Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

Fall 2004 marks the start of the third year of NE-1012. For this meeting we had five main goals: 1. Assess our progress on all objectives, but particularly Objective 2 (understanding forces impacting the food system) and Objective 3 (examining strategies local food system stakeholders are using to create positive change). 2. Prepare for more in-depth collaborative work on data collection, data analysis, and research funding. 3. Begin an overarching comparative analysis to form the basis of academic publications and outreach research. 4. Make specific plans for completing the third year report. 5. Discuss common goals and findings with MRP NC-1001. All of these goals were addressed to some degree. After completing state reports, we formed six subgroups to address substantive and methodological areas of collaboration. The four substantive groups are charged with the responsibility to identify common research themes, summarize the opportunities and barriers confronting the change-strategies they are researching, specify policy implications of their findings, address opportunities for collaborative funding, and plan professional presentations of their work. This strategy accomplished goals 1 and 2 and set the stage for goal 3. The Technical Committee as a whole addressed goals 4 and 5. Administrative advisor Max Pfeffer briefed the group on the rationale for and requirements of the third year report. Based on that information, the Technical Committee decided to prepare the report soon after the annual report is complete. We also met jointly with NC-1001 twice during the weekend and discussed plans for a joint meeting to brief CSREES on the funding needs for interdisciplinary research on food systems and the potential of this research for supporting food security and economic vitality in rural communities and regions. In addition, we planned a tentative date for next year's meeting and made plans to increase our use of Blackboard, a collaborative online software program, to facilitate cooperation. Major decisions and developments from the Technical Committee meeting are outlined below. Joint Meeting and Prospective Collaboration with NC-1001 Participants. In addition to the above mentioned NE-1012 attendees, in this section of the meeting participants included Lois Wright Morton (Iowa State Univ.), Lorna Michael Butler (Iowa State Univ.), Alex McIntosh (Texas A&M), Ardyth Gillespie (Cornell Univ.), Richard Moore (Ohio State Univ.) and Liz Tuckermanty (USDA-NPL). The two groups initially met on Friday evening and briefly introduced to each other their work. NC-1001 is examining the impacts of variations in the structure of agriculture, food systems and communities on population health. NE-1012 is examining policies, projects and events that influence local food systems. While the NC-1001 research focuses on population health outcomes, and NE-1012 focuses on local food system outcomes, both groups consider community, agriculture, and economy as independent variables in their studies. There appear to be some methodological differences between our approaches: NC-1001 tends to use large data sets in their analyses, while NE-1012 takes more participatory and sometimes qualitative approaches. Both would like to further address the question of useful linkages among the two projects. Liz Tuckermanty suggested that one way to share information and illustrate for CSREES how it might better support this type of research, is to organize a Program Conference between the two committees using a $20K USDA internal grant targeted for conferences. If the proposal is approved, Lorna Butler volunteered that her office at Iowa State could provide a match for the USDA grant. The groups agreed to revisit this possible outcome in a second joint meeting on Saturday afternoon. The following decisions related to this topic were taken in the Saturday meeting: Liz Tuckermanty will apply for the internal USDA Systems Innovation Grant, with assistance of Lorna Butler and Kate Clancy. Some things to decide include: 1. When? Deadline for grant is mid-Dec. for April or May with funds from USDA. (The proposal drafters later suggested aiming to do the event in September 2005). 2. Duration? Perhaps 2 days. 3. Location? Ideally a retreat setting near a major air hub. Washington DC, Chicago, Denver, Wingspread Conference Center near Milwaukee, or Glynwood Center near Albany were mentioned as possibilities. 4. Who? Sentiment favored keeping it to our 30 or so people on the two Technical Committees, plus perhaps ten USDA people, maybe a couple of other individuals. With that, the grant could provide $800 for travel, and perhaps pay for a professional facilitator. 5. Objectives? Some suggestions brainstormed in the meeting: * Focus on integration of findings and insights à summary conceptual framework; * Future implications for change (policy, research, institutional); * Develop better understanding of each other's research; * Better determine the organizing frameworks that allow linkages across two Technical Committees' foci; * Take a look at farming systems and health from interdisciplinary perspective; * Increase everyone's literacy regarding systems. 