4
Michigan State University
Principal Investigator: D. Conner
Accomplishments & Outputs:
Publications:
Becot, F., Conner, D., Nelson, A., Buckwalter, E. and Erickson, D. (2014). Institutional Demand for Locally-Grown Food in Vermont: Marketing Implications for Producers and Distributors. Journal of Food Distribution Research 45(2) 99-117.
Conner, D., Sevoian, N. Heiss, S. and Berlin, L. (2014). The Diverse Values and Motivations of Vermont Farm to Institution Supply Chain Actors. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 27, 695-713.
Becot, F., Conner, D., Kolodinsky, J. and Mendez, V. (2014). Measuring the costs of production and pricing on diversified farms: Juggling decisions amidst uncertainties. 2014Journal of the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers. 171-194.
Buckley, J., Conner, D., Matts, C. and Hamm, M. (2013). Social relationships and farm-to-institution initiatives: complexity and scale in local food systems. Journal of Hunger and Environmental Nutrition 8 397-412.
4
Hatch/MultiState
Principal Investigator: D. Conner
Accomplishments & Outputs:
Publications: 4
Ohio State University
Principal Investigator: S. Inwood
Accomplishments & Outputs:
Publications:
Inwood, S.M. and Clark, J.K. 2013. Farm Diversification at the RUI: What does the Census of Agriculture tell us? Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development. Special Topic Call for Papers: Land for Food: A Focus on Farmland Protection and Land Grabbing. 4(1):61-78.
Clark, Jill K., Shoshanah M. Inwood, and Douglas Jackson-Smith. 2014. Exurban Farmers Perceptions of Land Use Policy Effectiveness: Implications for the Next Generation of Policy Development. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems and Community Development. 5(1):
Clark. J. and S. Inwood. Forthcoming. Farming at the Rural Urban Interface Examining Households and Policy. Book Chapter for Akron Press &Law Series, From Farm-to-Fork.
Clark, Jill K. and Darla K. Munroe. 2013. Reconceptualization of Farmer Adaptation: Relating Agents, the Political Economy and the (Re)Creation of Rural Spaces. Journal of Rural and Community Development. 8(3): 15-28.
4
Vermont Attorney General's Office
Principal Investigator: J. Kolodinsky
Accomplishments & Outputs:
4
Two Rivers-Ottauquechee Regional Commission
Principal Investigator: J. Kolodinsky
Accomplishments & Outputs:
4
Goodwill Industries of Northern New England
Principal Investigator: J. Kolodinsky
Accomplishments & Outputs:
4
Vermont Attorney General's Office
Principal Investigator: J. Kolodinsky
Accomplishments & Outputs:
4
National Institute of Food and Agriculture/Department of Agriculture
Principal Investigator: Q. Wang
Accomplishments & Outputs:
Publications:
Krug, D. and R. Parsons. The world is your cow but you have to do the milking: Values, outlook, and management practices of profitable organic dairy farmers. Selected poster presented at the conference Collaboration across the Food System (Joint Annual Meetings of the Association for the Study of Food and Society, and the Agriculture, Food, and Human Values Society), Burlington, VT., June 18-22, 2014.
4
Hatch
Principal Investigator: Q. Wang
Accomplishments & Outputs:
4a - Farm Profitability and Agricultural Economics
4a
Hatch
Principal Investigator: C. Liang
Accomplishments & Outputs:
Publications:
Brown, J., Goetz, S., Ahearn, A., & Liang, C. (2014). Linkages between Community Focused Agriculture, Farm Sales, and Regional Growth, Economic Development Quarterly. Available online http://edq.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/10/12/0891242413506610
Liang, C. & Dunn, P. (2014). Discovering heterogeneity of entrepreneurs-A comparison of food and non-food entrepreneurs, Academy of Entrepreneurship Journal. Vol. 20, No. 2, pp. 37-61.
Marasteanu, I., Liang, C., Goetz, S., Ahearn, M., & Brown, J. Spatial and Cluster Analysis for Multifunctional Agriculture in New England Region, Poster, Applied and Agricultural Economics Association, 2014 annual meeting, Minneapolis, MN.
Marasteanu, I., Liang, C., & Goetz, S., How Does Multifunctional Agriculture Contribute to Rural Development? Poster, Applied and Agricultural Economics Association, 2014 annual meeting, Minneapolis, MN.
Liang, C. (2014). Multifunctional Agriculture in New England - Implications on Vermont Tourism Industry and Rural Development, Webinar, June 4, 2014.
Liang, C. & Pescatore, M. (2014). Influences of Social Networks on Food Choices: A Comparison of Local, Regional, and National Perspectives, AAEA/CAE Network Symposium, Montreal, Canada, May 28-30.
