From amy at lysoncenter.org Fri Apr 8 09:53:52 2022 From: amy at lysoncenter.org (Amy Christian) Date: Sun Mar 17 22:50:40 2024 Subject: [Foodplanning] JAFSCD Article Heads-up: Farm to hospital; USDA Organic certification; Food sovereignty in the Mississippi Delta In-Reply-To: <0.0.1E4.C9D.1D84B6573F32F70.0@drone117.ral.icpbounce.com> References: <0.0.1E4.C9D.1D84B6573F32F70.0@drone117.ral.icpbounce.com> Message-ID: <007201d84b69$3cec2d70$b6c48850$@lysoncenter.org> View this email in a web browser Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development JAFSCD Article Heads-up ~ April 8, 2022 JAFSCD is published with the support of our annual partners. JAFSCD Website How can hospitals use food procurement to advance sustainable food systems? Peer-reviewed article by Phillip Warsaw (Michigan State U) and Alfonso Morales (U of Wisconsin-Madison) Full article Over the last two decades, the role that hospitals play in their local communities has evolved significantly. Hospitals have embraced the impact they can have on the public, economic, and environmental health of their communities. Farm-to-hospital (FTH) programs have emerged as an important strategy for hospitals to leverage their buying power to support healthier eating habits, as well as stimulate local economic development and community wealth-building. However, organizational and logistical constraints connected to local food procurement have been significant barriers to their widespread adoption. In a new JAFSCD article, " Farm-to-hospital programs and public health: Leveraging local food for organizational and behavioral change," authors Phillip Warsaw and Alfonso Morales present a case study of a successful effort by hospitals in the University of Wisconsin Health System to develop a farm-to-hospital program by restructuring organizational roles to facilitate local food procurement, and through innovative marketing strategies meant to generate customer support. KEY FINDINGS * Growth in local food procurement was initiated by a growing desire within the hospital to have its foodservice better reflect its public health mission. * Connecting nutritionists and foodservice professionals in a single department reduced organizational barriers to local food procurement. * Emphasizing the benefits of eating local produce increased consumer demand for fresh produce and other ?healthy? food items, reducing the economic pressure that came with increased local food purchases. * Increasing local food procurement exposed hospital professionals to the broader community impacts of their foodservice (e.g., stronger local businesses), which further strengthened the farm-to-hospital program. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FOOD PRACTICE AND RESEARCH * Institutions should conduct internal audits to identify organizational structures that facilitate or inhibit local food purchasing. * Emphasizing the non-health benefits of local food purchases may mitigate consumer pushback to changes in product offerings. * Estimating the economic and social impact of local food procurement is of significant interest to institutional stakeholders, and developing tools to facilitate that process is an area of future research. Suggested Facebook and Instagram posts: How can hospitals support the development of sustainable food systems? New research suggests that local food procurement may be a key strategy to encourage healthier eating habits and local economic development. The article describes the organizational strategy two clinics took in increasing their local food purchases. Read the whole article for free: https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2022.112.017 ?Suggested tweet: How can #hospitals support #sustainable #foodsystems? New @JAFSCD #casestudy suggests #LocalFood procurement can encourage #HealthyEating & local #EconomicDevelopment. #FarmToInstitution #SustainableFoodSystems Read for free: https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2022.112.017 Data on noncompliance records shed light on the administrative burdens of organic certification Peer-reviewed article by David P. Carter (U of Utah), Ian T. Adams (U of South Carolina, Columbia), Seth Wright (U of Utah), and Tyler A. Scott (U of California, Davis) Full article Many of the challenges organic producers and processors experience are caused by how their compliance with organic standards is monitored and enforced?in particular, the bureaucratic hurdles they must surmount to verify that their operational practices meet organic certification requirements. In fact, many contend that the onerous administrative requirements, from paperwork to application fees, contribute to contemporary transformations in the organic market, as larger agri-food entities? capacity to absorb the administrative costs that frustrate smaller operations may contribute to organic market ?conventionalization? and consolidation. In a new JAFSCD article, ? Appraising the administrative burden of USDA organic certification: A descriptive analysis of Notice of Noncompliance data,? researchers David Carter, Ian Adams, Seth Wright, and Tyler Scott use a unique dataset derived from organic certification noncompliance records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request to investigate the administrative burden of U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) organic certification. KEY FINDINGS A descriptive analysis of a randomly drawn sample from over 5,000 notice of noncompliance letters (mostly from 2015) reveals that they largely cite the administrative aspects of compliance verification, such as recordkeeping, application paperwork, and fees. Indeed, the findings indicate that documented noncompliances pertaining to administrative issues outnumber those related to substantive ones (e.g., organic farming and food processing methods) by more than two to one. Meanwhile, the researchers? experiences obtaining the records through a Freedom of Information Act request (as well as the records receive) indicate that the USDA pays little attention to the notice of noncompliance communications issued by public, nonprofit, and private-sector certifiers under its authority. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POLICY, PRACTICE, AND RESEARCH Coupled with existing scholarship and anecdotal accounts, the findings add evidence to claims that the structure of U.S. organic certification makes the program particularly demanding for operations without the resources, personnel, or capacity to meet paperwork and recordkeeping requirements. Thus, to maintain a vibrant non-industrial organic market, policymakers and regulators might search for creative ways to alleviate such requirements for smaller-scale operations. Suggested Facebook and Instagram posts: What do noncompliance letters say about the challenges of USDA organic certification? A unique dataset compiled from records accessed through FOIA provides a snapshot of the administrative burdens navigated by organic farmers. Read the entire JAFSCD article for free: https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2022.112.020 Suggested tweet: What noncompliance letters say about challenges of #USDA #organic: @DCarterSLC, LiminalMori, @TylerScottPhD, @SethRWright examine organic certification #administrativeburdens through dataset of #FIOA accessed records. Read @JAFSCD article for free: https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2022.112.020 The National Farm to School Network (NFSN) ? a JAFSCD shareholder ? has launched a new State Policy Map resource. NFSN is hosting a state policy roundtable for NFSN Partners on Thursday, April 28, at 12 pm CT. If you're a NFSN Partner working on a state bill regarding farm-to-school activities, local procurement or producer support, universal meals, school wellness policies, or any related topics, you're encouraged to attend. To register, or if you can't attend but have bills that you would like displayed, contact Mackenize Martinez. Food sovereignty in the Mississippi Delta Peer-reviewed article by Dr. Emily A. Holmes, Dr. Mary Campbell (both at Christian Brothers U), and Ryan Betz (Independent scholar) Full article Food sovereignty is the idea that a community of people should have control not just over food consumption, but also over the mechanisms and policies related to food production and distribution. The ideal of community food sovereignty emerged with peasant farmers in the global south and indigenous communities around the world working to preserve their food traditions. It can also be applied to under-resourced rural and urban communities in the U.S. that seek to create a more just and equitable food system. In a new JAFSCD article, ? ?What we raise ourselves?: Growing food sovereignty in the Mississippi Delta,? authors Emily Holmes, Mary Campbell, and Ryan Betz present findings from a food sovereignty study of communities affiliated with the Delta EATS school garden program. Their research assesses the level of local control over the production, distribution, and consumption of food in three communities of the Mississippi Delta. Through focus groups, surveys, site visits, and participant observation, the authors found low levels of food sovereignty but high levels of agency and ingenuity in accessing and obtaining desired foods, along with abundant interest in preserving and passing on traditional foodways. KEY FINDINGS * Most of the food people eat is not produced in the Delta. * The distance to full-service grocery stores in rural areas inhibits food choices. * The availability of fresh foods, especially fruits and vegetables, is limited. * The costs of fresh food are prohibitive for many people. * Residents rely on churches, gas stations, and convenience stores as primary sources of food. * Residents believe that local government, nonprofit organizations, and federal or state agencies and staff should take the lead in solving community food problems. * Participants would like to have more farmers markets, community gardens, and traditional food cooking classes. * Residents rely on school gardens to maintain food traditions, engage students in food growing and nutrition, and serve as a source of food. * The community would like local farmers to benefit from food production in the Delta. * Residents do not feel they have food sovereignty in terms of access to food, food variety, food quality, cost of and distance to food, locally produced and distributed food, and food policy. * Residents do exercise control over the food options they have through some combination of comparison shopping, shopping at multiple stores, using SNAP and other benefits such as WIC, using the school lunch and breakfast programs, and sharing the word about other food programs. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POLICY, PRACTICE, AND RESEARCH The authors? initial research findings were shared with the Delta EATS USDA Community Foods Project Planning Committee, a group formed to plan an expansion of school garden-related activities. This committee was organized around the Delta EATS school communities and included stakeholders in the Delta food system such as local farmers, school cafeteria workers, FoodCorps members, nonprofit leaders, local government officials, and USDA employees. Based on this research, the community-led planning group identified four strategies to strengthen their local food system: build the farm-to-school network to support cafeteria contracts with local farmers; organize school-led family cooking nights to pass on skills and traditions; add chicken coops to the school gardens to enhance garden education; and create a coalition of school and community garden boosters. Because this research demonstrated the need and desire for greater food sovereignty in the Delta, the planning committee coalesced around these specific food projects. Project implementation meant that community survey and focus group participants had a direct impact on the local food system in