The Farmers Market Food Navigator Program

The Farmers Market Food Navigator Program partners with market managers interested in hosting a Food Navigator in their markets. Fourteen farmers markets in Michigan met the key eligibility criteria (located in SNAP-Ed eligible census tract, accept SNAP benefits, have produce vendors) and adopted the program for at least one of the last four seasons (May-October). Over four years, food navigators have had over 30,000 interactions with shoppers, and to improve the intervention's reach, the barriers that prevent low-income populations from shopping at markets were accounted for during the development and testing of the program. For instance, the community outreach component of the program promotes food assistance benefits and welcomes the community to the market for individual tours. Furthermore, collaborations with market managers and vendors can address PSE-related approaches regarding the welcoming nature and racial/ethnic diversity of markets, as well as any transportation barriers. Lastly, resources and nutrition education were developed to help shoppers try new produce items and recipes. 

Settings: Farmers markets

Age/Population Group: Parents/Caregivers, Adults, Older Adults

Race: All

Ethnicity: All

The Farmers Market Food Navigator Program includes four interconnected components. The first component is to conduct community outreach to build awareness of farmers markets and increase awareness of the food assistance programs available. This is important to start early and continue throughout the season to drive new shoppers with low resources to the market. The second component is to work with farmers market managers and vendors to implement policy, systems, and environmental changes that are supportive of healthy behaviors and help shoppers know that markets have affordable fresh food and food assistance programs. The third component is to help shoppers effectively leverage their food budgets at farmers markets through tours that may include introductions to vendors, tips, and support from Food Navigators. The last component is to provide recipes, resources and experiential nutrition education to shoppers, including tastings and cooking demonstrations, aligned with the produce being sold at the markets. 

The Farmers Market Food Navigator program offers:

• Program Playbook
• Recipes
• Recipe website promotion cards for sharing additional recipes with shoppers
• Seasonality Poster for produce items listed by month
• Food Navigator apparel
• Identifying table runner
• Shopper behavior surveys with items aligned with the SNAP-Ed Evaluation Framework
• Customized paid social media posts
• Customized on-day food navigator training
• Evaluation and reporting services

To evaluate the program, Food Navigators completed logs for each day they were in the market, and this revealed where Food Navigators needed more support on understanding and implementing program components. Additionally, shopper surveys verified the types of interactions they had with Food Navigators and identified the additional resources/interactions they desired. Market manager surveys similarly helped confirm the types of activities Food Navigators were conducting in markets, as well as understand their suggestions for program revision and potential impact. Vendor surveys described the frequency and types of interactions vendors had with food navigators and their perceptions of program impact. Additionally, the Public Health Institute operated as the external program evaluator from 2016-2019 during the development and testing phases to reduce bias and gain additional insight. Overall, outcomes aligned with program objectives and the SNAP-Ed Evaluation Framework. Specifically, after interacting with the Food Navigator, shoppers (n=762) reported intentions to shop at a farmers market (70%), eat a variety of vegetables (50%), eat more vegetables (47%), buy more vegetables (45%), and eat new vegetables (38%). Among shoppers surveyed who interacted with the Food Navigator more than one time (n=133), 29% reported a higher frequency of vegetable consumption between their first and last survey. Shoppers at intervention farmers markets (n=122) were statistically significantly more confident in using their food assistance benefits (p=0.04) and talking to vendors (p=0.03) than shoppers at comparison markets (n=57). Overall, outcomes are aligned with program objectives and the SNAP-Ed Evaluation Framework.

The unintended benefits of the intervention include:

• Market vendors feeling more connected to the market due to the open line of communication with the Food Navigators
• The overall acceptance of the program by vendors

The challenges include:

• Market criteria and selection is key to success for the program (e.g. the market should have enough produce vendors from whom to buy ingredients and have a schedule broad enough for residents working different schedules to have access to the market)
• Community outreach through social media promotion can be difficult if the market doesn't currently have an online profile to build from

Lessons learned from feedback include recipes for tastings/demonstrations should be adapted to how food is purchased in a farmers market. For instance, corn listed in ears instead of cups. Recommendations include having market selection criterion and successful recipes for use in farmers markets located in the program Playbook.

Evidence Base: Research-tested

Based on the SNAP-Ed Evaluation Framework, the following outcome indicators can be used to evaluate intervention progress and success.

ST1. Healthy Eating

• In 2019, 47% (354/762) of shoppers reported intentions to eat more vegetables as a result of their interaction with the Food Navigator.
• In 2019, 50% (377/762) of shoppers reported intentions to eat a greater variety of vegetables after interacting with the Food Navigator.

MT1. Healthy Eating Behaviors

• In 2019, 29% (38/133) of shoppers who interacted with the Food Navigator more than once reported a higher frequency of vegetable consumption between their first and last survey completed.

MT2. Food Resource Management

• MT2f: In 2019, 45% (346/762) of shoppers reported buying more vegetables as a result of their interactions with the Food Navigator.

MT5. Nutrition Supports

• In 2019, all (7/7) farmers markets had a paid social media promotion campaign and used organic social media posts to promote the market and food navigator activities.
• Google analytics determined the 128,066 the unique people were exposed to the formal promotion campaign in the seven market areas.

The program includes a suite of mixed-methods evaluation.

Other evaluation tools used during the establishment of the evidence base can be shared with program adopters. The suite of mixed methods tools are listed below:

• Interview guide for market managers, market vendors, and market board members
• Interview guide for farmers market shoppers
• Focus group guide for farmers market food navigators
• Photo Voice Project for farmers market food navigators
• Observational Survey tool, Farmers Market Audit Tool adapted from Byker Shanks, C. Jilcott Pitts, S., & Gustafson, A. (2015)
• Activity Log for Farmers Market Food Navigators
• PSE change survey tool
• End of Season Survey for farmers market managers
• End of Season Survey for farmers market vendors
• End of Season Survey for farmers market food navigators
• Training Follow-Up survey for farmers market food navigators
• Mid-season check-in surveys for Food Navigators
• Shopper intercept survey for use in intervention and comparison markets
• Observation form for supervisors of Food Navigators

Website: The Farmers Market Food Navigator website includes an overview of the program and stakeholder reviews, as well as describes its importance and impact on shoppers.

Contact Person(s):

Teresa Zwemer

Phone: 800-434-8642

Email: resources@michiganfitness.org  

*Updated as of October 2, 2023