-perishable items. Elliott said they have worked hard over the past year to focus on ordering the foods that research shows are most important to food shelf shoppers. Those foods include fresh produce, meat, eggs, and dairy.
Using the analysis data, she said staff and volunteers have been focused on supplying those most important foods and now, 66% of the foods the food shelf orders fall into those categories. That is higher than the statewide median of 56%.
“We prioritize what we’re ordering and consider the costs so we’re a much more efficient operation and most importantly, we’re giving people more of what they actually want,” Elliott said.
She went on to say that though they are making progress in swapping out things like sugar cereal for produce, the latest report highlighted some trends she didn’t anticipate.
With the help of a customized Food Sourcing Analysis Report and Consultation
Northpoint:
* Clarifies priorities for food ordering, considering data, instead of reacting to the
look of the shelves.
* Studies its food purchasing history and opted to focus on fresh foods instead of
non-perishables.
* Focuses on supplying the most important foods as identified in the Minnesota
Food Shelf Survey.
* Maximizes its food rescue relationships and TEFAP orders to free up dollars to
spend on those most important foods while continuing to supply a variety of food.
“Sometimes it seems it’s a small choice to be ordering strawberry jelly every week and then when you see it as a six- month choice it becomes a really big choice,” she said. “It gave us a different lens to think through what our operations are.”
She also said the report showed places they could be sourcing food from to make their budget more sustainable.
“We weren’t using food rescue to supplement our TEFAP (the emergency food assistance program that distributes U.S. Department of Agriculture foods to food shelves) or purchased food,” she said. “Food rescue can be a really substantial food flow for us to be counting on.”
Over time, she said, the food shelf increased its food rescue partnerships. Food rescue is food that is still edible but can no longer be sold in stores. Northpoint went from picking up food at stores three days a week to six days a week.
“That’s helping with pieces of the budget,” she said.
Additionally, the report showed Elliott that the food shelf had a dip in the amount of food it received using TEFAP. As she onboards a new food shelf manager, she said, they will discuss the strategy around ordering TEFAP foods to ensure the food shelf is taking better advantage of available foods and resources.
As Elliott continues to make changes at the food shelf, she has taken part in FFEN’s Fresh Food First cohort to ensure she is getting fresh food into food shelf shopper’s hands. She has worked with FFEN staff to think about their new location strategically and creatively to move more people through. And, she has turned to FFEN to help with organizational and staffing decisions.
“It has helped us make better decisions,” Elliott said. “The more you know the better you do – (FFEN) helps us make informed decisions that are data-driven.”
Photos courtesy of David Pierini, North News