which they are embedded. Through the process of partnership, feedback, and implementation, this research provides a model of community-engaged scholarship that partners with practitioners in the field to effect change in the food system. Although ?sovereignty? was a concept historically invoked by white supremacists in Mississippi in order to uphold racist policies of segregation, this concept can be reclaimed to apply to local food initiatives, such as school gardens and farmers' cooperatives, that are implemented in the context of majority-Black Delta counties. Food sovereignty requires that community members most affected by the inequities of our current agri-food system are the ones best equipped to advocate for and meet their own food needs. Suggested Facebook and Instagram posts: Is food sovereignty possible in the Mississippi Delta? New research assesses the level of local control over the production, distribution, and consumption of food in three Delta communities affiliated with a school garden program. Read the full JAFSCD article for free: https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2022.112.019 Suggested tweet: Is #foodsovereignty possible in the #MississippiDelta? New #research @FromCBU assesses local control over producing, distributing & consuming food in 3 communities with #schoolgardens. #foodjustice #DeltaEATS Read @JAFSCD article for free: https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2022.112.019 Photo above: A school garden in the Mississippi Delta. Photo by Emily A. Holmes. The 9th edition of " An Annotated Bibliography on Structural Racism Present in the U.S. Food System" lists current research and outreach on structural racism in the U.S. food system for the food system practitioner, researcher, educator, and advocate. The new edition contains 510 sources, with 25 new videos and 100 new journal citations (a total of 58 from JAFSCD!). This email is sent to you as a notification of newly published content and other JAFSCD news. Were you forwarded this JAFSCD Article Heads-up and you'd like to join the mailing list? Sign up! JAFSCD is an open access, community-supported journal! Your library, program, or organization can become a shareholder to help make JAFSCD's content available to all, regardless of their resources. We welcome individual shareholders as well. JAFSCD is published by the Thomas A. Lyson Center for Civic Agriculture and Food Systems, a project of the Center for Transformative Action (an affiliate of Cornell University). CTA is a 501(c)(3) organization that accepts donations on our behalf. We welcome donations , which are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. FOLLOW US Questions or comments? Contact us at info@LysonCenter.org Unsubscribe This message was sent from info@lysoncenter.org JAFSCD Lyson Center for Civic Agriculture and Food Systems Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 295 Hook Place Ithaca, NY 14850 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From info at lysoncenter.org Fri Apr 29 07:07:10 2022 From: info at lysoncenter.org (Info-Lyson Center) Date: Sun Mar 17 22:50:40 2024 Subject: [Foodplanning] JAFSCD Article Heads-up: Examining stakeholders' perspectives; Upcoming events; Papers complete winter issue In-Reply-To: <0.0.134.A66.1D85BCC8C923DE2.0@drone107.ral.icpbounce.com> References: <0.0.134.A66.1D85BCC8C923DE2.0@drone107.ral.icpbounce.com> Message-ID: <027701d85bd2$6e0af020$4a20d060$@lysoncenter.org> View this email in a web browser Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development JAFSCD Article Heads-up ~ April 29, 2022 JAFSCD is published with the support of our annual partners. JAFSCD Website Food For All: Stakeholders' perspectives about crafting a food system with a distinctive identity in Will County, Illinois Peer-reviewed article by Marie Asma Ben-Othmen (UnilaSalle-France) and Jerry H. Kavouras (Lewis University) Full article Interest in and enthusiasm for shifting food systems to community-based and local trajectories have increased greatly over the past decade. Part of the appeal of community-based local food systems is their potential to secure access to healthy food for local communities, expand sustainable farming practices, promote local food economies, and advance environmental and food justice. Interactions and collaborations within the spectrum of the food system's stakeholders?from farmers to local officials and organizations to local businesses and residents?are the cornerstone for effective food systems that are tailored to communities' needs. Despite being an essential and influential political unit to target, counties have received very little attention in food system studies, as researchers and practitioners often focus on the federal and state levels of intervention to design food policies. In a new JAFSCD article, " Developing a community-based local food system in Will County, Illinois: Insights from stakeholders' viewpoints," Marie Asma Ben-Othmen (corresponding author) and Jerry H. Kavouras examine the food system in Will County, Illinois (USA) to identify stakeholders and assess their engagement, opinions, and interests in promoting a shift to a more localized and community-based food system, dubbed Food For All. The authors built on Paul Sabatier's advocacy coalition framework (ACF), an evidence-based framework focusing on stakeholder values, beliefs, and positions to understand their viewpoints and involvement. The methodology uses semi-structured, in-depth interviews to understand and deconstruct stakeholders' viewpoints on their positions and responsibilities in the current food system. This approach helped identify who should participate in achieving Will County's food system transformation and informing collaborative actions among them. KEY FINDINGS * Responses to the survey questions demonstrated the push and pull that stakeholders face in expressing their perspectives about a community-based food system and offered insights into three overlapping