University of Minnesota, Duluth
AgEcon Search - Research in Agricultural & Applied EconomicsNot a member yet
211830 research outputs found
Sort by
Food Safety and Food Security: Mapping Relationships
No full textFood safety regulations designed for industrial-scale food producers can create insurmountable challenges when applied to small-scale food producers. These challenges can make for a frustrating environment for food consumers, producers, and regulators, at times leading to tensions between food producers and people working in food safety. The objective of this study was to identify ways to reduce these tensions and promote intersectoral collaboration. We used concept mapping, a structured, participatory, mixed-method approach, to solicit ideas and synthesize input from those working in food safety and food security. We sent invitations to 96 individuals working in food safety or food security, and 50 completed the online concept mapping. Twenty-three participated in categorizing and ranking all the resulting statements. The findings were 'mapped' into six clusters: (1) communicating, (2) understanding intent, (3) educating, (4) understanding risk and regulation, (5) recognizing scale, and (6) enhancing partnerships. We further reduced these six clusters into three categories: "relationships," "education," and "context." Although there are no quick or easy ways to ease tensions between those working in food safety and food security, we suggest four practical ways to ease tensions to ensure safe and accessible food: (1) a collaborative group at a high regulatory level that shares authority is needed; (2) building relationships across disciplines should be considered as part of public health work; (3) regulatory documents should be written in plain language; and (4) food safety regulations should account for differences in scale of production with supportive resourcing.
See the press release for this article
Anchors in a Globalizing World
No full textFirst paragraph:In the slender volume Awakening Community Intelligence, journalist and long-time community supported agriculture (CSA) advocate Steven McFadden argues for the exponential expansion of CSAs. In the face of profound, disruptive challenges in the 21st century—climate change, resource depletion, geopolitical instability—McFadden believes CSAs have the potential to become "community cornerstones" that provide "key points of stability and orientation" (p. 20). In ten very short chapters, McFadden unfolds his vision of this potential and issues a call to action.A "cornerstone" is the central metaphor around which McFadden organizes his vision. Drawn from the craft of stone masonry, the cor-nerstone is "the base upon which other stones are set and the building takes its form" (p. 9). That base, as we look at CSA, is a specific plot of farmland with tangible connections to the natural cycles of life and to which shareholders and farmers freely tie their fates together in forms of reciprocity: the community of shareholders taking care of farmers while farmers take care of the land and nourish the community. These are the sturdy cornerstones. But McFadden's notion of community cornerstones is bigger and more dynamic than the world the stone mason metaphor conjures. It is the cosmic, scintillating image on the cover, he tells us, that captures his vision. With the help of digital networking, CSAs could become a "network of light-giving impulses"; they could serve as "a model for a dynamic, far-flung, and intelligent network of nodes" in which "community intelligence" and "land-based intelligence" is awakened (p. 10). Anchored and networked and intelligently sparking, CSAs, he thinks, can bridge the gap between the personal and the global, becoming worldwide nodes of "environmental and human health consciously woven into a network of associations" (p. 68)...
Bridging the Rural-Urban Divide for Local Economic Development in Nekemte and its Hinterlands, Oromia, Ethiopia
No full textThis study explores some of the challenges to strengthening rural-urban linkages for local economic development in the Guto Gidda district of Oromia Region, Ethiopia. Participants were selected from farmers, traders, small-scale processors of maize and niger seed, and government officials using a snowball sampling technique. The primary data gathered related to flows of agricultural produce (maize and niger seed), people, and market information between the actors in agricultural products at Nekemte town and its hinterlands. The information was collected using interviews. Results indicated that despite the enabling policy of the government to facilitate rural-urban linkages, the linkages in the district remain weak as far as their capacity to improve the overall local economies. Diversification of economic activities is therefore used as a temporary strategy to reduce poverty, but it is a stop-gap venture rather than a strategy that could improve the income of the community at large. In this study, I recommend that investments in rural feeder roads, improved provision of rural microfinance and access to market information, and ensuring affordable agricultural inputs would improve rural-urban linkages and thus lead to stronger local economic development.
