Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

1. Introductions & Reports: After brief introductions of participants, six research groups, funded projects within the NC1198 team gave a presentation about their project, including: “Geeting to Fair: Strategies for Achieving Fair Labor” (by Michelle Miller at UW-Madison); “Impacts of Value Based Supply Chains on Small and Medium Sized Farms” (by Christy Anderson-Brekken, Oregon State University); “Beyond Fresh and Direct (by Jan Joannides and Robert King, University of Minnesota); “From From Apple to Glass: Improving Orchard Profitability” (by Marcy Ostrom, Washington State University); “Big Dat for Sm(All) Farmers (by Alejandro Plastina, Iowa State University); Discussion about Farm and Ranch Profitability HATCH (by Becca Jablonski, Colorado State University).

2. Discussion on Edited Book/Special Issues on a Journal: We spent a considerable amount of discussing the merits of publishing iour work into either an edited book or a special issue of a journal. Junior faculty members can benefit more from peer-reviewed journal manuscripts while senior faculty members may benefit from a book manuscript. Lindsey Day Farnsworth, Kate Clancy, and Michelle Miller will develop a call for abstracts to publish in a journal.

3. Discussion on the NC 1198 Website: David Conner (past chair), Keiko Tanaka (current chair), and Mary Hendrickson (chair elect) will form a committee on the website and develop a set of criteria for our web materials. Becca Jabloski will create a shared google.doc where individual members can list their own website addresses.

4. Dicussion on the 2019 NC 1198 Meeting & Leadership: The 2019 meeting will be held on October 15-16 at the University of Minnesota. Our future chairs will be: Mary Hendrickson (2018-2019), Kathy DeMaster (2019-2020), and Becca Jablonski (2020-2021).

5. Discussion on Policy Issues & Work: Each member is working on one or more policy issues in his/her current work. We had a conference call meeting with the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition. We discussed a possibility of holding an annual meeting in Washington DC either in 2020 or 2021. Our Policy Committee (Kate Clancy, Christy Anderson-Brekken, and Lauren Gwin) will continue to explore the idea of holding a meeting in CD and develop a plan of our future policy work.

ACTION ITEMS

• Website
• Follow-up on Book Discussion/Journal idea - Call for Abstract
• Annual Meeting in DC for 2020 or 2021
• Organizing a Conference within an annual meeting of the existing organization
• Next year’s aggenda

Period between October 1, 2017 - September 30, 2018 (Not previously reported)

SHORT-TERM OUTCOMES

• The project team members obtained 3 additional federal grants and several regional grants (including SARE), concerning this research program.
• This project team now includes 30+ members from 18 states; this nation-wide network enables us to collaborate research, instruction, outreach, and policy activities at the regional and national levels. 

OUTPUTS

A. Webinars

1. Research Briefing for National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (May 31, 2018) We organized a research briefing, delivered as a webinar, for NSAC leadership to hear from NC1198 researchers about topics relevant to NSAC’s issue areas and federal policy.

