University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service student, Krystle Chipman, conducted research for So All May Eat (SAME) Café, on the impact its services have on patrons, in order to sustain and expand their mission in the community.
Krystle Chipman of San Jose, CA spent the fall of 2013 surveying a total of 330 SAME Café customers and volunteers, collecting information about their demographics and the extent to which SAME Café was meeting its goals. The non-profit café strives to increase accessibility and affordability to healthy and local food choices in the community to all, regardless of socio-economic status.
“SAME Cafe has been trying to collect data on our customers and volunteers for years now. We have never had the time or available resources to dedicate to the project,” said Libby Birky, a co-founder of SAME Café. “The information collected is invaluable to our internal use but it is also very informative for funding organizations and has informed many critical decisions for SAME Café.”
In addition to synthesizing collected data into an evaluation report, Chipman developed a study on the feasibility of SAME Café procuring a food truck to serve local food deserts. A food desert is typically defined as a low-income neighborhood, in which the majority of residents don’t have easy and affordable access to nutritious food. Food deserts in Denver and across the country are gaining attention as the correlation between food deserts in low-income neighborhoods and high rates of chronic diseases have sharply increased.
Chipman presented the evaluation report and the feasibility study to SAME Café in early January 2014. The feasibility study showed that procurement of a food truck would be a viable venture, based on results from the evaluation report, the multitude of partnerships the non-profit already has with local farmers and organizations in the community, a strong and faithful volunteer base, and extensive research regarding the procurement and operation of a food truck business.
This project was completed as part of Chipman’s Capstone project, the third and final field project in the Master of Public Service degree program.
About SAME Café:
SAME Café is the first non-profit restaurant in Denver, Colorado, dedicated to “serving good food for the greater good” since 2006. Running on a “pay what you want” system, there is no set or suggested prices and diners are encouraged to pay what they feel their meal is worth by putting their contribution in a donation box. If a diner does not have sufficient money to pay, they are encouraged to volunteer at SAME Café in exchange for their meal.
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