See the press release for this article
A Nested Approach to the Right to Food: Food Security, Gender Violence, and Human Rights
No full textFirst paragraph:The six contributed chapters in Gender, Nutrition, and the Human Right to Adequate Food: An Inclusive Framework bring public policy, political economy, and gender equity together to create an inclusive framework for food system reform. Uniting human rights, gender discrimination, and food sovereignty, the book offers a comprehensive analysis of the complex intersections between food and nutritional justice, as well as structural poverty and violence. The text is a product of the collaborative effort between the Gender Nutrition Rights (GNR) university-based research group and two international nongovernmental organizations, FIAN International and the Geneva Infant Feeding Association (GIFA), as part of ongoing efforts to “contribute to the capacity and momentum for action and human rights enforceability through the full engagement and self-determination of all women and men in the pursuit of nutritional well-being, with human dignity” (p. xxix). Together, the analyses presented in Gender, Nutrition, and the Human Right to Adequate Food add necessary depth to the consideration of patterns in food insecurity and gender violence, barriers to the full realization of a human right to food, and structural disconnects in the theory and practice of gender security and nutritional access
CULTIVATING COMIDA: Cacao Fields and Dairy Cows: The Interdependencies between Mexican Workers and the U.S. Food System
No full textFirst paragraph:The tamales that Miguel[1] pulled out of the large steamer pot as we sat down for our first interview in the summer of 2015 were a welcome treat as my stomach rumbled to remind me it had been several hours since my last meal. Wrapped in aluminum foil because banana leaves are difficult to find in the rural countryside of northern Vermont, these tamales connected Miguel to the foodways of his home in Tabasco, Mexico. In his early 40s, Miguel is one of the 1,000 to 1,200 farmworkers from Latin American laboring in the state’s dairy industry. He first arrived in 2011 to secure the year-round employment that the industry promises and has worked at two farms during this time. Supporting his wife and five children, who remain at home in Tabasco, he has only returned home once in the past six years, though he makes it a point to speak with them by phone at least once a day. For 70 hours or more each week, Miguel works in a milking parlor at one of Vermont’s larger dairies, a form of agricultural labor very different than tending the cacao fields of his extended family in Mexico....[1] Per Internal Review Board guidelines, all names have been changed
Bridging Crop Diversity and Market Development in the Northeast Grain Renaissance
No full textThe local food movement has grown significantly over the past several years, producing and marketing fresh fruits and vegetables, and meat and dairy. Recently there has been a push in the Northeastern U.S. to grow small grains, primarily high-protein wheat varieties for baking bread and for malting barley for brewing and distilling, for local and regional markets. University researchers, nonprofit organizations, and government institutions are supporting this advance in the regional food system by working with farmers to increase production of these crops and develop markets for their sale. This paper argues that these farming systems, starting with the early stages of field crop production work, should include diverse crop rotations that will provide farmers with multiple revenue streams, improve soil quality, and reduce the incidence and severity of pest outbreaks. Consumers in the existing and developing regional grain market will benefit from increased availability of fresh, flavorful, and healthy grains, beans, and oilseeds. The paper draws connections between the farming, research, and market-development communities that are working toward improved farm biodiversity
From Civic Group to Advocacy Coalition: Using a Food Policy Audit as a Tool for Change
No full text‘Food democracy’ suggests that building a policy environment within which a community food system can thrive relies on a politically engaged citizenry. Across North America, civic-oriented groups are conducting grass-roots projects to develop community food systems. Projects are addressing issues such as local food security, healthy food access, and agriculture economic development. Local governments are paying increasing attention to this new policy arena; however, policy environments that support these projects are often lacking. Using the advocacy coalition framework (ACF), this paper presents the case of Franklin County, Ohio to illustrate how a civically-oriented group transitioned into an advocacy coalition. A food policy audit was used as a tool to develop technical knowledge that translated the Franklin County Local Food Council’s mission and objectives to political asks, resulting in a policy agenda. Through the audit process, the council identified and secured additional coalition members and increased the local governance capacity to create a healthy food policy environment. The ACF provides evidence-based framework that can be used elsewhere to evaluate the policy readiness of an FPC. Further, from a practical standpoint, I further the discussion about the utility of a local food policy audit
Farmers' Perspectives on the Adoption and Impacts of Nutrition Incentive and Farm to School Programs
No full textRecent increases in consumer demand for local food have resulted in more opportunities for food to be purchased in close proximity to where it is produced. However, local markets can be challenging retail outlets for farmers and not uniformly affordable and accessible to all consumers. Farmers market nutrition incentive (FMNI) and farm to school (F2S) programs are two community-based initiatives that support farmers while simultaneously lessening the burden of local food access for lower income populations. In this study, we explore farmer perceptions, barriers to adoption, and impacts of FMNI and F2S programs. A survey was developed based on the Diffusion of Innovations theory to assess (1) the key factors that influence adoption of FMNI and F2S programs; (2) farmer perceptions of the most significant barriers to program adoption; and (3) the influence of non-economic impacts on farmers’ motivation to participate in those programs. A total of 155 Mid-Atlantic fruit and vegetable farmers completed the survey. Participating farmers perceived FMNI and F2S as providing advantageous social impact and various economic opportunities. However, participants and non-participants had differing perspectives on program complexity, compatibility with their business model, and the degree to which others have succeeded when participating. The most significant barriers relate to issues with product pricing, customer engagement, and logistics. Three-quarters of farmers ranked social/community impacts as most important to them. A deeper understanding of farmers’ involvement in FMNI and F2S programs will help address barriers and modify program components to increase economic, social/community, and environmental impacts
Farm to Childcare: An Analysis of Social and Economic Values in Local Food Systems
No full textFarm to institution is a component of the local food movement, representing the growing link between local producers and organizations like schools, prisons, and hospitals. These are organizations that have concentrated buying power and thus a sizable influence on local food supply chains. Farm to childcare represents a next step in farm to institution, serving young children at the apex of their habit formation and biological development, and providing economic opportunities for local farmers. Using a qualitative case study methodology in one urban county in North Carolina, this paper asks the questions: (1) How do childcare centers, farmers, and distributors negotiate the tensions between social and financial values in the farm-to-childcare initiative? and (2) What strategies do these supply chain actors use to overcome barriers? Analyzing the perceptions of participation in a farm-to-childcare project of 11 childcare centers, 11 farmers, and four distributors shows parallel values for children’s health and community connections to farmers actualized in the relationships and purchase of local foods. However, market-driven values and actions dominated the supply chain for all participants when business solvency seemed to be in opposition to central social commitments. Childcare centers and nonprofit distributors subsidized local food purchases with inexpensive, nonlocal food and grant funding, respectively. Many farmers preferred expressing social values through noncommercial activities rather than sacrificing economic viability to participate in socially oriented programs. This study suggests that achieving the social goals of farm-to-childcare programs requires creative strategies, such as coordinating sales of smaller than Grade A produce, purchasing from multiple local sources, and aggregating demand from multiple centers.
See the press release for this article
Leading Food Dignity: Why Us?
No full textFirst paragraph:
Together, Christine Porter, Gayle Woodsum, and Monica Hargraves led the action and research project called Food Dignity to its close, seven years after it began in 2011. Though playing this role could not be a surprise for Christine, who was principal investigator, the three of us doing it together was not part of the original leadership plan. In this three-voiced essay, we aim to answer the question, “Why us?”...
See the press release for this article