Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

Brief summary of annual meeting:

Date: October 18-19, 2016

Location:  Campus Club in Memorial Union, University of Minnesota; 300 Washington Ave. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455

In attendance:

Lily Brislen, Larry Burmeister, Kate Clancy, David Conner, Libby Christensen, Jill Fitzsimmons, Gail Feenstra, Lauren Gwin, Shermain Hardesty, Keith Harris, Clare Hinrichs, Jan Joannides, Rob King, Liz Kramer, Larry Lev, Kelly Maynard, Michelle Miller, Marcia Ostrom, Hikaru Peterson, Keiko Tanaka, Michelle Worosz (Kathryn DeMaster called in on Oct. 19)

General Project Discussion:

Individually and in smaller groups, technical committee members have had another year of productive work on project objectives. New and ongoing funded grant projects have furthered project work and members have played prominent roles organizing and presenting professional conference sessions related to project themes. Additionally, many members have been involved in research, teaching and outreach related to food and agriculture topics that align with or inform inquiry related to Ag of the Middle (AOTM). Attendance at the 2016 annual meeting was somewhat lower than in 2015; however 5-6 committee members who did not attend specifically contacted the committee chair to convey their ongoing commitment to participate in the project, despite their absence at the 2016 annual meeting due to scheduling conflicts or funding shortfalls.

The 2014 and 2015 meetings included considerable attention to the public face of the project through its Ag of the Middle website (http://agofthemiddle.org/) redesigned and hosted by the UW-Madison Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems (CIAS). The 2016 meeting focused more on sharing and distilling recent work by committee members (more below and in the meeting minutes) in order to use this information and related ideas in organizing preparation and writing of a multi-state project renewal proposal, initiated Fall 2016 and to be submitted for NCRA review in early 2017. As NC-1198 concludes in September 2017, development of the renewal project was an urgent priority. Given the strongly shared sense that the present project objectives, with some adjustments, remain timely and relevant, the group focused its renewal project discussions on how to build from NC-1198 accomplishments thus far and also incorporate new and emerging research and programmatic needs. Throughout, the group continued to discuss strategies for communicating more widely and more effectively about AOTM research and its policy implications to our varied professional audiences and partner organizations.

As is the regular practice of this group at its annual meeting, there was a telephone conference with the USDA AFRI Program Leader (Denis Ebodaghe), who administers the Small and Medium-Sized Farms priority area. On Day 1 of the meeting, Ebodaghe informed us that the total number of proposal submissions his program received in 2016 had declined and they were expecting to fund 6-7 projects. He provided advice and insight about targeting grant projects that aim at knowledge addressing small/medium size farm issues in contrast to concerns of other enterprises in the supply chain or communities themselves. He also informed us of continuities and possible changes in this program at USDA and others relevant to AOTM concerns.

The annual meeting included considerable time working in small groups to take stock of accomplishments related to the present NC-1198 objectives and to discuss how those objectives should be revised, amended and/or supplemented for a renewal multi-state project. Discussions of the small groups were then reported back to the full group and submitted to further full group discussion. Assignments and timetable for preparing the renewal project proposal were negotiated and finalized. On Day 2 of the meeting, the group continued this work and also had a telephone conference with Administrative Adviser, Joe Colletti (Iowa State University), to review the renewal project objectives developed over the course of the meeting and our plans for submission of the renewal project proposal.

Accomplishments - October 2015 to September 2016:

Outputs:

Grants--

Listed here are the major grants, both new and ongoing, involving NC-1198 project members. Several members have also written and submitted other grant proposals with collaborators from outside NC-1198 on issues related to AOTM that are not listed here.

Grants Submitted and Awards Received by members

Dunning, R. (PI). Building University Market Opportunities for Small and Mid-Scale Farmers: Applied Research and Outreach to Strengthen Campus Community Local Food Systems. USDA/NIFA AFRI Small and Medium Size Farmer and Rancher Program Area. $469,771. 2016-2017.

Dunning, R. (Co-PI). Creating Long-Term Solutions to Advance Farmer Profitability and Market Capacity for NC Pastured Meats. Golden Leaf Foundation. $151,405. 2016-2017.