6. Expected outcomes? Again, some ideas: * Conceptual framework; insights/findings; * Next phase in research agenda/action plan; * Increased knowledge for team members of colleagues' work; * Better specification of how food system interfaces with health and community. 7. How to make this happen? We need an organizer from each Technical Committee, ideally people near the chosen venue for this meeting. Mike Hamm volunteered as representative from NE-1012. 8. Design of program? * Research papers provided in advance to reduce need to report all the details at meeting itself; * Discussion papers solicited in key areas; * Facilitated discussion groups, with a facilitator who maintains the focus on generating products. Book project. Clare Hinrichs presented an update as part of Iowa's state report. The completed manuscript of the 18 chapter book, tentatively titled, Remaking the Food System, was submitted to the University of New England Press and University of Nebraska Press in July 2004. Both presses delivered favorable, encouraging reviews of the full volume manuscript in September 2004. Co-editors Hinrichs and Tom Lyson have chosen to pursue a contract with University of Nebraska Press. Manuscripts will be sent to authors in December to incorporate revisions. The book still needs a final chapter synthesizing the forces shaping the food system. Beth Barham and Clare will talk about it, email out some thoughts, and others will respond. The revised book manuscript will be submitted to the University of Nebraska Press in early winter, 2005. Substantive and methodological areas of collaboration related to the project objectives. The following areas were drafted after hearing state reports. Technical committee members met in subgroups to further discuss what we need to accomplish. Subgroup leaders should submit a summary of the discussion along with annual reports. Areas and leaders: 1. Direct Marketing: Jim Bingen and Larry Lev 2. Farm to school: Gail Feenstra and Mike Hamm 3. Labels of origin: Beth Barham 4. Ag of the middle: Steve Stevenson 5. Training: Joan Thomson 6. Mapping: Tom Lyson and Gail Feenstra Election of a new secretary (to ascend). Larry Lev is the new secretary by unanimous vote. Patricia Allen was promoted to vice-chair of the committee. 2005 Meeting. Tentative date, Nov 4-6, tentative place St. Louis in the hotel hosting the May Labels of origin meeting. Has an airport shuttle, good restaurants around, although conference rate is a little high (about $129 for a shared room).

The goal of this project is to increase systematic knowledge of how communities can generate, support, and benefit from more localized food systems. We proposed several interrelated objectives for examining ways to sustaining local agriculture and food systems in a globalizing environment. During these first two years, following the project's objectives, we have: (1) collaborated with food system stakeholders to identify high priority information needs, (2) have examined policies, projects and events that are transforming local food systems, and (3) explored ways in which local communities are responding to the forces of globalization. In the coming year we plan to analyze more closely the economic, social and environmental contributions of local food systems to the community (obj. 4). 2004 Outputs and Outcomes: Edited volume of participants' work. Hinrichs (IA, PA) and Lyson (NY) have served as editors of a book which builds on the set of three paper sessions by NE-1012 participants given at the June 2003 Agriculture, Food and Human Values meeting in Austin, Texas. The 18 chapter book, tentatively titled, Remaking the Food System, was submitted to the University of New England Press and University of Nebraska Press in July 2004. Co-editors Hinrichs and Lyson have chosen to pursue a contract with University of Nebraska Press. The book will be published as part of Nebraska's Our Sustainable Future Series. Different contributions in the volume correspond specifically to Objectives 2, 3 and 4. Development of a model for an American system of labels of origin. The Missouri Regional Cuisines Project (MRCP) is a collaborative effort led by the Department of Rural Sociology at the University of Missouri-Columbia, involving several other disciplines and departments, and partnerships with Missouri Departments of Agriculture, Conservation, and Economic Development, Division of Tourism. It was officially launched in 2003 by NE-1012 participant Elizabeth Barham (MO), in association with the Missouri Department of Agriculture's Grape and Wine Program, to help market wine and food products using distinct labels of origin based on ecological regions of the state. Wine was considered the natural lead product for defining a pilot region in the state because labeling systems in Europe originally emerged to protect wine coming from particular locations from imitation. By developing a model agricultural region in Missouri that resembles appellation regions in Europe, the MRCP is demonstrating the potential of this form of organizing for rural regions across the United States. This model initiative is based on four years of prior work by Barham in this project and the completed project NE-185. It serves as a case study for the current project's objectives. Barham is also organizing a conference