SERA47: Local and Regional Food Systems Extension and Research: network development, emerging issues and policy development

(Multistate Research Coordinating Committee and Information Exchange Group)

Status: Active

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SAES-422 Reports

Annual/Termination Reports:

[02/15/2021] [02/14/2023] [02/12/2024]

Date of Annual Report: 02/15/2021

Report Information

Annual Meeting Dates: 12/13/2021 - 12/15/2021
Period the Report Covers: 12/01/2020 - 12/14/2021

Participants

The registrant breakdown is as follows:
● 1862 Land Grant: 48
● 1890 Land Grant: 25
● 1994 Land Grant: 1
● Non-Land Grant: 4
● External to Higher Education: 15
The institutions and organizations represented included:

● Alabama A&M University
● Alabama Cooperative Extension System
● Americorps
● Aramark
● Clemson University
● Colorado State University Extension
● Delaware State University
● Florida Food Policy Council
● Florida A and M University
● Georgia Organics
● Hometown Foods, LLC.
● Iowa State University Extension
● Langston University
● Lincoln University
● Louisiana State University & LSU AgCenter
● Mississippi State University
● North Carolina State Extension, NC State, & NC A&T State University
● Oklahoma State University
● RAO Community Health
● Rural Organizing.org
● Southern Rural Development Center
● Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center
● Texas A&M University
● Tuskegee University & Cooperative Extension
● University of Arkansas & Extension
● University of Florida/IFAS Extension & University of Florida
● University of Kentucky
● University of Maryland Eastern Shore
● University of Puerto Rico, Agricultural Experiment Station
● University of Tennessee Extension
● University of Virgin Islands
● USDA Ag Marketing
● USDA – NIFA
● Utah State University
● Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Tech, & Virginia State University

Actual meeting attendance throughout the annual meeting included:
• Day 1: 66
• Day 2: 31
• Day 3: 53

Brief Summary of Minutes

Minutes Attachment:

Meeting Overview.docx

Accomplishments

Activities.  The SERA-47 group in 2021 had four working groups to accomplish the objectives of the proposal.  Each working group had two core leaders to plan and guide the various activities. Resource bank, working group. <ul> <li>This working group identified, created, and shared funding opportunities relevant to the SERA-47 group. Funding opportunities were posted at <a href="https://sera-47.extension.org/funding-opportunities/">https://sera-47.extension.org/funding-opportunities/</a>. One of the challenges we experienced associated with this activity is that this information needs constant updating in a time-sensitive manner.</li> </ul>   <ul> <li>The working group created a new topic on Food Production with information and links in six areas: 1) small-scale horticultural food crop production, 2) small-scale animal production, 3) marketing plan, 4) marketing channels, 5) value-added products, and 6) financing. The website is developed by Oklahoma State University Extension and is a collection of resources from several institutions. <a href="https://extension.okstate.edu/programs/local-food-systems/resources.html">https://extension.okstate.edu/programs/local-food-systems/resources.html</a>.</li> </ul>   <ul> <li>To understand the creation of a directory of personnel associated with local food systems, the working group members reached out to Courtney Long, a Community Food Systems Program Manager with Iowa State University Extension. Courtney shared an overview of the “Food System Practitioner and Educator Resource Database.”</li> </ul>       Strengthen impact evaluation, working group. <ul> <li>The working group spent the majority of the year working through several discussions and iterations on the new SERA-47 proposal, effective 10/01/2021 through 09/30/2026.</li> </ul>   Successful models, working group. <ul> <li>To increase understanding of the models and best practices associated with land grant work in local and regional food systems work, team members finalized an interview protocol, assigned and trained state contacts to collect data, and explore grant funding opportunities. Interviews were completed in 3 states and 2 more states are in progress. The Internal Review Board proved to be an expected hurdle for two states, which has delayed data collection. The timeline to complete the project has been extended.</li> </ul>   Learning communities, working group. <ul> <li>The team members held two “Tea and Coffee hour” sessions over zoom to bring together growers, specialists, agents, and consumers from the southern region to understand how farmers adapted to the pandemic situation, what problems consumers and growers faced, and how extension helped or could have handled the situation differently.</li> </ul>   <ul> <li>The group hosted five bi-monthly learning webinars during 2021 on topics that included building local and equitable food systems from farm to institution, marketing strategies, and managing a business during the pandemic.</li> </ul>   <ul> <li>Highlighted the SERA 47 working model, accomplishments, and ongoing work of the SERA 47 members via zoom through a Panel Session at the Just Food 2021 Conference hosted by the Agriculture, Food, and Human Value Society <<a href="https://www.food-culture.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/JUST-FOOD_Abstract.pdf">https://www.food-culture.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/JUST-FOOD_Abstract.pdf</a>> and through a Planned Workshop in a hybrid format, at the American Society for Horticultural Sciences Annual Conference. <<a href="https://ashs.confex.com/ashs/2021/meetingapp.cgi/Session/10683">https://ashs.confex.com/ashs/2021/meetingapp.cgi/Session/10683</a>>.</li> </ul>