Dunning, R. (Co-PI). An Integrated Project to Enhance Food Security and Sustainability Through the Development and Evaluation of Supply Chains from Local Farmers (Grocery and Military Food Service Models). USDA NIFA/AFRI Food Security Challenge. $3,900,000 total, $777,777 appropriated for 2016. 2012-2017.

Feenstra, G.W. “Getting the Farm to the School,” PI is John Young, Yolo County Ag Commissioner. SAREP is a subcontractor, responsible for evaluation. Grant is from USDA. SAREP award: $15,000 for 10/1/15 – 9/30/16. [Obj 1]

Feenstra, G.W. “Nurturing Local Food Hubs to Connect Small Farms to Campuses to Develop Healthy and Sustainable Eating Options for K-to-University,” from UC Global Food Initiative. Award: $78,098 for 10/1/15 – 12/30/16. [Obj 1, 2]

Fitzsimmons, J. “Costs and Returns to New England Farmers in the Farm-to Institution Supply Chain.” USDA-NESARE Graduate Student Grant. [09/13 to 12/15] $14,745. [Obj 1,2,4]

Lass, Dan. Massachusetts Department of Revenue “Using Ag Census Data to Estimate Agricultural Use Values.” [07/15 to 10/16] $5,562.

Lev, L., R. King, J. Joannides, G. Feenstra, S. Hardesty. “Cultivating Specialty Food Industry Sales: New opportunities for small- and medium-sized farms.” USDA-AFRI, Small & Medium-Size Farms Priority area. 2015-2017. [Obj 1, 2]

Peterson, H.H., G.W. Feenstra, M.R. Ostrom, K. Tanaka, and C. Anderson-Brekken. “Impacts of Values-Based Supply Chains on Small and Medium-Sized Farms.” 2015-2017. USDA-AFRI, Small & Medium-Size Farms Priority area. 2015-2017. $499, 995. [Obj 1, 2, 3, 4]

Rocker, Sarah. Towards Resilience: The Value of Brokerage and Coordination in Local and Regional Food Value Chains. Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences, Doctoral Student Competitive Research Award. January 2016. $2500 [Obj 2, 4] [Adviser and project director: C. Hinrichs]

Activities:

Based on information shared at the annual meeting and subsequently submitted for this report, it is evident that technical committee members engage in a variety of activities individually, in NC-1198 working groups, and with other stakeholders that are helping to share and develop notions of Agriculture of the Middle and values-based supply chains, and assess their implementation in varied contexts. Highlighted activities in this report offer selected examples of policy-related work; teaching and training efforts; collaborations within and beyond NC-1198; and targeted professional conference sessions and presentations

A. Activities of NC-1198 Policy Working Group.

This working group, led by Kate Clancy, Christy Brekken, and Lauren Gwin, had two primary accomplishments in 2016: 1) preparing a policy primer and 2) conducting an internal NC-1198 policy survey.

Policy Primer: Over the years, NC-1198 members have identified and articulated many issues facing Ag of the Middle producers and their supply chain partners. Technical committee members recognize that public policy plays a role in the issues, opportunities and impacts for the Ag of the Middle sector. Explicitly addressing policy issues and in deliberate ways can enrich our Ag of the Middle and supply chains research, and offers more outputs and impacts from our work. NC1198 members asked the Policy Working Group to provide guidance on how to address policy in their research and outreach.

In response to this need, the lead members of this working group wrote a short primer called, “Why and How to Include Policy in Ag of the Middle Research.” The primer will soon be posted on the Ag of the Middle website, for use by this group, but also others interested in this topic.

Policy Survey: In late 2015, the NC-1198 Policy Working Group surveyed the full NC-1198 technical committee membership to learn whether and how they are including policy in their AOTM/VBSC research. The survey was sent out to 33 people on Nov. 11, 2015 with a reminder on Dec. 7, 2015. Nine people began the survey; six of them completed it.

All nine respondents indicated that they were asking questions in their research related to policy questions & implications. Of the six who completed the survey, all but one were planning to report policy recommendations out of their research.