B. Conference Presentations

Academic Conferences

1. De Master, Kathryn. 2018. “Why Does the Middle Matter? Contemporary Land Questions.” Rural Sociology Society Annual Meeting, July 2018. Portland, Oregon (with Loka Ashwood and Madeleine Fairbairn)
2. De Master, Kathryn. 2018. “Farmland Financialization in McDonough County, Illinois.” Rural Sociology Society Annual Meeting, July 2018. Portland, Oregon. (with John Canfield, Loka Ashwood, Kathryn De Master, and Madeleine Fairbairn, presented by John Canfield)
3. De Master, Kathryn. 2018. “Farmers and Foodies: Urban-Rural Divide in the Food Movement?” Rural Sociology Society Annual Meeting, July 2018. Portland, Oregon. (with Karna Baraboo and Patrick Baur, presented by Kathryn De Master).
4. De Master, Kathryn. 2018. “Contemporary Land Questions and the Agriculture of the Middle.” Agriculture and Human Values Annual Meeting, June 2018. Madison, Wisconsin. 
5. De Master, Kathryn. 2018. “The Place of Place: Fostering Resilient Terroir-Based Agri-Food Clusters in U.S. Agriculture.” Agriculture and Human Values Annual Meeting, June 2018 (with James LaChance, Sarah Bowen, Lillian McNell). Madison, Wisconsin. 
6. De Master, Kathryn. 2018. “Farmers and Foodies: Bringing the Farmer Back In?” Agriculture and Human Values Annual Meeting, June 2018 (with Patrick Baur and Karna Baraboo). Madison, Wisconsin.
7. De Master, Kathryn. 2018. “Multifunctional Mavericks on the Monocultural Margins: Diversified Farming Systems Practices Among Strawberry Growers in California’s Central Coast Region.” Agriculture and Human Values Annual Meeting, June 2018. Madison, Wisconsin.
8. De Master, Kathryn. 2018. “Buying the Farm: Farmland Financialization in McDonough County, Illinois.” Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting, April 2018 (with John Canfield, Loka Ashwood, and Madeleine Fairbairn, presented by John Canfield). New Orleans, LA.
9. Feenstra, Gail. 2018. “Farmer perspectives on mid-tier values-based supply chains: The U.S. and the Northwest,” presentation at the Place Based Food Systems conference, Richmond, BC, Canada, August 9, 2018 (35 attendees).
10. Feenstra, Gail. 2018. “Farmers’ perspectives on mid-tier values-based supply chains,” panel presentation at the Agriculture, Food and Human Values Society conference, Madison, WI, June 16, 2018 (35 attendees).
11. Hardesty, Shermain. 2017. Examining Supplier-Manufacturer Relationships in the Specialty Food Sector. Annual Meeting of the Food Distribution & Research Society, Honolulu, HI, October 23, 2017. (15 attendees)
12. Peterson, H., G. Feenstra, M. Ostrom, K. Tanaka, C. Brekken, and G. Engelskirchen. 2018. “A Report from the AOTM Project: Farmer Perspectives on Mid-Tier Values-Based Supply Chains.” Presented at the 81^st Annual Meeting of the Rural Sociological Society, Portland, OR, July 2018.
13. Tanaka, K. 2018. “Preliminary Farmer Survey Results. Marketing Strategies Based on Shared Values: Farmers’ Experiences with and Perspectives on Value Based Supply Chains.” Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Southern Rural Sociological Association, Jacksonville, FL, February 2018. H. Peterson, M. Ostrom, G. Feenstra, and C.A. Brekken).
14. Tanaka, K., H. Hyden, H. Peterson, G. Feenstra, M. Ostrom, and C.A. Brekken. 2017 “Linking Farmers with Consumers: Key Characteristics of Values-Based Supply Chains and Food Hubs in the United States. Presented at the 80^th Annual Meeting of the Rural Sociological Society, Columbus, OH, July 2017.

Non-Academic Conferences

1. Feenstra, Gail. 2018. “Adding Value to your Farm Products,” presentation with Penny Leff at the Armed to Farm Workshop, sponsored by the Community Alliance with Family Farmers, Davis, CA, April 18, 2018 (20 attendees).
2. Feenstra, Gail. 2018. “Farmers’ perspectives on food hubs and value chains,” presentation at the National Good Food Network Food Hub conference, Albuquerque, NM, March 29, 2018 (40 attendees).
3. Feenstra, Gail. 2017.  “Expanding small and mid-scale farms’ production of value-added foods,” presentation on a panel at the California Small Farm Conference, Stockton, CA, October 30, 2017 (35 attendees).
4. Feenstra, Gail. 2017. “The future of food – Keys to a local sustainable food system,” presentation at the Heritage Presbyterian Church, Benicia, CA, October 25, 2017 (35 attendees).

Poster Presentations

1. Hesser, Kevin; Morrison, Odile; Feenstra, Gail and Capps, Shosha. 2018. “Increasing Access to Local Fruits and Vegetables in Rural Calaveras County through a School-Based CSA & Education Model.” National Farm to Cafeteria Conference, Cincinnati, OH.
2. King, Robert; Feenstra, Gail; Hardesty, Shermain; Houston, Laurie; Joannides, Jan; Lev, Larry. 2017. “Supplier-Manufacturer Relationships in the Specialty Food Sector.” XV EAAE Congress 2017, Parma, Italy.

Invited Presentations

1. De Master, Kathryn. “Why the Middle Matters: Land, Labor, and New Forms of Capital in American Agriculture.” Department of Sociology Seminar Series. Colorado State University, April 27, 2018.
2. Feenstra, Gail. 2018. “Increasing the capacity of place-based food systems: Challenges and opportunities in food system infrastructure and distribution,” Keynote presentation at the Place Based Food Systems conference, Richmond, BC, Canada, August 10, 2018 (200 attendees).
3. Tanaka, Keiko. 2018. “What’s Social about Social Sustainability of Local Food Systems?” Presented as an invited Breakout Session Speaker in the session, Eating Well Together: Developing Partnerships For A Local Food Economy at Our Farms, Our Future: Envisioning the Next 30 Years of Sustainable Agriculture, St. Louis, MO, April 3-5, 2018.
4. Tanaka, Keiko. 2017. Panelist. Key to Our Common Future Symposium on Emerging Technologies and Sustainability: Interactions between Science & Society, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Kentucky, December 1, 2017.

