The SEED Sliding Scale Community Food Markets

Abstract

This report presents the findings of research conducted by CESI’s Community Engaged Teaching and Learning Project in partnership with the SEED. The goal of this research was to investigate the impacts of the SEED Community Food Markets on levels of food insecurity among community food market customers. The study used online and in-person surveys to examine how the markets’ sliding scale pricing system impacted customers’ food insecurity levels across a range of key aspects of food access. The report provides a general description of SEED, followed by a discussion of the research findings. The report concludes with a discussion of conclusions and potential next steps in addressing food insecurity. The findings from this report suggest that the SEED’s sliding-scale Community Food Markets demonstrate a substantial and impressive impact on community food insecurity. The SEED is committed to sharing its findings and model with organizations from other communities so that they can also achieve these significant outcomes.