Publications

Settle, Q., Morrison, C. C., Felter, L., & Taylor, J. (2021). Identifying the 10 most pressing issues facing local food systems in the southern region. Journal of Human Sciences and Extension, 9(1), 208-217.   Zoumenou, V., Coleman, M., Samtani, J., Lamie, D., Settle, Q., Dankbar, H., Cole-Crosby I., Settle, Q., Hossfeld, L., Burney, J., Garner, R., Vines, K., Carro-Figueroa, V.,  Welborn, R. (2021). SERA 47: A USDA multistate Extension and Research Group- 5 years of Experiences: Lessons Learned. HortScience 56(9):S172.

Impact Statements

Resource bank, working group. - Funding announcements and links to granting agencies provided opportunities for SERA members to collaborate on funding proposals. One federal-level proposal was submitted to USDA-NIFA by the SERA-47 group but was not funded after review. - The Food Production topic provides a useful resource for the southern region’s local food systems stakeholders. - Plans are underway to work with Iowa State University for creating a directory. Strengthen impact evaluation, working group. - The recent renewal of SERA-47 provides continuity to outreach and collaborative efforts in progress and will promote more applied research on the emerging needs of our stakeholders, challenges, and barriers faced by local, regional food (LRFS) system entrepreneurs. As our recent pressing issues survey showed, many regional experts believe that further LRFS goals would require policy changes in several fronts ranging from market promotion, farmland protection, land tenure legislation, demographic and labor market issues, and community nutrition education. Accordingly, research and extension activities aimed at providing evidence for public policy recommendations at the local, state, or regional level have also been incorporated as a new important project thrust. This effort will help institutionalize resilient local food systems and offer systemic support for local food producers and businesses. Finally, continued efforts to bind together this unique interdisciplinary, inter-institutional group of LGU research and extension faculty and staff will help to develop an informed base of leadership within the region that are capable of better positioning our system to build capacity to serve our constituencies with important local, regional, and national food system initiatives. Successful models, working group. - Team members developed a strategy to publish the findings in 2022. A Ph.D. student working with Karen Vines at Virginia Tech is assisting with interviews, transcription, and data analysis for the project Learning community, working group. - We had 35 participants in the first tea and coffee hour, and 20 in the second session. The participants liked hearing from each other and were able to relate to others’ experiences as well as learn from the conversations. - The webinars reached out to an audience of 232 across university faculty and researchers and extension staff from 1890 and 1862 institutions, USDA staff, community-based organizations, non-profit organizations, producers, and farmers. - Tea and Coffee hour sessions, webinars, and annual meeting events are posted recently on youtube at <https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3AiY2-BDtmV_Zij6ZZPzPdCqBtipan-s> - Showcasing the work of SERA-47 members through conference presentations has helped extension services become familiar with what the SERA-47 group does and with each other’s expertise and research areas.

