Farm to Institution New England: Mobilizing the Power of a Region’s Institutions to Transform a Region’s Food System

2019 ◽  
pp. 175-194
Author(s):  
Nessa J. Richman ◽  
Peter H. Allison ◽  
Hannah R. Leighton
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
Food System ◽  
Farm To Institution

scholarly journals Farm to Institution to Farm: Circular Food Systems With Native Entomoculture

2022 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick J. Shafer ◽  
Yolanda H. Chen ◽  
Travis Reynolds ◽  
Eric J. B. von Wettberg
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
Food Waste ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Waste Recycling ◽  
Edible Insects ◽  
Waste Streams ◽  
Regional Food ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Farm To Institution

Edible insects recycle food waste, which can help feed a hungrier planet by making food systems more circular and diversifying protein production. The potential for entomophagy (i.e., insect cuisine) to contribute to waste recycling and lower input food production is only beginning to be explored in the U.S., although insects have been consumed by people for millennia in a wide range of cultures. In this perspective piece, we consider as a case study the potential for university foodservice programs in New England to serve as incubators for circular entomophagous food systems. Students are likely early adopters of entomophagy because they increasingly demand sustainable non-meat protein options. University foodservices meanwhile purchase large amounts of food wholesale from local producers, utilize standardized pre-processing, and generate consistent waste streams which may be valuable feed for local insect farmers. Current Farm to Institution approaches strengthen regional food systems by connecting small farmers with university foodservices; we argue that a similar model (Farm to Institution to Farm) could support establishment of local insect farms, introduce edible insects to a relatively receptive base of university student customers, and provide a more sustainable mechanism for repurposing university food waste as insect feed. But to enable this type of food system, additional requirements include: (1) research on domestication of native insect species; (2) investment in processing capacity, ensuring new insect farmers have reliable markets for raw insect products; (3) infrastructure to recirculate waste streams within existing food systems; and (4) creation of recipes that entice new insect consumers.

scholarly journals New England food policy councils: An assessment of organizational structure, policy priorities and public participation

Elem Sci Anth ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cathryn A. Porter ◽  
Catherine M. Ashcraft
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
New England ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Food System ◽  
Food Policy ◽  
Food Justice ◽  
Common Mechanism ◽  
The Public ◽  
Policy Initiatives ◽  
Food Policy Councils

Food policy councils (FPCs) are an increasingly common mechanism to improve participation in food system decision-making. Including individuals from under-represented groups can foster greater understanding of their needs and experiences with food system barriers and is an important part of food justice. However, engaging under-represented groups in food systems decision-making remains challenging for FPCs. This paper presents the results from a survey of FPCs and networks in New England to: (1) identify FPC policy priorities, (2) characterize FPCs engaged in policy initiatives based on attributes which, based on the literature, may impact effective public participation: geographic scale, organization type, capacity, policy priorities, and membership, and (3) analyze methods for engaging the public in FPC policy initiatives and demographic groups and sectors engaged. Findings indicate only half of New England FPCs work on policy efforts. Many surveyed FPCs engage multiple food system sectors and under-represented groups through a combination of different public participation opportunities. However, results indicate that New England FPCs could benefit from a greater focus on engaging under-represented audiences. FPCs interested in engaging more diverse participants should commit to a focus on food justice, strive for representative membership through intentional recruitment, and offer multiple methods to engage the public throughout policy initiatives.

