One farm-to-food bank success in FFY16 has been the development of a SNAP-accepting CSA at the Honor Health Desert Mission Food Bank, which is a SNAP-Ed subcontractor to the Maricopa County Department of Public Health. SNAP shoppers, as well as employees from Honor Health, John C. Lincoln Medical Center, and the food bank, were able to purchase $25 worth of produce on each CSA distribution day from Crooked Sky Farms. Because the farm was not able to accept SNAP, the food bank coordinated SNAP payments for the CSA shares at their cash registers and the farm was later reimbursed. In addition, CSA shares that were not picked up on distribution days were donated to the food bank. Through the CSA partnership, 1,056 pounds of surplus produce has been donated to the Desert Mission Food Bank in addition to the farm’s regular donation of crop surpluses (approximately 36,000 pounds last year).