C. Data

• Database of the food hubs and analysis will become available at http://agofthemiddle.org/. It is still at progress. 
• Website of economics of cover crops. A compendium of research instruments, findings, peer-reviewed publications, extension materials, and online decision tools: https://www.card.iastate.edu/conservation/economics-of-cover-crops/

D. Fact Sheets

1. Lev, L., Feenstra, G., Hardesty, S., Houston, L., Joannides, J. and King, R. 2018. “Standards: What do you need to know about the standards that must be met?” Fact sheet written as part of “Beyond Fresh & Direct” AFRI project, competitive grant # 2015-68006-22906 from USDA NIFA. http://asi.ucdavis.edu/programs/sarep/research-initiatives/fs/supply/copy2_of_BFDstandards_1008_2018.pdf
2. Lev, L., Feenstra, G., Hardesty, S., Houston, L., Joannides, J. and King, R. 2018. “Value Added: should you produce your own specialty food products? Fact sheet written as part of “Beyond Fresh & Direct” AFRI project, competitive grant # 2015-68006-22906 from USDA NIFA. http://asi.ucdavis.edu/programs/sarep/research-initiatives/BFDvalueadded_1008_2018.pdf
3. Lev, L., Feenstra, G., Hardesty, S., Houston, L., Joannides, J. and King, R. 2018. “Criteria: What criteria must you meet to sell to specialty food manufacturers?” Fact sheet written as part of “Beyond Fresh & Direct” AFRI project, competitive grant # 2015-68006-22906 from USDA NIFA. http://asi.ucdavis.edu/programs/sarep/research-initiatives/BFDcriteria_1008_2018.pdf
4. Lev, L., Feenstra, G., Hardesty, S., Houston, L., Joannides, J. and King, R. 2018. “Connections: How can farmers and specialty food manufacturers connect?” Fact sheet written as part of “Beyond Fresh & Direct” AFRI project, competitive grant # 2015-68006-22906 from USDA NIFA. http://asi.ucdavis.edu/programs/sarep/research-initiatives/BFDconnections1008_2018.pdf
5. Lev, L., Feenstra, G., Hardesty, S., Houston, L., Joannides, J. and King, R. 2018. “Benefits: How can sourcing directly from farmers benefit specialty food manufacturers?” Fact sheet written as part of “Beyond Fresh & Direct” AFRI project, competitive grant # 2015-68006-22906 from USDA NIFA. http://asi.ucdavis.edu/programs/sarep/research-initiatives/BFDbenefit_1008_2018.pdf

ACTIVITIES

A. Webinars

• Research Briefing for National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (May 31, 2018) We organized a research briefing, delivered as a webinar, for NSAC leadership to hear from NC1198 researchers about topics relevant to NSAC’s issue areas and federal policy.
• We are plan to organize more webinars between October 1, 2018 and September 30, 2019.

B. Policy Briefing Session

• At this annual meeting, we discussed a possibility of organizing a policy briefing session for lobbist organizations in Washington DC. Policy Committee has been charged to develop a plan.

C. Mini-Conference

• At this annual meeting, we discussed a possiblity of organizing a mini-conference on the agriculture of the middle within the existing conference, e.g., Agriculture and Human Values, Food Distribution Research, Rural Sociological Society.  

E. Workshops for Farmers

1. Feenstra, G. 2018. “Marketing & Business Management for Urban Farmers, Oversaw and helped implement and spoke at this workshop for urban farmers, San Diego, CA, April 19, 2018 (20 attendees).
2. Feenstra, G. 2018. “Marketing & Business Management for Urban Farmers, Oversaw and helped implement and spoke at this workshop for urban farmers, Davis, CA, March 16, 2018. (20 attendees).
3. Feenstra, G. 2018. “Meet the buyer tour for North Bay farmers,” Oversaw planning for this 1-day tour for small farmers interested in selling to regional buyers, Petaluma, CA, December 4, 2017 (25 attendees).
4. Feenstra, G. 2017. “Yolo County Agritourism Professional Development Workshop,” Helped plan this 2 day tour/workshop for professionals working with farmers interested in agritourism, Woodland, CA, November 14-15, 2017 (20 attendees).