on 'Geographical Indications (GI) and Sustainable Rural Development: Exploring the Connections' to bring European and US researchers together. The conference will be held in St. Louis on May 16-18, 2005. Several NE-1012 members have expressed their desire to participate in the conference. Surveys and analyses of direct marketing initiatives and other economic/marketing assessments. Several states collaborating on Objectives 3 and 4 are collecting primary data on a diversity of direct marketing initiatives and other local food system campaigns, both to document the changes occurring in the agri-food system and to contribute to the development of these projects with information considered important by stakeholders. In Oregon, two rapid market assessments (RMAs) of farmers' markets were conducted (Tigard, Oregon and Winchester, United Kingdom). The UK RMA was part of a national conference that focused on a set of goals for the UK that parallel NE 1012 objectives. Each assessment collected high priority information for the target market and allowed for substantial networking among market managers and board members from the surrounding region. OSU procedures were used to conduct additional RMAs in the UK, Washington, and New York. Work continues on the development of low cost, accurate, and sustainable research methods. Michigan also completed a survey of vendors in Michigan Farmers' Markets (232 respondents) and is surveying and mapping Community Supported Agriculture (CSA's) initiatives in Michigan. In West Virginia, researchers plan to survey farmers' market managers and vendors early in 2005. West Virginia also undertook last year a comprehensive economic assessment of pasture-raised beef, a locally-produced niche product that lends itself to direct marketing and can contribute to economic development of an economically distressed region (central Appalachia). At University of California-Davis, researchers are doing an assessment of the regional marketing potential for mandarin growers of Placer County, responding to concerns of mandarin growers and agricultural experts about the overall supply and demand for mandarins in that county. Preliminary figures from the mandarin report, undergoing final revisions, suggest that there is significant potential for increasing farm income through regional marketing channels. In Wisconsin, data collected on 'fair trade' initiatives around the US was analyzed and published in Rural Sociology. Project personnel have also been involved in a cooperative effort with the UW's Program on Agricultural Technology Studies (PATS). A survey instrument was sent to a representative sample of value-added/alternative farmers in Wisconsin (400 producers). The surveys have been returned and are now being analyzed. This will be the first systematic look at the scale, operation and characteristics of Wisconsin's alternative farm sector. In addition, several NE-1012 participants are collaborating in the analyses of their research outcomes. Gillespie (NY), Hinrichs (IA, PA) and Feenstra (CA-Davis) are conducting comparative research on farmers markets, while Allen (CA-Santa Cruz) and Hinrichs are studying agendas and assumptions of 10 Buy Local Food Campaigns. Evaluation and collaboration with Farm to School Programs. In New York, Wisconsin, California and Minnesota, project personnel have collaborated with local organizations to initiate farm-to-school programs and develop strategies to build a stronger link between schools and the state food and agriculture system. In Madison, the Wisconsin Homegrown Lunch Project received a second SARE grant and is now funded for its third and fourth years. Two 'Wisconsin Homegrown Lunch' menus have been developed and served in their three pilot schools. A major step forward has been the food service's decision to trial one WHL meal on a district-wide basis. A second major step forward has been the decision of the Williamson Street Grocery Co-operative to initiate processing of fresh vegetables. The aim of years three and four for the project will be to expand WHL meal service and to develop the provision of processed vegetables for the school system by the cooperative. In Minnesota, at least 3 initiatives are underway: at the Univ. of MN-Morris, and in the K-12 school districts in Hopkins and Willmar. In New York, Wilkins continues her work on the information needs of different stakeholders in the farm to school relationship. She is currently surveying the practices, attitudes, and interests regarding local foods of dining directors at colleges and universities in NY State. At both college and K-12 levels, results show a need for information about what kinds of local products are available at what points in the season. In California-Davis, Feenstra is also evaluating the impacts of a county's farm to school program for local growers, participation and consumption patterns. By using a digital photo method, they will be able to assess what foods and how much children are putting on their plates at the salad bar. Collaboration with local food system organizations, and on improving land grant system awareness of their needs. Project participants have been important collaborators in several initiatives aimed at strengthening locally produced foods and sustainable