Farmer perspectives of Farm to Institution in Michigan: 2012 survey results of vegetable farmers

2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colleen Matts ◽  
David S. Conner ◽  
Caitlin Fisher ◽  
Shakara Tyler ◽  
Michael W. Hamm
Keyword(s):  
Transaction Costs ◽  
Food System ◽  
Local Food ◽  
Eating Habits ◽  
System Development ◽  
Survey Study ◽  
Willingness To Participate ◽  
Vegetable Farmers ◽  
K 12 ◽  
Farm To Institution

AbstractLocal food purchasing programs at institutions such as K-12 schools, colleges and hospitals offer benefits including supporting farms and local economies, encouraging more healthful eating habits of patrons and fostering closer connections between farmers and consumers. Increasing in number and expanding in breadth, Farm to Institution (FTI) markets are promising outlets that may fulfill social and economic motivations for farmers. However, significant challenges and barriers have kept many from participating; farmers interested in this market will incur transaction costs, with high negotiation costs in particular due to product differentiation (in this case, by provenance) and less established markets and terms. Researchers have just begun to study farmers’ perspectives on FTI and, to date, have primarily done so through convenience sampling. By utilizing a representative farmer sample, this study provides a major contribution to FTI research. This survey study was designed to better understand Michigan vegetable farmers’ interest and willingness to participate in institutional markets and to identify perceived barriers and opportunities. Michigan is an ideal location for this research as it boasts one of the most diverse sets of agricultural crops in the US, has an economy highly reliant on the food and agriculture industry and has thriving FTI activity with extensive, ongoing outreach, education and research. Results of this survey study showed that half (50%) of the respondents (n = 311) reported interest in selling to at least one institution type (of K-12 schools, colleges and hospitals), but only a small percentage (7%) had yet sold produce to institutions. The most frequently reported motivators to sell to institutions were supplying healthy foods to customers (77%), fair, steady prices (77%) and supplying local food to consumers (76%), indicating that farmers’ motivations are largely based in social values. Smaller scale farmers (less than 25 acres) were significantly less likely to rate economic factors and help in meeting logistical challenges as important, which suggests that they see more potential social value in FTI markets while larger farmers will seek to minimize their transaction costs related to this market. This research can inform the development of scale-appropriate farmer education to foster this market opportunity and its contribution to regional food system development. As demand for local food increases, it is critical to further examine the viability of FTI markets and continue to understand the opportunities and challenges to farmers of different types and scales to participate.

Organic Futures

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Connor J Fitzmaurice ◽  
Brian J. Gareau
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
Food System ◽  
The United States ◽  
Grocery Store ◽  
Farmers Markets ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Small Communities ◽  
Critical Scholarship ◽  
Organic Farmers ◽  
Difficult Terrain

Walking through nearly any grocery store, contemporary American consumers are bound to encounter organic food. At any of the myriad of farmers’ markets that have sprung up in cities and small communities across the United States, shoppers can expect to see claims about the provenance and farming practices employed to grow everything from prized heirloom tomatoes to seemingly mundane heads of garlic. But behind the scenes, critical scholarship has shown that organic farming increasingly resembles the industrial food system organic pioneers set out to challenge. Faced with the pressures of the modern agricultural economy many farmers have conventionalized, intensifying how they farm in the face of tremendous competition and cost. Beyond the organic labels, emblazoned on products at the supermarket and the glistening bushel baskets arrayed in market stalls, are farmers, many of whom are trying to do their best to achieve sustainability in today’s food system. This book offers a glimpse into this world, through an ethnography of a small New England farm and the people who work in its fields. It sheds light on how small-scale farmers navigate the difficult terrain between ideals of sustainability and the economic realities of contemporary farming. Using new theories of economic sociology, this book moves beyond the current debates about the conventionalization of organic agriculture. Instead, it takes a relational approach to organic practices—investigating the complex ways market pressures, moral and emotional attachments, privilege, and personal relationships intersect to shape the everyday experiences of agriculture for today’s organic farmers and their consumers.

A capacity assessment of New England's large animal slaughter facilities as relative to meat production for the regional food system

2011 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 192-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chelsea Bardot Lewis ◽  
Christian J. Peters
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
Food System ◽  
Livestock Production ◽  
Early Summer ◽  
Physical Capacity ◽  
Meat Production ◽  
Large Animal ◽  
Regional Food ◽  
Regional Food System ◽  
Demand Seasonality

AbstractDemand for locally and regionally produced meat has stimulated increased interest in livestock production among New England farmers. The region's livestock producers lament lack of access to slaughter and processing infrastructure. However, there is very little research on New England's slaughter industry to document this perceived problem. For this reason, we tested the hypothesis that a shortage of slaughter and processing infrastructure constrains the production of livestock for meat in New England. The region's large animal slaughter facility owners and managers were surveyed to determine current slaughter and processing capacity and identify challenges facilities face in meeting increased producer demand. The estimates of current capacity were then compared to USDA data on livestock slaughter and large animal marketings. The region's existing abattoirs could slaughter 63–84% of all animals marketed, but could process only 29–43%. New England's infrastructure for slaughter operated at only 38% of total physical capacity in 2009, while on-site processing infrastructure operated at 66% of total physical capacity (78% if only on-site inspected capacity is considered). Moreover, surveys with facility operators showed that the primary constraints faced by existing slaughterhouses are a shortage of skilled labor and the seasonality of the livestock industry, with periods of very high demand for slaughter in the fall and very low demand in the spring and early summer. Additional infrastructure, particularly for processing, would be needed were regional livestock production to increase. However, simply increasing physical capacity will not address the issues of labor availability and demand seasonality expressed by slaughter facility owners.

Why Supermarket Organic Matters

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Connor J. Fitzmaurice ◽  
Brian J. Gareau
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
Regulatory Focus ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Organic Food ◽  
The United States ◽  
Alternative Farming ◽  
Chemical Inputs ◽  
Relational Strategies ◽  
Radical Shift

In 2000, a radical shift occurred in the organic food system: the majority of organic food in the United States began to be sold in ordinary supermarkets. This chapter examines how the regulatory focus on chemical inputs facilitated the fragmentation and homogenization of organic farming, yielding a conventionalized organic industry capable of delivering food at a supermarket-sized scale. It also examines how these processes limit organic agriculture’s potential to represent a sustainable solution to the problems of modern food systems. This chapter begins with a discussion of what environmental, social, and economic sustainability in the food system would entail. It then examines the concentration of industrial influence in the organic sector in the wake of the federal organic standards, and looks critically at whether industrial organic practices can meet the challenges of sustainability. Finally, the chapter points to theories of bifurcation, which examine structural positions within capitalist agriculture that may offer spaces for alternative farming practices, particularly in places like New England. This chapter also notes, however, that such approaches focus on the political economy of agriculture, leaving the relational strategies alternative farmers use to take advantage of such structural holes unexplored.

Purchasing foods produced on organic, small and local farms: A mixed method analysis of New England consumers

2009 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 267-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Berlin ◽  
W. Lockeretz ◽  
R. Bell
Keyword(s):  
Focus Groups ◽  
New England ◽  
Rural Economy ◽  
Food System ◽  
Mail Survey ◽  
Rural Landscape ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Individual Interviews ◽  
Consumer Values ◽  
Method Analysis

AbstractResearch focused on consumer behavior and attitudes toward organic, small-scale and locally produced foods can help organic producers understand consumer values, and in turn develop production and marketing approaches that match these values. This research on New England area food shoppers included focus groups, individual interviews, and a mail survey, all of which helped us to identify relationships between organic food buying and consumers' views of the food system. Comments made in focus groups and individual interviews revealed a frequent blending of the concepts of local, small-scale and organic, and their associated benefits. Subsequent mail surveys identified similar tendencies, although respondents made some distinctions among the reasons why they bought food from the three farm categories. When there were differences, respondents tended to attribute greater importance to reasons to buy from local farms, as compared to organic or small farms. The six questions for which the differences across farm categories had the lowest P-values were related to the environment, rural economy, rural landscape, farmers, product freshness and product taste. However, freshness, taste, nutritional quality and safety were some of the most compelling reasons that were attributed to all three farm categories. The challenge for the small, local and organic producer will be to continue to hold the consumer's attention as the general perception of organic farming shifts to a more industrialized model.

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