LiveWell Longmont Food Assessment Focus Group Process – City of Longmont
Welcome! (3 minutes)
Please welcome the participants, invite them to grab some food, let them know where the restrooms are, pick up a participant consent sheet, and fill out a name tag with their first name only! Briefly introduce yourself and Katie Bauer.
Briefly inform them of the purpose of the evening: “this focus group conversation is being held on behalf of LiveWell Longmont, a community initiative funded by LiveWell Colorado. LiveWell Colorado aims to provide every Coloradoan with access to healthy foods and opportunities for physical activity in the places they live, work, learn and play. We are all here to talk more about the food we eat, where we get it, and how we make decisions about the food we get and eat. Your feedback is very important to us!!”
Disclosure Form & Confidentiality (10 minutes)
Before you start, make sure everyone understands how this process works and make sure they all agree to participate and be audio recorded. Remember – YOU need to sign the forms as well!
Have everyone get out their disclosure form and briefly walk through them with participants. Make sure everyone signs one and fills out the participant information section (if they are comfortable).
Inform participants that you will be an audio recording the session (unless there is an objection) and taking notes to make an accurate record of what is said. If the group does not want to participate with the recording, then it is not required (though strongly recommended so that we don’t miss anything important)
Most critical to inform the group of is the importance of keeping information discussed in the focus group confidential. Ask each participant to verbally agree to keep everything discussed in the room confidential and remind them at the end of the group not to discuss the material outside of the group.
Inform the group of our confidentiality by saying something like this:
“Our notes and the information you provide us in this project will be kept confidential. Only the staff involved in this project will have access to the information we collect. No one else will see your responses. We will only report summarized results, so your identity will be unknown. We will not disclose any information that can be identified with you, nor connect your name to any information we present. Your decision whether or not to participate will not affect any services you now receive or will receive at the City of Longmont.”
Who is LiveWell Longmont? (3 minutes)
Longmont became a LiveWell community in early 2008 through an extensive grant process. The Longmont YMCA serves as the fiscal agent of this grant and houses the sole employee of LiveWell Longmont – Melissa Trecoske Houghton. A steering committee comprised of various community leaders provides guidance and direction for LiveWell Longmont. There are many opportunities (as an individual or as a business) to become involved in this initiative including participation in the LiveWell Longmont Coalition and its task forces. One way we are asking you for your participation is to answer questions about food issues in our community.
What is a Food Assessment? (5 minutes)
Talk to the group more about the food assessment, why we are doing it, etc. Some things you might want to say include:
· To inform LiveWell Longmont’s 2010 strategies and to provide our partners with more information to guide their work, we are conducting a community food assessment.
· A food assessment is a powerful way to tell the story of what’s happening with food in our community based on what you and other community members tell us. Food assessments examine a broad range of food related problems and successes to improve our community’s food system. Through such assessments, interested community members can work together to research what is happening with our community’s food system, to communicate those findings, and to support policy changes based on those findings. (see attached overview from Community Food Security Coalition)
· A food assessment process can take well over a year, so to inform the LiveWell Longmont 2010 grant application (due November 2nd), we are prioritizing focus groups and interviews this summer and fall to learn more about what Longmont consumers, retailers, low-income populations, and others think about our food, how they make decisions about the food they eat and where they buy it and more.
· For now, we are talking to large food retailers, small food retailers, restaurants, low-income consumers, older adults, busy adults/families, food distributors, and others.
· Later, in the winter and spring, we will conduct large public meetings and a broader community survey.
· We hope to learn more about consumer needs and desires, and what else affects the decisions you make about where you get food and what food you choose. We would be happy to share the results of our findings with you.
· Your confidential feedback will be used in a variety of ways. It will directly inform the 2010 LiveWell Longmont grant application and our strategies relating to healthy eating. Your ideas will be used to develop a much broader survey that we will send out to the entire Longmont community, and we will develop a summary report of our findings that you can find on our website this winter. We also hope to hold larger community forums throughout the winter and we will be sharing our findings then as well. (You can say this at the end of the group if that makes more sense).
· NOTE to facilitator: See attached timeline, glossary, & food assessment goals if they have any further questions.
Introductions (5 minutes)
Please lead a round of introductions. Remind people not to use their last names! They can briefly share why they are interested in participating. Provide participants with a time limit or limit introductions to one or two sentences.
Introduce yourself, your title, and your role in the project. Let people know that your role as facilitator is to: a) keep the group focused, b) maintain momentum and c) get closure on questions.
Encourage them to ask you any questions. If they have any questions about LiveWell Longmont or would like to get more involved, they can contact the coordinator Mellissa Trecoske Houghton at 720-652-4721. Hand out Melissa’s cards, and write up the LiveWell Longmont website on a flip chart.
Remind people to enjoy the food!
Ground Rules (2 minutes)
First of all, there are no right or wrong answers to the questions that will be raised in the group; the important thing is for everyone to share their experience and opinions. (or share whatever ground rules you are most comfortable with)
The goal is of this session is to hear and explore different ideas and perspectives, not to come to consensus about something.
We all agree to listen actively -- respect others when they are talking.
We all agree to participate actively – to share our ideas and thoughts with the group.
We all agree to confidentiality – nothing will be documented that links statements to individuals.
Focus Group Questions (1 hour)
Allotted Time / Question / Notes5 minutes / 1. Where do you (or your household) get most of your food?
a. How do you typically get there?
b. Are there other places that you sometimes get food that we have not mentioned yet?
10 minutes / 2. How do you decide where to get your food?
a. Probe about all aspects of “access” if they do not mention them, e.g., how does transportation/ affordability/ cultural relevancy/ nutrition play a role?
20 minutes
(these are the most critical questions; we want these prompts addressed) / 3. Where else would you like to get food?
a. What are the reasons you do not currently get foods at these places?
b. What might make it easier for you?
c. What other transportation options would make it easier for you?
d. If this is of interest to you, what might enable or encourage you to buy more foods grown locally, such as shopping at the Longmont Farmers’ Market?
15 minutes / 4. How do you decide what foods to eat?
a. What foods would you like to eat more of?
b. What would make it easier or more appealing for you to eat those foods?
10 minutes
(use prompts only if needed) / 5. What concerns do you have about your food, or food you would want to purchase?
a. What concerns do you have about the safety of the food?
b. What concerns do you have about your ability to prepare and cook the food you have?
c. What might alleviate those concerns?
5 minutes / 6. What other questions should we be asking about?
3 minutes / 7. We would like to follow up with you, and to share our findings and next steps with you. How best should we communicate with you? Email? Phone? Certain days/times? Post the results on a website?
Closing: (3-5 minutes)
Thank you very much for your participation!! Your ideas and thoughts will help shape LiveWell Longmont’s work in 2010, as well as help services for low-income individuals to better understand how to meet your needs and interests! Do you have any further questions about our process?
Reminder – if you would like to be more involved with LiveWell Longmont or to track our progress with this food assessment, please contact us!
LiveWell Longmont Food Assessment Focus Groups Page 1 of 6