and divergent viewpoints: (1) Pragmatic, (2) Environmental and Food Justice Advocates, and (3) Visionary. * The findings indicate a consensus among stakeholders on the criterion that good food system governance and policy should be decentralized. They see local progress on food system issues as possible and incremental. * Local governments at the county level must create requirements and provide incentives or funding to support local food hubs' implementation. Stakeholders emphasized these hubs' social and environmental values, which goes beyond the narrow focus on their market efficiency. * Stakeholders mentioned the prominent role of entrepreneurial urban agriculture in building community capacities, enhancing geographic access to food, and achieving distributive food justice. They pointed to the urgency of resolving the challenges faced by urban agriculture projects in the county, including several contradictory policy goals (such as land use department versus conservation specialists). The solution lies in adapting urban planning documents to integrate urban agriculture projects. * Will County's food system illustrates the importance of the partnership between civic capital (not-for-profits) and local authorities to advance a community-based food system with a distinctive identity while offering another opportunity to study food's convening power as a policy topic. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FOOD PRACTICE AND RESEARCH * Enacting a profound transformation in Will County?s food system will require local government to see itself as an agent of radical social and political change, rather than constrained to land use regulation and program implementation at the county level. * This study reinforces previous research on drivers that shape actors' agreement in nascent policy subsystems (i.e., issues that recently entered the political agenda). Collaborations between actors in political decision-making processes are crucial from both an actor and a process perspective. * To achieve efficient food system transformation and implement a "Food For All" strategy in Will County, stakeholders in the food system need to be represented at the beginning of the dialogue in order to evolve into a coalition that is an empowering mechanism for groups or individuals. Observations from this study illustrate the change that can be achieved through cross-sector (not-for-profit, private, and public), civically oriented coalitions and their potential in providing fresh momentum for food policy change at the county level. Suggested Facebook and Instagram posts: Toward Food For All in Will County, Illinois: New research published in JAFSCD shows how local stakeholders are working to achieve a community-based food system. Read the full article for free: https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2022.112.018 ?Suggested tweet: Toward #FoodForAll in #WillCountyIllinois: Research shows how local stakeholders are working to achieve community-based food system. #Illinois #FoodSecurity #SustainableAg #LocalFoodMovement #StakeholderEngagement #PlanningPolicy Read for free: https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2022.112.018 Photo above: A student gardens at William E. Young School (Homer Glen, Will County). Photo provided by the authors. Early registration rate ends April 30! Recently published papers complete the winter issue of JAFSCD ? Full issue The final peer-reviewed papers published in our winter issue include: ? Weaving disciplines to conceptualize a regenerative food system, by Sara El-Sayed and Scott Cloutier (both at Arizona State University)?The winter issue's cover is drawn from a figure in this article. ? A garden's place in critical food systems education, by K. Michelle Glowa (California Institute of Integral Studies) ? An appreciative inquiry and inventory of Indigenous food sovereignty initiatives within the western U.S., by Ashley Babcock and Rachael Budowle (both at the University of Wyoming) ? Farmer perceptions of climate, adaptation, and management of farmworker risk in California, by Gail Wadsworth (California Institute for Rural Studies), Heather Riden, and Kent Pinkerton (both at the University of California, Davis) The 17th annual Canadian Association for Food Studies / L'Association canadienne des ?tudes sur l'alimentation (CAFS / l?AC?A) conference on the theme Transitions to Just and Sustainable Food Systems will take place May 12-14, 2022, in conjunction with the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences. This is a fully virtual event. Get details and register here! The conference is an opportunity to share knowledge in a number of domain areas, such as informing and critiquing policy, assessing and mobilizing the outcomes of community-based work, and demonstrating the health, social, economic, political, cultural, spiritual, and environmental impacts of food systems. This email is sent to you as a notification of newly published content and other JAFSCD news. Were you forwarded this JAFSCD Article Heads-up and you'd like to join the mailing list? Sign up! JAFSCD is an open access, community-supported journal! Your library, program, or organization can become a shareholder to help make JAFSCD's content available to all, regardless of their resources. We welcome individual shareholders as well. JAFSCD is published by the Thomas A. Lyson Center for Civic Agriculture and Food Systems, a project of the Center for Transformative Action (an affiliate of Cornell University). CTA is a 501(c)(3) organization that accepts donations on our behalf. We welcome donations , which are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. FOLLOW US Questions or comments? Contact us at info@LysonCenter.org Unsubscribe This message was sent from info@lysoncenter.org JAFSCD Lyson Center for Civic Agriculture and Food Systems Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 295 Hook Place Ithaca, NY 14850 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: