Vol 10 No 2 (2021): Special Issue: The Impact of COVID-19 on the Food System
Notes:
3 pgs., Online Journal, Resilient local food systems are a necessary component to keep our communities healthy, especially during times of emergency. With a history of supporting local farmers and food access in less-resourced communities, Fresh Approach was in a prime position at the time of shelter-in-place orders to pivot our efforts to emergency food relief in this time of uncertainty. By collaborating and mobilizing resources, Fresh Approach was able to strengthen existing connections with small farmers, build new relationships with other food access nonprofits, and support families in need by providing them with farm-fresh, local, and healthy produce. We outline how these partnerships and collective efforts have fortified a resilient and transformative food system in our area.
21 pages, via online journal, How an agricultural organization handles the way the media reports a crisis can have an impact on the public’s perceptions of the organization, and sometimes the industry as a whole. The popularity of social media outlets as a venue for disseminating and gathering information and news makes the use of social media surrounding agricultural crises an important topic to investigate (Glynn, Huge, & Hoffman 2012; Hermida, 2010). A qualitative case study was conducted to investigate the use of social media tools during an agricultural crisis. The participants – communications directors, social media managers, and individuals with a close connection to the crisis under study – reported that social media was a major component of their communication efforts surrounding each crisis. Participants felt social media was very effective in these situations and had a major impact on their communication efforts. Although no participants reported using a structured social media strategy or crisis communication plan, they stated a need for such guidelines in the agricultural industry. From the data analyzed in this study, a model for using social media during a crisis situation, aimed specifically for use by those in the agricultural industry, was developed. This project was funded through the USDA's Beginning Farmers & Ranchers Project.
7 pgs., In the last couple of decades, nonprofit organizations have worked to advance the voices of American farm women. Using the internet and social media, they advocate for farm women to have a larger voice in local and national agricultural policymaking. The Women, Food and Agriculture Network (WFAN; https://wfan.org/), is one of these nonprofit organizations (Women, Food, and Agriculture Network, 2019b). Based in Iowa, it offers a variety of programs to encourage farm women to continue farming and to consider pursuing elective office for a stronger female voice in American agriculture (Sachs et al., 2016). Historically, the American woman’s contribution to feeding the country and the world has received recognition only during times of national emergency. For example, during World War II, the U. S. Secretary of Agriculture turned to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Extension Service to create a recruitment program for women to assist with food production. As early as April 1943, the U.S. Congress approved funding for The Farm Labor Supply Appropriation Act. The program became known as the Women’s Land Army (WLA; The Farm Labor Supply Appropriation Act of 1943). The program, operational between 1943 and 1947, called on American women to work on abandoned farms during World War II. Lucrative defense-related jobs were luring farmers from their fields, creating a need for farm laborers. The WLA was administered by the USDA and implemented at the state level by the USDA Extension Service. By 1945, one and a half million non-farm women had been recruited for farm jobs, and WLA membership had risen to almost two million women (Rasmussen, 1951, pp. 148–149). During the last decades of the 20th century, social and economic change had encouraged more women, including farm women, to become politically active. It was not until 1978, when the USDA began collecting data on the gender of the principal farm operators (the USDA term to describe the decision-makers), that women’s role in American farming was confirmed with statistics. According to the USDA Census in 2017, women as principal producers on the farm are slowly growing in number (U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service, 2020, Table 52). These numbers also reflect the first time multiple (two or more) primary producers were reported in the USDA Census of Agriculture (U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service, 2020, Table 47).
17pgs, In this article, we evaluate the rate of return to government efforts to promote broadband. Specifically, we estimate the impact of USDA's broadband loan and grant programs on the average payroll per worker using zip code level data from the Zip Code Business Patterns for the period from 1997 to 2007. Our results indicate that two of the smaller broadband programs (the Pilot loan program and the broadband grants program) likely had no effect on local payroll per workers. On the other hand, the largest program in terms of funding and coverage (the current broadband loan program) likely had a positive impact. Our estimate implies that a $1 per capita increase in a particular zip code's one-time receipt of the current program broadband loan results in a $0.92 increase in payroll per worker annually. Our calculated point estimates of the benefit: cost ratios for this broadband program range from 1.98 to 2.99, depending on assumptions about the time frame over which benefits accrue. However, the confidence intervals are wide enough to include the possibility that the costs outweigh the benefits.
2pgs, Each year, more and more farms accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payments for community supported agriculture (CSA) programs. When farms decide to accept SNAP, it opens the door to a new revenue stream, as well as providing healthy local food to community members with limited incomes. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, more than $63 million in benefits were distributed to SNAP recipients last year, representing a significant market opportunity for farmers (USDA, 2018). In order to capture some of this market share, SNAP recipients need to be aware that your farm accepts SNAP payments for your CSA. Outreach is one of the most important aspects to gaining SNAP recipients as new CSA customers. Below, you will find some key tips for conducting successful outreach to SNAP participants.
Telg, Ricky W. (author), Lundy, Lisa (author), Wandersee, Cassie (author), Mukhtar, Saqib (author), Smith, David (author), Stokes, Phillip (author), and University of Florida
Kansas State University
Texas A&M University
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2018
Published:
United States: New Prairie Press
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 1 Document Number: D10163
14 pages; Article 5, via online journal article, The Cattle and Climate Conversations Workshop for Cooperative Extension and Natural Resources Conservation Service, the last activity funded through a multi-regional United States Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA NIFA) grant, took place in October 2016 in Denver, Colorado, for Extension and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) representatives in the Southwest and Mountain West who work extensively with cattle producers. The purpose of this study was to identify how Extension agents and NRCS personnel in this workshop viewed the issue of “trust,” as it relates to communicating the topic of climate change to cattle producers. Three focus groups, comprised of 29 attendees of the workshop, were conducted simultaneously at the end of the conference. Specific themes about trust included the politically charged nature of climate change, climate change data manipulation, negativity of media surrounding climate change, weathercasters getting predictions wrong, agriculture getting a “black eye” with the public, and participants’ relationships with cattle producers. Findings indicate varying levels of distrust, related to sources of information and influence on the topic of climate change, greatly impact how and whether Extension Service and NRCS employees actually talk “climate change” to cattle producers. Based on the study’s findings, it is recommended that for Extension and NRCS employees to talk about controversial issues, like climate change, it is important to create relationships with clients. In addition, communication and education professionals working with cattle producers should avoid politicizing the topic of climate change if they want climate-related programs to be accepted.
9 pages., Author reports on the benefit-cost ratio (BCR) of agricultural trade promotion, observing an average of $10 return from $1 invested and noting that funds allocated to such promotion have been relatively small. ... "Given the high BCRs to export promotion...as reported by several studies, increased funding to those underfunded programs could produce rather dramatic results..."