4b - Consumer Economics
4b
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service/Department of the Interior
Principal Investigator: J. Kolodinsky
Accomplishments & Outputs:
4c - Economic and Community Development
4c
National Institute of Food and Agriculture/Department of Agriculture
Principal Investigator: D. Baker
Accomplishments & Outputs:
Publications:
Baker, D., Hamshaw, K., Woodward, S. (2014) Lessons from Vermonts CAT2 for Emergency Preparedness for Mobile Home Park Communities. Presented at the Vermont Emergency Management Conference. Fairlee, VT Sept. 18, 2014
Hamshaw, S. and Baker, D. (2014) Access To, and Use Of, Maps in Community Planning. Presented at the Vermont GIS Mapping Forum. Colchester, VT June 11, 2014
Baker, D. (2014) Commentary: Community Resilience and CAT2:Vermonts Catastrophic Planning Exercise. Vermont Public Radio, Colchester, VT May 29, 2014
4c
National Institute of Food and Agriculture/Department of Agriculture
Principal Investigator: D. Conner
Accomplishments & Outputs:
Publications:
Conner, D., Estrin, H. and Becot, F. (2014). High School Harvest: Combining Food Service Training and Institutional Procurement. Journal of Extension 52 (1) 1IAW7. http://www.joe.org/joe/2014february/iw7.php 4c
Hatch
Principal Investigator: S. Inwood
Accomplishments & Outputs:
4c
Vermont Center for Geographic Information
Principal Investigator: J. Kolodinsky
Accomplishments & Outputs:
4c
Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission
Principal Investigator: J. Kolodinsky
Accomplishments & Outputs:
Publications:
Farm-to-Institution: Guiding Marketing and Pricing Decision for Small and Medium Sized Farms
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In cooperation with Michigan State university researchers, interviews and surveys were conducted in two states with supply chains actors to uncover opportunities for greater institutional purchases of local foods. Results were shared with statewide outreach coordinators to inform outreach efforts. Collaborations with these groups continue.
Heiss, S., Conner, D., Sevoian, N., & Berlin, L. (2014). Farm to Institution Programs: Organizing Practices that Enable and Constrain Vermont Alternative Food Supply Chains. Agriculture and Human Values. Published online July 23, 2014.
Renewing an Agriculture of the Middle: Value Chain Design, Policy Approaches, Environmental and Social Impacts
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The purpose of the project was to understand the practices and partnerships of Vermont meat processors. A survey was conducted to measure prevalance of best management practices by processors. Results were included in a recent MS thesis and were shared with the Chair of the Farm to Plate Meat Processing Task Force, who is using them to inform programming.
Leamy, Ryan. (2014). Diversification Activities of Vermont Dairy Farmers: A Study of Raw Milk And Local Beef Processing In The State. Masters Thesis, Department of Community Development and Applied Economics, University of Vermont
Small and Medium Scale Farm Growth, Reproduction and Persistence at the Rural-Urban Interface: Balancing Family, Goals, Opportunities and Risks
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The proposed research has three objectives: 1. Identify the farm household goals of small and medium scale farms at the RUI and explore the relationship between these goals and various household demographics 2. Conduct qualitative and quantitative analysis seeking to identify the relationship between farm household goals, household employment strategies, farm structure and farm development, growth and persistence. Qualitatively and quantitatively evaluate the importance of these farm and household factors, relative to other potential influences (such as land-use policy, nonfarm growth and development, access to capital and agricultural services, local marketing opportunities, etc.)3. Construct a taxonomy of small and medium scale farming types. Two graduate students have been funded and mentored through the grant. One is a rural sociology PhD student at Ohio State University who successfully passed her comprehensive exams in August 2014. The other student is a masters student in the Community Development and Applied Economics department at University of Vermont who will defend her thesis in Spring of 2015. Both students have assisted with data collection, analysis and writing.
Qualitative and quantitative data from the farmer interviews and survey has yielded new insights into the opportunities and challenges national health care reform have for the farm population. These insights were leveraged into a recently $500,000 USDA - AFRI Agriculture Economics and Rural Communities: Rural Communities and Regional Development Research and Extension grant. The grant is titled Linking Health Care Reform and Economic Development in the Agriculture Sector and is a national project focused on understanding health care reform on the farm sector in 9 different case study states across the US. Researchers were reached through presentations at Agriculture and Human Values Conference in Burlington, VT, June 2014. Community, state and national policy makers and non profits were reached through several presentations including those at the Women in Agriculture Conference in Des Moines, Iowa November 2013 and the National American Farmland Trust Conference in Lexington, KY October 2014. In this last project period we also directly reached small and medium farmers in each of the case study sites through survey mailings. Gail Brant USDA-NRCS, ENTSC a sociologist with USDA-NRCS learned about our study and previous USDA-AFRI funded research and wrote an article for NRCS tiled Social Value Differences among Farmer Generations which was featured in her Quips and Quotes and Other Sociological Notes column, January 2014. Clark will be briefing the Ohio Legislature for the new legislature orientation and will include both the premise from the grant and major findings to date to the new incoming legislatures.
Inwood, S.M., E. Stengel, B. OConner, and S. Poske. 2014. Small and Medium Scale Farm Growth and Persistence at the Rural-Urban Interface: Balancing Family, Goals, Opportuniites and Risks Community Profile Series for Burlington, VT, Lewiston ME, Honolulu, HI, Miami, FL, Columbus, OH.
Consumer Assistance Program
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UVM and the Vermont Attorney General's Office have operated the Consumer Assistance Program (CAP) for over 30 years. UVM students in the CAP service learning class serve as consumer advisors in the Program. CAP provides a free letter mediation service to help resolve consumer complaints against businesses and maintains a comprehensive database of the complaints. CAP reviews complaint trends and monitors complaints for possible investigation or enforcement actions by the AGO. CAP also does consumer protection outreach and issues media advisories on consumer fraud issues. In FY 2013, we expanded CAP services, adding a half-time enforcement attorney position and UVM graduate student research staff. The new resources are enabling CAP to provide additional support in complaint and policy analysis as well as to focus on fraud prevention and consumer issues facing Vermont businesses. During this fiscal year, CAP handled approximately 8,000 inquiries, processed over 2,500 written complaints and recovered in excess of $230,000 in restitution for consumers.
Performance Measurement Program for East Central Vermont Sustainability Consortium
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The purpose of this project is to develop and enable continued monitoring of a set of indicators related to the multitude of facets of community well-being.
An indicator set was collaboratively built and vetted with the assistance of community stakeholders. Indicator trend data was developed to provide historical and future trend estimates.
Project partners hold regular committee meetings to disseminate and vet findings. Regional public meetings and events are regularly held to ensure further dissemination.
Action plans and interim action indicators are being developed in an effort to track changes made to positively affect the indicators.
Integrated Business Model Design
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The purpose of this project is to support a non-profit business incubation plan by providing population demographics, service provider and employer market data as well as a comparative analysis of social service business models.
Demographic data on specified populations were collected and reported. A service-provider research study was developed and implemented using a multiple-source, project built service provider typology database. An employer study was developed and implemented using a commercially available employer database.
Dissemination involves development of multiple small report deliverables sent to project collaborators with follow-up meetings to review findings and advance next steps based on those findings.
This project sets up the possibility for continued development of key market characteristics information as well as development of social business program performance indicators.
Consumer Assistance Program
.
UVM and the Vermont Attorney General's Office have operated the Consumer Assistance Program (CAP) for over 30 years. UVM students in the CAP service learning class serve as consumer advisors in the Program. CAP provides a free letter mediation service to help resolve consumer complaints against businesses and maintains a comprehensive database of the complaints. CAP reviews complaint trends and monitors complaints for possible investigation or enforcement actions by the AGO. CAP also does consumer protection outreach and issues media advisories on consumer fraud issues. In FY 2013, we expanded CAP services, adding a half-time enforcement attorney position and UVM graduate student research staff. The new resources are enabling CAP to provide additional support in complaint and policy analysis as well as to focus on fraud prevention and consumer issues facing Vermont businesses. During this fiscal year, CAP handled approximately 8,000 inquiries, processed over 2,500 written complaints and recovered in excess of $230,000 in restitution for consumers.
Enhancing the Profitability and Sustainability of Small and Medium Sized Dairy Farms through Artisan Cheese and Other Valued-Added Products
.
The major goal of this project is to collect primary data from cheesemakers, consumers, retailers and farmers, analyze the data, and provide technical and business management information, training and recommendations for assisting small and medium dairy farms to produce and market farmstead and artisan cheese and other value-added dairy products through integrated research, extension, and education activities. Major project activities and outputs this year include (1) completed two research articles based on this project, (2) completed a survey of the participants of the workshops offered by the Vermont Institute for Artisan Cheese (VIAC) and an analysis report is available from the PI or VIAC, and (3) completed a survey of local cheese retailers in Vermont, New York City and Boston and a report is available from the PI.
Valchuis, L., D. Conner, L. Berlin, Q. Wang and R. Parsons. Stacking beliefs and participation in alternative food systems. Journal of Hunger and Environmental Nutrition. In press.
Converting cow manure into electricity and other energy products on dairy farms: Financial and economic analysis and policy implications
.