When asked what specific policies/policy arenas they were addressing in their research, respondents said:

• How public policies can help to address the changes necessary to mitigate climate change and ecological harm to natural resources (2 responses);
• Policies that facilitate and/or impede the retail marketing (restaurant, grocery, farmers markets, farm sales, food hubs) of locally produced animal products;
• Policies that support small and midscale farms, as well as the community economic impacts of food system-led interventions;
• Policies that hinder or support AOTM, e.g., liability insurance.

One respondent noted that while their research team was not actually asking about specific policies (e.g., in surveys and interviews), their research participants were bringing up specific policies of concern to them.

When asked what questions they are using in their research design, related to policy, respondents to our internal survey noted:

1. How can we begin to anticipate the changes coming at us (depletion of natural resources, climate change, increased insurance costs) and begin to get a head start preparing for them?
2. Trying to understand farm profitability impacts of food system initiatives as well as broader rural wealth creation impacts of these initiatives.
3. Willingness to accept payment to provide ecosystem services.
4. One respondent described multiple policy-related lines of questioning:
   1. Conservation easements: Are there conservation easements on the property(ies)? If so, is it a working lands easement, or are agricultural uses retired too? Was CRP involved? Would you be interested in a conservation easement, why, and what would prevent you from accomplishing this?
   2. Taxation: Where could you see the greatest opportunities for reducing your tax liabilities through policy?
   3. Regulation in General: What regulations (local, county, state, federal) play large roles in your operation? Has this changed since you began farming or began selling to wholesale markets? Are you a CAFO? How do state and federal regulations affect you?
   4. Water: What water rights do you have to your property(ies)? Would you want additional water rights and, if so, how would this change your operation? Have you tried to acquire additional water rights and, if so, how successful were you? What would be your perfect situation? Would you want more/less acreage? Different location? Different rights/zoning?
   5. Insurance: What types of insurance do you carry for your operation? How easy was it to find insurers and/or meet insurance qualifications? (Diversified veg) Do you use RMS whole farm insurance? / (Certified organic) is there true parity now with RMS organic crop insurance?

One respondent explained that while none of their questions actually used the word “policy,” many (e.g., sourcing, enterprise selection) evoked responses that at times referred to policies. Based on what was learned about needs and opportunities through these two activities, the NC-1198 policy working group is designing a new set of activities to be incorporated into the NC-1198 renewal project.

B. Related teaching and training activities by Committee Members.

Increasingly, committee members are drawing on content and programmatic insights on value chain design and operation and mid-scale value chain environmental, social and economic impacts to enrich their classroom teaching and mentoring experiences. In Spring 2016, David Conner taught a graduate level class (CDAE/Food Systems 321, Economics of Sustainable Food Systems) at University of Vermont, which included significant discussion about “Ag of the Middle” and Food Value Chains. At NC State, Rebecca Dunning has led/managed a summer apprenticeship program that places undergraduate and graduate students, or recently graduated students, into paid 8-week apprenticeship positions within businesses and support organizations (non-profits, social enterprises, extension) across the food value chain. This work will add a position with a local government, with the mentor being the county Agricultural Economic Development Director, and another apprentice mentored by two Small Business Technology Development Center Directors housed at minority-serving universities in adjacent counties in the coming year. Dunning also leads/manages 4-5 MBA student teams at NC-State each year to consult with food value chain businesses. At Auburn University, Michelle Worosz has infused her teaching at both undergraduate and graduate levels, and in both traditional classroom and directed field experiences, with exploration of AOTM content and applications. Clare Hinrichs is developing a new upper-level undergraduate course (CED 442: Changing Food Systems) for Penn State University, that will include a module on AOTM themes and first be offered in Spring 2017 as a requirement in Penn State’s proposed undergraduate Food Systems minor.

C. Collaborations within and beyond NC-1198.

As a consultant for the USDA-AFRI funded project “Understanding Domestic Fair Trade for an Agriculture-of-the-Middle” (UW-Madison, Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems, Michelle Miller, Michael Bell, and Brad Barham, P.I.’s), Larry Burmeister has worked on a case study of Organic Valley’s affiliation with the Domestic Fair Trade Association and how that relationship may be influencing labor relationships in Organic Valley’s supply chain. He attended the annual meeting of the Domestic Fair Trade Association in December 2015 and will attend their annual meeting in November 2016 to continue exploration of how this organization works to promote fair trade principles in the US agrifood system. Ongoing research is exploring labor relations on OV dairy farms and supply chain transportation partners (trucking firms engaged in milk hauling to processors and distribution from processors to market outlets) in order to assess the impact of DFTA affiliation on labor practices in the OV supply chain.    

Rebecca Jablonski is working with Jill Clark (Ohio State) to evaluate the work of the USDA's Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food Task Force, which has been instrumental in initiating and promoting various AOTM-aligned programs. They have finished a survey of current and past members of KYF2 and are now analyzing results.

Michell Worosz is lead rural sociologist on a 5 year USDA-AFRI Food Security grant titled “A Systems Approach to Identifying and Filling Gaps in and Between Knowledge and Practice in Production and Distribution of Local and Regional Foods for a More Secure Food Supply Chain. The interdisciplinary project brings together animal science, poultry science, agricultural economics and business, rural sociology and food science researchers from Auburn University and Tuskegee Institute to investigate multiple dimensions of food safety related to red meat values-based supply chains. Among other foci, Worosz and her students will examine consumer responses to food safety recalls and media representations of local beef.

Jillian Fitzsimmons has been working as a member of the Metrics Project of Farm to Institution New England (FINE). FINE is a network of non-profit, public and private entities from across the six New England states that is working to foster better systems for institutional procurement of regionally produced foods.

D. Targeted professional conference sessions and presentations.

Marcia Ostrom and Kathryn DeMaster, with colleagues Markus Schermer (University of Innsbruck, Austria) and Egon Noe (University of Aarhus, Denmark) organized a set of four paper sessions held at the XIV World Congress of Rural Sociology (IRSA) in Toronto, August 10-14, 2016. The overall track was titled “Assessing the Potential of Values-Based Food Chains for Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Livelihoods,” with a total of 13 papers organized into four sessions focused on 1) conceptualizing values-based food chains, 2) VBSC governance and management, 3) contributions to sustainable development, and 4) balancing values with growth. American, European, Canadian and Japanese researchers presented in the sessions and a special issue of the International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food is now in preparation, with Ostrom and DeMaster as co-editors with European partners.

Several NC-1198 members, including Dunning, Feenstra and Jablonski, gave papers or panel presentations related to broad AOTM themes at the late September 2016 annual meeting of the Food Distribution Research Society in New Orleans. This professional society’s meetings have proven a very conducive environment for presenting NC-1198 work and for productive exchange with scholars and practitioners from around the country addressing related issues.  

Selected Presentations by members

DeMaster, K. and M. Ostrom. “Fostering Viable Values-Based Supply Chains within the ‘Agriculture of the Middle.’” World Congress of Rural Sociology, Toronto, August 10-14, 2016.

DeMaster, K. “Why Does the Middle Matter? Fostering a Diversified U.S. Agriculture.” Department of Environmental Studies Seminar Series, University of California, Santa Cruz, December 7, 2015.

DeMaster, K. “Implications of Corporate Concentration in US Agriculture.”  Global Environmental Theme House Lecture series, UC-Berkeley. November 16, 2015. 

DeMaster, K. “History of the U.S. Farm Bill and Contemporary Agricultural Policy.” Goldman School of Public Policy course: The Fight For Food Justice: Mass Movement or Consumer Culture? University of California, Berkeley, November 4, 2015.  

Dunning, R., Edmonds, Lauffer, and  Stout. 2016.  “Strategies for Supporting Value Chain Development between Small/mid-scale Growers and Large-scale Buyers.” 7^th National Small Farm Conference: Creating and Sustaining Small Farmers and Ranchers.” September 20-22, Virginia Beach, VA. 

Givens and R. Dunning. 2016. “Distributor vs. Direct: Farmers, Chefs, and Distributors in the Local Farm to Restaurant Supply Chain.” Food Distribution Research Society, September 30-October 3, New Orleans, LA.

Feenstra, G.W. “Impacts of Values-based Supply Chains on Small and Medium-sized Farms,” presentation at the Food Distribution Research Society conference, September 30-October 3, 2016, New Orleans, LA (25 attendees). [Obj 1]

Feenstra, G.W. “Food policy councils as a strategy for pursuing sustainable community development,” presentation at the Community Development Society meeting, July 26, Minneapolis, MN (35 attendees).[Obj 4]

Feenstra, G.W. “Renewing a sustainable U.S. food system through an “Agriculture of the Middle,” presentation to the Extension Sustainability Summit 2016, April 5-7, 2016, Portland, OR (50 attendees).[Obj 1,2]

Feenstra, G.W. “UC SAREP Food Hub Collaborative Learning Network,” presentation to the 3^rd Biennial Food Hub Conference, March 31, 2016, Atlanta, GA (10 attendees).[Obj 1,2]

Feenstra, G.W. “Community perspectives on the economic impact of local food systems in the Sacramento area,” presentation to the California Food Policy Council, March 15, 2016, Sacramento, CA (15 attendees). [Obj 1]

Feenstra, G.W. “Specialty food marketing opportunities for small farmers,” presentation to the California Small Farm conference, March 8, 2016, Sacramento, CA (50 attendees).[Obj 1]

Feenstra, G.W. “Farm to fork activities and their impact on communities,” presentation to the statewide SNAP-Ed Conference, January 14, 2016, Sacramento, CA (200 attendees).[Obj 1,2]

Feenstra, G.W. “Regional food systems: Bringing healthful food to schools and communities,” keynote presentation to the Farm to Table Academy of the World Food Center’s Institute for Food and Agricultural Literacy, October 3, 2015, UC Davis (30 attendees). [Obj 1,2]

Fitzsimmons, J. 2016. “Model of Farmers’ Pro-Social Preferences in Marketing Choice: An Artefactual Field Experiment.” AAEA Annual Meeting, Boston, MA.

Fitzsimmons, J. 2016. “New Dimensions of Market Power and Bargaining in the Agri-food Sector”, Selected Paper Presentation, “Model of Farmers’ Pro-Social Preferences in Marketing Choice.” EAAE Seminar, Gaeta, Italy.

Fitzsimmons, J. 2016. “Federal Labor Law and Farm to Institution Sales in New England.” Labor Law Workshop. Northeast Organic Farmers Association NH Winter Conference.

Hardesty, S. Values-Based Supply Chains. Lecture at UC Davis course, Cooperative Business Enterprises (ARE 132), Davis, California. February 23, 2016. Objectives 1 & 2.

Hardesty, S. Specialty Food Market Opportunities. Workshop presentation with Gail Feenstra and Diane Madison at California Small Farm Conference, Sacramento, California. March 8, 2016. Objective 1.

Hardesty, S. Can values-based supply chains create bargaining power for midscale agricultural producers? Presentation at European Association of Agricultural Economists. Seminar #153: New Dimensions of Market Power and Bargaining in the agri-food sector: organisations, policies and models. Gaeta, Italy. June 10, 2016. Objectives 1 & 2.

Lev, Larry. “Food Systems and Sustainability.” National Extension Summit on Sustainability. Portland, OR. April 2016.

Lev, Larry and Robert P. King, “Specialty Food Market Opportunities.” Oregon Small Farm Conference. Corvallis, Oregon. March 2016.

Ostrom, M., Kjeldsen C., Kummer, S., Milestad, R., and M. Schermer, "What’s going into the box? An inquiry into the ecological and social embeddedness of EU and US box schemes."
 IV World Congress of Rural Sociology, Toronto, August 10-14, 2016.

Telligman, A. and M.R. Worosz. 2016. Predicting Intentions to Purchase Local Beef. Paper presented at Understanding Rural Social Class in an Era of Global Challenge, during the annual meetings of the Rural Sociological Society, Toronto, Canada, 07 – 10 Aug.

Worosz, M.R. 2016. Community, Sustainability, and the Challenges for both Large- and Small-Scale Production Systems. Invited presentation for Sustainable Food Practice (SU 6143), Lipscomb University. Auburn University, AL, 24 Feb (25 participants).

Worosz, M.R. 2015. Community Food Security Assessment in Three Alabama Black Belt Counties. Final presentations for Food, Agriculture and Society (RSOC 3190). Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, 02 Dec (21 participants).

Worosz, M.R. 2015. Poverty, Food Security, and the Young. Keynote speaker for “Turing Schools Around: Understanding and Addressing Poverty.” Auburn University Educational Leadership Institute, Auburn High School, Auburn, AL, 07Nov (100 participants). [obj 2, 4]

Posters

Jennifer Sowerwine, Rachel Surls, Julia Van Soelen Kim, Michael Yang. 2016. “Workshop on Wheels: Market tours for small, beginning and underserved farmers.” Food Distribution Research Society conference, New Orleans, LA. [Obj 1,2] [Feenstra]

Feenstra, Gail, Scott Cosca, Thomas Nelson, David Visher, Ruth Dahlquist-Willard, Ramiro Lobo, Jennifer Sowerwine, Rachel Surls, Julia Van Soelen Kim, Michael Yang. 2016. “Workshop on Wheels: Market tours for small, beginning and underserved farmers.” National Small Farm Conference, Virginia Beach, VA. [Obj 1,2]

Lev, Larry, Gail Feenstra, Shermain Hardesty, Rob King and Jan Joannides. 2016. “Beyond Fresh and Direct: Specialty Food Market Opportunities for Small & Medium-size Farmers.” NIFA Project Directors’ meeting, Virginia Beach, VA [awarded one of top 4] [Obj 1]

Peterson, H, Gail Feenstra, Marcy Ostrom, and Keiko Tanaka. 2016. “Impacts of Values-based Supply Chains on Small & Medium-sized Farms.” National Small Farm Conference, and NIFA Project Directors’ meeting, Virginia Beach, VA [awarded one of top 4]. [Obj 1]

Feenstra, Gail, Shosha Capps, Erin McGuire, Noli Taylor and Ali Zipparo. 2016. “Grabbing the Golden Ring: Engaging policymakers with local constituents to strengthen farm to school.” National Farm to Cafeteria Conference, Madison, WI. [Obj 4]

Feenstra, Gail, Scott Cosca, Thomas Nelson, David Visher, Ruth Dahlquist-Willard, Ramiro Lobo, Jennifer Sowerwine, Rachel Surls, Julia Van Soelen Kim, Michael Yang. 2015. “Workshop on Wheels: Market tours for small, beginning and underserved farmers.” Statewide Agriculture and Natural Resources conference, Sacramento, CA. [Obj 1,2]

Weston M. Eaton, Morey Burnham, and Clare Hinrichs. Bioenergy Experts and their Imagined Publics: Implications for Participation and Dialogue. Poster presented at Penn State Energy Days (May 2016), Rural Sociological Society (August 2016) and World Congress of Rural Sociology (August 2016). [Obj 3, 4]

Conferences/Workshops organized by members

• (Feenstra) “ANR Farm to School Tour.” Helped to plan and implement this half day tour as part of the Healthy Families and Communities Initiative Conference, Davis, CA, September 27, 2016 (48 attendees). [Obj 1,2]

• (Feenstra) “Farmer Education and Support Services Summit.” Helped plan and implement this one-day convening, Sacramento, CA, September 9, 2016 (55 attendees). [Obj 1, 2]

• (Feenstra) “Farm to School Roundtable with Congressman Garamendi.” Helped plan and implement this policy roundtable with farm to school participants and Congressman Garamendi to discuss how to engage in farm to school policies. November, 24, 2015, UC Davis (25 attendees)[Obj 4]

• (Feenstra) “Farmer Wholesale Tour to LA Distributors.” Helped plan and implement this tour of LA farmers and food system participants to wholesale buyers in LA, December 9, 2016 (38 attendees)[Obj 1, 2]

• (Feenstra) “Farmer Wholesale Tour to LA Distributors.” Helped plan and implement this tour of San Diego farmers to wholesale buyers in LA, December 2, 2015 (45 attendees)[Obj 1,2]
  

Milestones:

Major milestones of the past year included steady progress on planned research activities by the two USDA-AFRI funded projects undertaken by NC-1198 project members (the funding cycles for both these projects began in January 2015). These two projects are now yielding valuable empirical data on understudied questions about the nature and operations of specialty food businesses and about the intentions, practices and assessments of farmers participating in values based supply chains nationwide. Taken together, these projects address all four project objectives. The four paper sessions track on international perspectives on VBSCs at the World Congress of Rural Sociology in August 2016 constitutes another important milestone in the work of NC-1198.

Looking ahead, the publishing of the NC-1198 policy primer on the AOTM website and movement of further research results from the USDA-AFRI grant projects into conference presentations, peer-reviewed publications and outreach materials will be additional milestones. As possible, organizing a briefing workshop with Congressional staffers on research outcomes, along with policy implications, from NC-1198 may constitute another milestone, however the latter could occur in conjunction with the eventual renewal project.

Indicators

The number of NC-1198 project members has been relatively stable, with some recent retirements from universities and agencies being offset by new participation from graduate students and early career professionals. Committee membership presents excellent geographic distribution from all regions of the U.S. and also demonstrates faculty participation across academic ranks, as well as consistent participation from NGO partners.

In the course of this project year, there has been widespread local and regional visibility in varied media for members’ work broadly related to NC-1198 objectives. For example, media attention included the following regarding David Conner’s work at UVM:

Study: UVM Medical Center food buys help local farmers grow. http://www.wcax.com/story/33409465/study-uvm-medical-center-food-buys-help-local-farmers-grow

http://www.uvm.edu/foodsystems/?Page=news&storyID=23428&category=food

Publications

Books

Howard, Philip H. 2016. Concentration and Power in the Food System: Who Controls What We Eat? London: Bloomsbury Academic.  [Obj 1]

Peer reviewed publications

Becot, F., Conner, D., Imrie, D. and Ettman, K. (2016). Assessing the Impacts of Local Hospital Food Procurement: Results from Vermont. Journal of Foodservice Management and Education 10 (1) 1-7. [Obj 1]

Matts, C. Conner, D., Tyler, S. and Fisher, C. Hamm, M. (2016). Farmer perspectives of Farm to Institution in Michigan: 2012 survey results of vegetable farmers. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems 31 (1) 60-71. [Obj 1]

Calo, Adam and Kathryn De Master. 2016. “Incubating Transitions? How Land Access Barriers Complicate the Path From Farmworker to Proprietor,” Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development 6(2). DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2016.062.018 [Obj 2]

Dunning, R. 2016. “Collaboration and Commitment in a Regional Supermarket Supply Chain.” Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 6(4): 21-39. [Obj 1]

Rysin, O., and Dunning, R. 2016. “Economic Viability of a Food Hub Business: Assessment of Annual Operational Expenses and Revenues.” Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 6(4): 7-20. [Obj 1]

Feenstra, G. and Hardesty, S. 2016. Values-based supply chains as a strategy for supporting small and mid-scale producers in the United States. Agriculture. 6(3), 39. Doi: 10.3390/agriculture6030039. http://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/6/3/39/html. [Obj 1,2]

Hinrichs, C.C. 2016. Fixing food with ideas of “local” and “place.” Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences 6: 759-764. [Obj 2,3}

Angelo, B., B.B.R. Jablonski, and D. Thilmany, McFadden (authors listed alphabetically). 2016. Meta-analysis of U.S. intermediated markets: Measuring what matters. British Food Journal. 118(5): 1-19. [Obj 1]

Jablonski, B.B.R., T.M. Schmit, and D. Kay. 2016. Assessing the Economic Impacts of Food Hubs on Regional Economies: A Framework that Includes Opportunity Cost. Agricultural and Resource Economics Review. 45(1):143-172. [Obj 1]

Gupta, C. and B.B.R. Jablonski. 2016. The farm impacts of grocers’ ‘local’ purchases: the case of Hawai’i. Journal of Food Distribution Research. 46(3). [Obj 1]

Schmit, T.M., B.B.R. Jablonski, and Y. Mansury. 2016. Assessing the economic impacts of ‘local’ food system producers by scale: a case study from New York. Economic Development Quarterly. 40(4): 316-328. [Obj 2]

Jablonski, B.B.R, D. Thilmany McFadden, and A. Colpaart. 2016. Analyzing the role of community and individual factors in food insecurity: identifying diverse barriers within regions. Journal of Community Health. 41: 910-923. [Obj 2]

Green, Benjamin, Richard Harper and Daniel Lass. “Differing Nursery Production Systems Impact Cost of Planting Oak Species in the Urban Environment.” Hort Technology, 25 (2015): 651-56. [Obj 1, 3]

Fleury, P.; Lev, L.; Brives, H.; Chazoule, C.; Désolé, M.  2016. “Developing Mid-Tier Supply Chains (France) and Values-Based Food Supply Chains (USA): A Comparison of Motivations, Achievements, Barriers and Limitations.” Agriculture. 6, 36. [Obj 1, 2]

Miller, Michelle and Jeremy Solin. 2015. The power of story for motivating adaptive responses—marshaling individual and collective initiative to create more resilient and sustainable food systems. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences 5: 671-684. [Obj 4]

Denny, R.C.H., M.R. Worosz, and N.L.W. Wilson. 2016. The importance of governance levels in alternative food networks: The case of red meat inspection rules. Rural Sociology (DOI: 10.1111/ruso.12103). [Obj 2, 4]

Book chapters

Jablonski, B.B.R. and T.M. Schmit. 2016. Food Hubs: Expanding Local Food to Urban Customers. In Dawson, J. and A. Morales eds. Cities of Farmers: Urban Agricultural Practices and Processes. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press. [Obj 1]

Extension reports and similar non-peer reviewed

• Feenstra, G., Engelskirchen G. Nelson, T. and Campbell, R. 2016. Preparing small, beginning and immigrant producers to capitalize on values-based wholesale marketing channels. Farm Credit report. UC Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program, UC Davis. http://asi.ucdavis.edu/programs/sarep/publications/food-and-society/farm-credit-report-wholesale-buyer-tours-feb2016.pdf [Obj 1]
• Feenstra, G. 2016. Black pig meat company/ Zazu kitchen and farm. Profile for “Beyond fresh and direct: Exploring specialty food marketing opportunities for small and medium-sized farms.” UC Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education Program, UC Davis. http://asi.ucdavis.edu/programs/sarep/publications/food-and-society/specialty-markets-black-pig-profile-2016.pdf [Obj 1, 2]
• Feenstra, G. (PI), Engelskirchen, G., and Nelson, T. 2015. “Resources for Farmers on Breaking into Wholesale Markets” (part of website). UC Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education Program. http://asi.ucdavis.edu/programs/sarep/research-initiatives/fs/supply/breaking-into-selling-wholesale [Obj 1]
• Feenstra, G. and S. Capps. 2015. Final evaluation reports for Yolo County Farm to School Program. UC Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education Program. Prepared for Yolo County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office (Project PI). http://asi.ucdavis.edu/programs/sarep/publications/food-and-society/yolo-farm-to-school-evaluations-2016.pdf [Obj 1,2]
• Fitzsimmons, J.A., “Federal Labor Laws and Farm to Institution Sales in New England: How to Make Sure Your Farm is in Compliance.” UMass Extension Publication.
• Fitzsimmons, J.A., 2016. “Non-Profit Brokers and Farm to Institution Sales in New England: Reduce Your Farm’s Costs When Selling to Institutions.” UMass Extension Publication.
• Fitzsimmons, J.A., “Value-Added Local Food and Farm to Institution Sales in New England: The Just Soup Case Study.” UMass Extension Publication.
• Hardesty, S., Christensen, L.O., McGuire, E., Feenstra, G., Ingels, Ch. Muck, J., Boorinakis-Harper, J., Fake, C. and Oneto, S. 2016. Economic impact of local food producers in the Sacramento region. Final report to UC Agriculture and Natural Resources, UC Davis, Davis, CA, posted at: http://sfp.ucdavis.edu/files/238053.pdf [Obj 1]
• Jablonski, B.B.R., T.M. Schmit, J. Minner, D. Kay, and J. Jensen. 2016. Defining the Rural Wealth Impacts of Regional Food Systems. Research & Policy Brief Series. Cornell University’s Community and Rural Development Institute. 75. [Obj 2]

Theses/dissertations

John Eshleman (May 2016). Issues, Resources, Strategies: A Field-Level Analysis of National Agrifood Organizations. Pennsylvania State University. Dissertation in Rural Sociology/Human Dimensions of Natural Resources & Environment. (Adviser: C. Hinrichs)