Marty Jacobson of META Associates shares his evaluation of AFSC New Mexico work funded by the Kellogg Foundation. AFSC New Mexico
The AFSC New Mexico evaluation sharing took place May 22 at the Barelas Community Center in Albuquerque. Fifteen people – including community members, AFSC NM Program Advisory Committee (PAC) members, and AFSC staff – enjoyed a wonderfully catered dinner of local food.
Marty Jacobson, an evaluator with META Associates, shared preliminary data and participants’ comments regarding AFSC NM work over the past two years as funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. His evaluation was based on surveys, focus groups, and one-on-one interviews with farmers, teachers, partners, and members of AFSC NM's Program Advisory Committee.
AFSC’s work addresses six goals: Farm to Early Childhood Education (ECE); Farmer Gatherings; Policy Advocacy; Water Rights; Technical Support; and Resolanas (or dynamic processes of thought and action).
Example of comments from the evaluation
Regarding Farm to ECE, one teacher said: “This is a perfect activity for my class. It was hands-on fine motor and introducing new vegetables to them. Children love the way the peas tasted, and they also love planting and getting their hands dirty as they planted their beans.”
Regarding an AFSC Farmer Appreciation event, another person shared: “This was my first interaction [with AFSC]. I do love the idea of this event for farmers to recharge, share space, and chat with other farmers. Looking forward to learning more about AFSC's programs and how we can lean on them if needed.”
Why is it important to share our evaluation?
A lot of organizations, universities and institutions do work in the community that may not benefit the community. The knowledge and insights gained from those projects are not shared back. Sometimes this work can have an extractive quality. They’re taking knowledge or information from the community that’s not shared back – and this is information that could be used by community members.
AFSC New Mexico is intentional about doing this work in relationship with people. We acknowledge our partners have a lot to offer and teach us -- and we want to make sure that we don’t hoard or keep that information to ourselves. We want to share that knowledge and acknowledge where it came from and who it belongs to. It belongs to the community, which can take it and apply it to their work.
At the evaluation sharing, I mentioned that we don’t work with one farmer just because he’s cool – which his kids laughed at, because he is a cool guy. But we work with him because he gets stuff done. He doesn’t just talk. He grows a lot of food for his community. He sells a lot, and he gives a lot away.
The reason we want these relationships is because we want our program to amplify what the community is already doing. AFSC is so fortunate to partner with such amazing people – that’s what makes our work good.
They showed up on a Wednesday night because they’re big supporters. These community events help not only chart our progress but reinforce our relationships.