agriculture. In Michigan, research and outreach continued with five original community based organizations, and four additional organizations added in past year (organized into the Community Food Systems Network of Michigan), to develop community food assessments and plan for programmatic efforts towards meeting food needs of low income community residents. In Oregon, work continues to be coordinated with the Lane County Food Coalition to collect and analyze food system information. In Wisconsin, project personnel continue to be involved in supporting the development and maturation of a local food system NGO, Research Education, Action and Policy on Food Group (REAP). They also assisted REAP in organizing its sixth annual Food For Thought Festival and Forum. A record 61 different organizations were represented at this year's Festival which has become one of Madison's premier food-related events. In cooperation with REAP and the UW's Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems (CIAS), project collaborators designed, planned, and implemented the third iteration of REAP's Farm Fresh Atlas. The Atlas locates food producers (farmers, processors, cheese makers, wineries, CSAs, co-operative retail outlets, etc.) that use sustainable practices and supply the eaters of a 10 county region. Thirty-six thousand copies of the Atlas were distributed in and around Dane County. In Minnesota, participation in the Food Summit 2003 discussions have resulted in the development phase of the Twin Cities Food Council. This year's meeting focused on membership and organizational structure. California has also been working with a nonprofit organization, Ecotrust, to develop a 'Vivid Picture of a Sustainable Food System in California.' Based on their previous work with sustainable food system indicators, CA-SAREP is developing the indicators for the project. Results will be presented in March 2005 at the American Planning Association meetings in San Francisco. They've also written a USDA NRI proposal with UC Davis and UC Cooperative Extension colleagues to develop local county-based models using the Vivid Picture GIS data. In Puerto Rico, Carro-Figueroa has participated in several meetings of researchers with local producers and other food system organizations, and promoted the incorporation of many of the research priorities identified in these meetings in the updated Agricultural Experiment Station Work Plan for the next two years. Finally, in Pennsylvania research has focused on analyzing and interpreting the data from an E-survey of extension educators in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. As a result, professional development opportunities and technical support for educators to support community-based food systems programming are now being offered. Participation in the 'Agriculture of the Middle' initiative. Several members of NE-1012 are also collaborating on the Kellogg Foundation and USDA SARE program initiative called 'Agriculture of the Middle' and framing part of their research in this context. According to their web site, 'This term refers to a disappearing sector of mid-scale farms and related Agrifood enterprises that are unable to successfully market bulk agricultural commodities or sell food directly to consumers' (www.agofthemiddle.org). Project personnel from Wisconsin were significantly involved with the coordination of a national task force for this project. The task force phase of the national initiative is currently being transitioned into a second strategic stage which will emphasize the development of 1) new food marketing networks (mid-tier food value chains), 2) proposed changes in public policy (at the national and state levels), and 3) enlistment of the research and educational capacity of the land-grant university system. Contributing to this initiative, California-Davis will use interview data gleaned from Stanislaus County (in the previous year) and Placer County to summarize some of the key barriers mid-scale family farmers face in a globalizing economy. In Michigan, Hamm will also continue work on this initiative from the perspective of pasture-based animal production systems, while in New York, researchers will continue monitoring changes in the dairy industry of the state. Project Impacts: The above accomplishments summarize many of the impacts this regional project is having and some of the potential benefits that will be gained from continued and expanded multi-state collaboration in the areas of sustainable agriculture, community development, nutrition and health. The forthcoming edited volume of research results to date is expected to significantly contribute to our understanding of the forces that motivate the formation of place-based food systems and of the impacts they are having in communities nationwide. Our prospective forum/collaboration with MRP NC-1001 promises to further our knowledge of links among and between agricultural systems, emerging food system alternatives, population and environmental health, and community structure. The continuous interaction of project participants with local stakeholders, community leaders, and governmental and private institutions has also produced concrete outcomes at local and regional levels, as noted in the Impacts below.

Allen, Patricia. 2004. Together at the Table. Sustainability and Sustenance in the American Agrifood System. University Park, PA: Penn State University Press. Allen, Patricia and C. Clare Hinrichs. 2004. Probing the agendas and assumptions in Buy Local Foods campaigns. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Rural Sociological Society, August 12-15. Sacramento, California. Barham, Elizabeth, David Lind and Lewis Jett. The Missouri Regional Cuisines Project: Connecting to place in the restaurant. Urban Place: Reconnections with the Natural World, edited by Peggy F. Barlett. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Accepted for publication. Barham, Elizabeth. 2003a. Translating Terroir: The Global Challenge of French AOC Labeling. The Journal of Rural Studies 19 (1): 127-138. Barham, Elizabeth. 2003b. Missouri Wineries: Present Status and Future Scenarios. Final report for Federal-State Market Improvement Program of the US Department of Agriculture (Agreement 12-25-G-0369), produced in collaboratin with the Missouri Department of Agriculture. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri. Blumberg, Renata, Jennifer Campos, Nathan Cole, Benjamin Lewis, Catherine Moravec, Michael Paine and Heather Ricks. 2004. Hoshigaki: Preserving the Art of Hand Dried Persimmons. UC Davis: UC Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education Program. Carro-Figueroa, Viviana and Weathers, Gwendolyn. 2003. Livelihood Strategies of Farmers in Puerto Rico's Central Region: Survival in the Context of Economic Restructuring and Policy Change. Pp. 339-365 in Falk, W., Schulman, M. and Tickamyer, A. (eds.) Communities of Work: Rural Restructuring in Local and Global Contexts. Athens: Ohio University Press. DeLind, Laura B. 2003. Considerably More than Vegetables, A Lot Less than Community: The Dilemma of Community Supported Agriculture. In Fighting for the Farm: Rural America Transformed, Jane Adams, ed. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. Pp.192-206. DeLind, Laura and Jim Bingen. Forthcoming. Panel papers on Searching for the 'C' Word: Michigan Case Studies in Civic Agriculture. Presented at the 2003 Annual Meetings of AFHVS and ASFS to be published in Culture & Agriculture. Graham, Heather, Gail Feenstra, Ann M. Evans, and Sheri Zidenberg-Cherr. 2004. Creating a school environment to support life long healthy eating habits in children. California Agriculture (October-December), 58(4): 200-205. Grow, Shelly, Amy Guptill, Thomas A. Lyson and Rick Welsh. 2003. The Effects of Laws that Foster Agricultural Bargaining: The Case of Apple Growers in Michigan and New York State. Henry A. Wallace Center for Agricultural and Environmental Policy, Arlington, VA. Hamm, M.W. 2004. Community-Based Food Systems: Components and Potential for Michigan. Michigan Sociological Review 18(Fall): 1-22. Hamm, M.W. 2003. Review of: Linking Land Quality, Agricultural Productivity, and Food Security (No.823) Wiebe, Keith, in Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior 6(4): 233. Hendrickson, Mary, William Heffernan, David Lind and Elizabeth Barham. 2004. Contractual Integration in Agriculture: Is There a Bright Side for the Agriculture of the Middle? Agriculture of the Middle, edited by Tom Lyson and Rick Welsh. Ámsterdam: JAI/Elsevier. Accepted for publication. Hinrichs, C. Clare, Gilbert W. Gillespie and Gail W. Feenstra. 2004. Social learning and innovation at retail farmers' markets. Rural Sociology 69: 31-58. Jaffee, Daniel, Jack Kloppenburg, and Mario Monroy. 2004. Bringing the moral charge home: Fair trade within the North and within the South. Rural Sociology 69:169-196. Lev, L., Brewer, L.J., Stephenson, G. 2004 revised. Tools for Rapid Market Assessments. Oregon Small Farms Technical Report No. 6. Oregon State University Extension Service. http://smallfarms.orst.edu/ Lev, L. 2004. Farming Sourcebook 2005 with a focus on Sustainable and Certified Production. Sustainable Industries Journal. Portland. Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture. 2004. Consumers Guide to Buying Local Food. MISA, 36 pp. In press. Lind, David and Elizabeth Barham. 2004. The social life of the tortilla: Food, cultural politics, and contested commodification. Agriculture and Human Values 21(1):47-60. Lyson, Thomas A. 2004. Civic Agriculture: Reconnecting Farm, Food and Community. Medford, MA: Tufts University Press. Lyson, Thomas A. and Amy Guptill. 2004. Commodity agriculture, civic agriculture and the future of U.S. farming. Rural Sociology 69:370-385. Lyson, Thomas A. and Charles M. Tolbert. 2003. Civil society, civic communities, and rural development. Pp. 228-240 in D.L. Brown and L.E. Swanson (eds.), Challenges for Rural America in the Twenty-First Century. University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press. Ostrom, Marcia. 2004. Local and Direct Food Purchasing in Washington. CSANR Research Brief No. 3. Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources, Washington State University. Ostrom, Marcia. 2004. The Importance of Direct Markets for Washington Farmers. CSANR Research Brief No.1. Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources, Washington State University. Ostrom, Marcia. The Contribution of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) to Movements for Change in the Agri-Food System. Remaking the North American Food System, Clare Hinrichs and Tom Lyson (eds). University of Nebraska Press (accepted for publication). Ostrom, Marcia and Raymond Jussaume. Assessing the Significance of Direct Farmer-Consumer Linkages as a Change Strategy: Civic or Opportunistic? In: Remaking the North American Food System, Clare Hinrichs and Tom Lyson (eds). University of Nebraska Press (accepted for publication). Ostrom, Marcia; Hines, Richard; and Rebecca Warren. 2004. King County Food System Atlas. CSANR Technical Report Series. Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources, Washington State University. Thomson , J.S. 2003. Interested in Heightening the Visibility of Local Foods? Strengthening Local Agricultural Viability? Community, Food, and Agriculture Program News, Cornell University. 11(4):11, Fall. Wilkins J.L., Maretzki A., Hamm M.W., Paddock J.D., Asher K., Tuckermanty, E. (Contributors). 2004. Our Food Our Future: Enhancing Community Food Security Through Community Action. A Community Food Security Program Guid. 2004 (2nd ed.). Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell Cooperative Extension. THESES AND DISSERTATIONS: Evans, J. 2003. An Economic Analysis of Pasture-Raised Beef Systems in Appalachia. Unpublished MS thesis. West Virginia University. 163 pp. Inciong, L.O. 2004. Pennsylvania Extension Educators: Strengthening Community Engagement Toward a Sustainable Local Food System. M.S. thesis, The Pennsylvania State University. December. Evans, J. 2003. An Economic Analysis of Pasture-Raised Beef Systems in Appalachia. Unpublished MS thesis. West Virginia University. 163 pp. Inciong, L.O. 2004. Pennsylvania Extension Educators: Strengthening Community Engagement Toward a Sustainable Local Food System. M.S. thesis, The Pennsylvania State University. December. Matthew Russell. 2003. Social Inclusion and Extra-Market Food Service Programs: Challenges for Community Food Security in a Rural Iowa County. Unpublished MS thesis. Iowa State University, Dept. of Sociology (December). Leah Sokolofski. 2004. Managing Household Food and Feeding: Gender, Consumption and Citizenship among Community Supported Agriculture Members. Unpublished MS thesis. Iowa State University, Dept. of Sociology (May). PRESENTATIONS AND MANUSCRIPTS APPROVED: Allen, Patricia and C. Clare Hinrichs. 2004. Probing the agendas and assumptions in |Buy Local Foods campaigns. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Rural Sociological Society, August 12-15. Sacramento, California. Barham, Elizabeth. 2004. The Lamb that Roared: Origin Labeled Products as Place Making Strategy in Charlevoix, Quebec. Refereed book chapter contributed to Remaking the American Food System, edited by Clare Hinrichs and Tom Lyson. Accepted for publication by University of Nebraska Press. Bingen, Jim and Lawrence Busch. Agricultural Standards: The Shape of the Global Food and Fiber System. Dordrecht: Kluwer. Submitted for publication in the series, International Library of Environmental, Agricultural and Food Ethics. Brown, C. 2004. Examining the Cost of an All-organic Diet. Selected paper presented at the Food Distribution Research Society conference, Morro Bay, CA, October. Carro-Figueroa, V. and A. Guptill. Emerging Farmers Markets and the Globalization of Food Retailing: A Perspective from Puerto Rico. Revised book chapter for Hinrichs and Lyson (eds.) Remaking the American Food System. Accepted for publication by University of Nebraska Press. DeLind, Laura and Jim Bingen. Forthcoming. Panel papers on: Searching for the 'C' Word: Michigan Case Studies in Civic Agriculture. Presented at the 2003 Annual Meetings of AFHVS and ASFS to be published in Culture & Agriculture. Evans, J., G. D'Souza, M. Sperow, and E. Rayburn. 2004. An Economic Analysis of Pasture-Raised Beef Systems in Appalachia. Selected paper, American Agricultural Economics Association annual meeting, Denver CO, August 1-4. 29 pp. Hamm, M. H. 2004a. Briefing Session offering a positive vision for a food system (11/04). New Perspectives on Food Security Conference, Warrenton, VA Hamm, M. H. 2004b. Eating well in Michigan (11/04). Designing Healthy Livable Communities Conference, East Lansing, MI Hamm, M. H. 2004c. Eating from Michigan: What's in it for the community? (9/04). Dinner with Discussion, Kellogg Biological Station, Hickory Corners, MI Hamm, M. H. 2004d. Opportunities in Alternative Agriculture (7/04). North Central Land-Grant University Summer Meeting, Chicago, IL Hamm, M. H. 2004e. Nutrition Education as Community Development: Building Community Food Security (5/04). International Congress of Dietetics, Chicago, IL Hamm, M. H. 2004f. Michigan's Food: Risk Management in a Sustainable Context (3/04). MIFFS Michigan Family Farms Conference, Lansing, MI Hamm, M. H. 2004g. Opportunities for a Food Policy Council in Michigan, Food Bank Council of Michigan Board of Trustees meeting (2/04). Ann Arbor, MI Hamm, M. H. 2004h. Bringing Community Food Systems to County Extension Activities, MSUE Ingham County In-Service (1/04). Mason, MI Hinrichs, Clare. 2004. Generating knowledge and networks: The Iowa Community Food System Atlas Project. Panel presentation made to session on: Developing Regional Frameworks for Food and Farming. At the annual meeting of the Rural Sociological Society, August 12-15. Sacramento, California. Inciong, L.O. and J.S. Thomson. 2004. Community Engagement in Local Food System Programming. Poster. Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences and Gamma Sigma Delta Research Exhibition, March 17, 2004. Inciong, L.O. and J.S. Thomson. 2004. Community Engagement in Local Food System Programming. Poster. Penn State Graduate School Research Exhibition, March 28, 2004. Third place, Social and Behavioral Sciences Division. Lev, Larry, Garry Stephenson, and Linda Brewer. Practical Research Methods for Enhancing Farmers Markets. A chapter to be included in Remaking the North American Food System edited by C. Clare Hinrichs and Tom Lyson. Accepted for publication by University of Nebraska Press. Lev, Larry and Linda Brewer. 2004. Tigard Farmers' Market Rapid Market Assessment. Oregon Small Farms Technical Paper (number not yet assigned). Maretzki, A.N. 2004. Perceptions and Expectations of Our Food System: Strengthening Communities' Engagement in Sustainable Local Food Systems. Presentation at Future of Our Food and Farms Summit, Philadelphia. December 3. Stephenson, Garry and Lev, Larry. Support for Local Agriculture in Two Contrasting Oregon Cities. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems (forthcoming in December 2004). Stevenson, G.W. and Rich Pirog. 2004. Values-Based Supply Chains: Strategies for Agri-Food Enterprises-of-the Middle. Submitted for inclusion in an edited volume on renewing an agriculture of the middle. Thomson, J.S., RB. Radhakrishna, L.O. Inciong, and A.N. Maretzki. 2004. Extension Educators' Perspectives on Local Food System Issues: Implications for Programming and Research. Proceedings of the National Agricultural Education Research Conference. St Louis. May. CD-ROM. Thomson, J.S., R.B. Radhakrishna, L.O. Inciong, and A.N. Maretzki. 2004. Views of Extension Educators on the Local Food System: Implications for Programming and Research. Abstracts for joint meeting of the Association for the Study of Food and Society (ASFS) and the Agriculture, Food, and Human Values Society (AFHVS). 39. Thomson, J.S. and R.B. Radhakrishna. 2004. Engaging Communities in Local Food System Dialogue: Strategies for Cooperative Extension and Outreach. Outreach Scholarship Conference, University Park, PA. October 4. Thomson, J.S., A.N. Maretzki, R.B. Radhakrishna, J.L. Wilkins, and C. Homitzky. 2004. Engaging Communities in Local Food System Dialogue: Strategies for Cooperative Extension and Outreach. Sustainable Agriculture Research and Extension (SARE) Conference, Burlington, VT. October 20-21.