MILESTONES

By September 30, 2019, this project team will:

• Develop a plan for publishing a collection of our research work either via a journal or edited book;
• Organize at least one webinar on ag-of-the-middle policy issues;
• Develop a plan for a more impactful policy activity (e.g., policy briefing); and
• Update the ag-of-the-middle website, which will include data sets, reports, and the links to publications

Journal Articles

1. Shideler, D., A. Bauman, D. Thilmany, BBR Jablonski. 2018. "Putting Local Food Dollars to Work: The Economic Benefits of Local Food Dollars to Workers, Farms and Communities." Choices: The Magazine of Food, Farm, and Resource Issues. 33(3).  
2. Brekken, CA, C. Dickson, H.H. Peterson, M. Ostrom, G. Feestra, and K. Tanaka. "Economic Impact of Values-Based Supply Chain Participation on Small and Mid-Sized Produce Farms". Journal Food Distribution Research. Forthcoming.
3. Brekken, CA, M Parks, M Lundgren. 2017. "Oregon producer and consumer engagement in regional food networks: Motivations and future opportunities." Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development7(4).
4. Bauman, A. G., D. Thilmany McFadden, and B.B.R. Jablonski. 2018. “The financial performance implications of differential marketing strategies: Exploring farms that pursue local markets as a core competitive advantage.” Agricultural and Resource Economics Review.
5. Bauman, A., D. Thilmany McFadden, and B.B.R. Jablonski. 2018. “Evaluating scale and technical efficiency among farms and ranches with a local market orientation.” Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1742170517000680
6. Burmeister, L. and K. Tanaka. 2017. “Fair Labor Practices in Values-Based Agrifood Supply Chains?” Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development. 7(3): 17-22.
7. Christensen, L.O., B.B.R. Jablonski, L. Stephens, and A. Joshi. Accepted. “Evaluating the economic impacts of farm to school: An approach for primary and secondary financial data collection of producers selling to schools.” Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development.
8. Christensen, L.O., B.B.R. Jablonski, and J. O’Hara. 2018. “School districts and their local food supply chains: Implications for farm to school programs.” Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1742170517000540
9. Clancy et al. (12 authors). 2017 . "Using a market basket to explore regional food systems". Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development. 7(4)” 163-178.
10. Clark, J.K. and B. BR Jablonski. 2018. "Federal Policy, Administration, and Local Food Coming of Age." Choices: The Magazine of Food, Farm, and Resource Issues33(3).
11. Conner, D., Sims, K., Berkfield, R. and Harrington, H. (Published online December 12, 2017). Do farmers and other suppliers benefit from sales to food hubs? Evidence from Vermont. Journal of Hunger and Environmental Nutrition.
12. De Master, K. and J. Daniels. “Desert Wonderings: Reimagining Food Access Mapping,” conditionally accepted, Agriculture and Human Values. Forthcoming.
13. De Master, K. 2018. “New Inquiries into the Agri-Cultures of the Middle.” Culture, Agriculture, Food and Environment. Published online October 2018: (DOI) - 10.1111/cuag.12219.
14. Feenstra, G., Hardesty, S., Lev, L., Houston, L., King, R., and Joannides, J. 2018. “Beyond fresh and direct: exploring the specialty food industry as a market outlet for small-and medium-sized farms.” Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems 0, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1742170517000722.
15. Hardesty, S., R.P. King, G. Feenstra, L. Houston, J. Joannides, and L. Lev. 2018. "Exploring Supplier-Manufacturer Relationships in the Specialty Food Sector" Journal of Food Distribution Research. 49(1)
16. Hendrickson, Mary K., Harvey S. James, Jr., Annette Kendall, and Christine Sanders. 2018. “The Assessment of Fairness in Agricultural Markets.” Geoforum96:41-50
17. Jablonski, B., M. Hendrickson, S. Vogel and T. Schmitt. 2017. “Local and Regional Food Systems Driving Rural Economic Development.” Chapter 3 in Harvesting Opportunity: The Power of Regional Food System Investments to Transform Communities. USDA and Federal Reserve System Collaboration Joint Publication.
18. Naasz, E., B. BR Jablonski, D. Thilmany. 2018. "State Branding Programs and Local Food Purchases." Choices: The Magazine of Food, Farm, and Resource Issues.33(3).
19. Nogeire-McRae, T., E.P. Ryan, B.B.R. Jablonski, M., H.S. Arathi, C.S. Brown, H.H. Saki, S. McKeen, E. Lapansky, M.E. Schipanski. 2018. "The Role of Urban Agriculture in a Secure, Healthy, and Sustainable Food System." BioScience68 (10), 748-759
20. Ostrom, M., K. De Master, E. Noe, and M. Schermer. 2017. “Values Based Food Chains from a Transatlantic Perspective: Exploring a Middle Tier of Regional Agrifood System Development,” International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food24: No 1: 1-14.
21. Ostrom, M., K. De Master, E. Noe, and M. Schermer, Special Issue Co-editors. 2017. “Evolutions in the Middle: Transnational Perspectives on Values Based Food Chains,”International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food 24: No 1.
22. Palmer et al.(9 authors). 2017. "Between global and local: exploring regional food systems from the perspective of four communities in the US Northeast." Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development. 187-205.
23. Plastina, A. Forthcoming. “Declining Liquidity in Iowa Farms: 2014-2017.” Journal of the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers.
24. Plastina, Alejandro; Liu, Fangge; Sawadgo, Wendiam; Miguez, Fernando E.; Carlson, Sarah; and Marcillo, Guillermo. 2018. "Annual Net Returns to Cover Crops in Iowa," Journal of Applied Farm Economics: Vol. 2 : Iss. 2 , Article 2. Available at: https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/jafe/vol2/iss2/2
25. Plastina, A., Liu, F., Miguez, F., & Carlson, S. 2018. Cover crops use in Midwestern US agriculture: Perceived benefits and net returns. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, 1-11. doi:10.1017/S1742170518000194
26. Plastina, A., and C. Hart. 2018. (Open Access). “Is ARC-CO acting as a Safety Net Program? Evidence from Iowa.” Choices. Quarter 1.
27. Rossi, James, Thomas G. Johnson, and Mary Hendrickson. 2017. “The Economic Impacts of Local and Conventional Food Sales.” Journal of Agriculture and Applied Economics. 49(4).
28. Saulters, Mary Margaret, Mary K. Hendrickson and Fabio Chaddad. 2018. “Fairness in alternative food networks: An exploration with Midwestern social entrepreneurs.” Agriculture and Human Values. Accepted 2/1/2018.

Book Chapters

1. Hendrickson, Mary, Harvey James and William D. Heffernan. 2019. “Vertical Integration and Concentration in US Agriculture.” Forthcoming in Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics, 2nd Editionedited by D. M. Kaplan. Dordrecht: Springer Science and Business Media.
2. Hendrickson, Mary K., Philip H. Howard, and Douglas H. Constance. 2019. “Power, Food and Agriculture: Implications for Farmers, Consumers and Communities.” Forthcoming in In Defense of Farmers: The Future of Agriculture in the Shadow of Corporate Power,edited by Jane W. Gibson and Sara E. Alexander. Lincoln NE: University of Nebraska Press.
3. Hinrichs, C. 2018. "Food and Localism." In J. Konefal and M. Hatanaka, eds. Twenty Lessons in the Sociology of Food and Agriculture.Oxford University Press.
4. Howard, P. 2018. "Increasing Corporate Control: From Supermarkets to Seeds." In J. Konefal and M. Hatanaka, eds. Twenty Lessons in the Sociology of Food and Agriculture.Oxford University Press.
5. Howard, Philip H. Forthcoming. Corporate Concentration in Global Meat Processing: The Role of Feed and Finance Subsidies. In Global Meat: Social and Environmental Consequences of the Expanding Meat Industry(Bill Winders and Elizabeth Ransom, eds.). MIT Press.
6. Jablonski, B., M. Hendrickson, S. Vogel and T. Schmitt. 2017. “Local and Regional Food Systems Driving Rural Economic Development.” Chapter 3 in Harvesting Opportunity: The Power of Regional Food System Investments to Transform Communities. USDA and Federal Reserve System Collaboration Joint Publication.

Non Peer Reviewed

1. King, R., Lev, L., Houston, L., Feenstra, G., Hardesty, S., Joannides, J. 2017. “A survey of specialty food manufacturers to assess whether they represent an attractive outlet for small and medium-size farmers.” Working paper/ Staff paper P17-05, University of Minnesota, Department of Applied Economics. http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/263408/files/Staff%20Paper%20P17-05--Robert%20P%20King%2C%20et%20al--9-22-17.pdf.
2. Peterson, H.H., G. Feenstra, M. Ostrom, and Tanaka. 2017. “Impacts of Values-Based Supply Chains on Small and Medium-Sized Farms.” Journal of Food Distribution Research, 48(1): 105-106. Conference Proceeding Issue.