Date of Annual Report: 02/14/2023

Report Information

Annual Meeting Dates: 12/14/2022 - 12/16/2022
Period the Report Covers: 12/01/2021 - 12/01/2022

Participants

Bloom, J Dara, Breazeale, Nicole,Buckingham-Schutt, Lyndi,Burney, Janie L, Campbell, Catherine, Cistrunk, Kenya, Coker, Christine E, Coleman, Marcus, Dankbar, Hannah, Dixit, Naveen Kumar, Garner, Russ, Green, John J, Hossfeld, Leslie, Hu, Bizhen, Hughes, David w, Lamie, Ronald, Motsenbocker, Carl, Murphree, Millie, Ohletz, Janel Louise, Philyaw Perez, Amanda, Samtani, Jayesh B, Settle, Quisto, Vines, Karen, Weinstein, Meredith, Welborn, Rachel C, Woods, Timothy A, Woods, Kristin, Zoumenou, Virginie

Participants Attachment:

2022 Annual Report.pdf

Brief Summary of Minutes

Minutes Attachment:

2022 Annual Report.pdf

Accomplishments

The SERA-47 resource platform was highlighted by Dr. Jayesh Samtani in a local food systems workshop titled "Team engagement to foster local food systems research and outreach" at the 2022 American Society for Horticultural Science Annual Conference held on August 1, 2022 in Chicago, IL. Dr. Marcus Comer and Russ Garner preseented a 20-mintue session "strengthening the souther region extension and research system to support local & regional foods needs and priorities" under building partnerships and collaboration track at the agriculture marketing summit in Pensacola, FL  Throught the above activities, over 100 people were informaed of the recent activites of SERA-47 group. Stakeholders are more aware of resources and activities that are ongoing in the southern region in the local food systems arena. One arrendee commented after the annual conference "Thank you for the opportunity to attend! I made a lot of notes of books to read and new ways of approaching marketing, evaluation, and needs assessments from presenters. It was a very worthwhile program."

Publications

N/A

Impact Statements

Date of Annual Report: 02/12/2024

Report Information

Annual Meeting Dates: 12/11/2023 - 12/11/2023
Period the Report Covers: 12/19/2022 - 02/06/2024

Participants

See attached for participants at the December 2023 annual SERA-47 virtual meeting.

Brief Summary of Minutes

See attached meeting notes.

Accomplishments

--Active Listserv – 208 members --General Membership Virtual Meetings – three (3) to discuss research and Extension interests and proposal development opportunities. --Activities: Activity 1. HBCU Agriculture Business Innovation Center Webinar An overview of the HBCU Agriculture Business Innovation Center at North Carolina A&T State University was presented by Kenrett Jefferson-Moore.  The presentation provided the overall goal, objectives and expected outcomes of the center. Project partners include Alabama A&M University, Kentucky State University, and West Virginia State University with stakeholder, technical, and executive advisory board that covers four regional territories serving Historically Black Colleges and Universities.  The webinar was held on September 7, 2023. Activity 2. SERA-47 Annual Meeting Overview SERA-47 Local & Regional Foods annual meeting allowed Extension and research colleagues in the Southern region to come and share the great work they are doing and explore how it might be expanded throughout the region. The 2023 annual meeting for ‘Local and Regional Food Systems’ took place virtually via Zoom and was hosted by the Southern Rural Development Center at Mississippi State University. The objectives of the 2023 Annual Meeting were to: ●     Learn what is happening across the nation and region through lightning talks. ●     Learn how colleagues can better collaborate across disciplinary and state lines through the USDA’s Regional Food Business Centers. Activity 3. In-Person Meeting in Collaboration with the Southern Rural Sociological Association (SRSA) and Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists (SAAS) SERA-47 Local & Regional Foods met in person during the SRSA and SAAS meetings in Atlanta, Georgia on February 5, 2024. This meeting was to foster discussion among extension and research colleagues in the Southern region to come and share the great work they are doing and explore how it might be expanded throughout the region.  The discussion was led by Russ Garner and Kenrett Jefferson-Moore served as reporter.  The agenda included the following items: ●     What is SERA-47? ●     SERA-47 Overview. ●     Current Priorities. ●     2024 Leadership. ●     SERA-47 2023 Activities. ●     Building Collaboration between SERA-47, SRSA, SAAS, and SRDC. ●     Discussion among Attendees on Current Interests in Local and Regional Food Systems.

Publications

N/A.

Impact Statements

Through the above activities, over 200 people were informed of the recent activities of SERA- 47 group through the listserv, webinar, virtual meeting, and face-to-face meeting.
Stakeholders are more aware of resources and activities that are ongoing in the southern region in the local food systems arena. One of the in-person meetings mentioned that they appreciated the strengthening of collaborations between 1890 and 1862 Land-Grant institutions.