The major objectives of this project are to collect primary data from Vermont dairy farms with operating methane digester systems, assess the financial and economic feasibility of converting cow manure into renewable energy products under alternative market and policy scenarios, examine consumer preferences and willingness to pay for Cow Power and other renewable energy products, and develop educational materials and provide information and recommendations to dairy farmers, legislators, consumers, and other stakeholders. Our accomplishments and outputs during this year include: (a) we have collected more primary data from the farms with operating digester systems, (b) for the purpose of learning more about the small-scale biodigesters in China and assessing the potential implications for the U.S., we and our collaborator at the Southwestern University of Finance and Economics in China conducted a survey for 100 farm households with biodigesters in summer 2014 and the data collected from the survey are currently under analysis, and (c) two journal articles are under review for publication and one MS thesis based on this project will be completed in December 2014. We will continue our data collection and analysis and publish our research results next year.
9 projects
Do Networks Improve the Effectiveness of Promotion for Vermont Wine Producers?
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The purpose of this project is to identify and examine networking capacity and key elements of networks influencing wine producers' advertising and promotional strategies. A new network marketing theory was developed and examined using local wine producer survey in VT; regional wine producer surveys in PA, RI, MA, ME, NH; and national producer information from the MarketMaker program. More than 20 workshops, presentations, and information sessions were organized to share findings with stakeholders and non-technical audience. Over 2,000 producers and managers were interviewed and visited in more than 25 states. More than 20 communities and organizations were interviewed to gather information about creative strategies and collaboration. New information with respect to website promotion, social media promotion, and other information sharing were validated through science-based analysis. Producers relied on network marketing were more satisfied with sales and business development, most of the producers work with friends and family members (existing alliance), and most of the producers used collaborative strategies to jointly promote a local brand name (such as wine trail, festival, and special events). The major issues for producers included spending too much time and effort on web design, and had a hard time to keep track of reliable records about effective methods and messages to share with consumers. For consumers, it was challenging to identify reliable information to follow, and not very many people really understood what local means. The next step is to identify types of relationship influencing on individual's decisions to participate in a collaborative effort, and how local and regional economic and social environment impact on producers to interact with consumers. This Hatch project led to three newly funded USDA project about local and regional food networks that will expand and continue developing and testing network marketing theories that will benefit all ag producers beyond wine industry.
Liang, C. (2014). Dollar Enterprise and Network Marketing Development - From Theory to Reality and an Experiential Learning Exercise Applying Community Entrepreneurship to Plan and Operate a Small Venture, 5th Edition, Kendall Hunt Publishing Company, USA. ISBN: 978-1-4652-4104-7
1 project
Economic Analysis of Lake Champlain Fisheries
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The purpose of this project is to develop a greater understanding of the contributions Lake Champlain makes to our regional economy by gathering a baseline of data on the activities and economic characteristics of licensed Lake Champlain anglers.
A random sample survey was administered to VT and NY licensed anglers.
A technical presentation was made to the Lake Champlain Basin Program's Technical Advisory Committee. Survey results were distributed to a wide stakeholder audience.
This project may serve as a first step in understanding the complete contribution that Lake Champlain makes to the region. Future research might seek to develop additional knowledge about other distinct Lake Champlain contributions.
1 project
Building Resilience Through Community-Based Action Research: Identifying Vulnerabilities and Facilitating Change in Rural Mobile Home Parks
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Mobile home parks provide critical affordable housing options for low-income residents in rural areas of the United States. The majority of these parks were built before environmental regulations or land use planning was in place. Consequently, many parks are located in areas vulnerable to natural hazards, such as flooding, where mitigation would have been required if permitted today. The combination of low incomes, relatively high population densities, and poor site planning increases the vulnerability of mobile home parks to a wide range of disasters. The primary goal of this research proposal is to increase the resilience to disasters of mobile home parks in Vermont using an action-research approach, and builds on prior collaborative research with mobile home park communities. Disaster resilience for residents will be increased through hazard identification, community organization, emergency planning, and improved coordination between key stakeholders such as resident associations, the emergency management system, affordable housing institutions and governmental agencies. This research project uses existing and new data to evaluate and increase the emergency preparedness of mobile home parks in the state of Vermont. Using statewide and park-scale surveys, stakeholder meetings and a participatory action framework, the project builds the capacity of low income communities to respond to disaster. Since the beginning of the project Tropical Storm Irene and the spring flooding in 2011 exposed the vulnerabilities of mobile home parks in Vermont when 154 mobile homes in parks were destroyed. In an article the project research team published in 2013 overlay analysis revealed that 31.9 percent of all mobile home parks in the state have some of their land in floodplains, and that 20.2 percent of all mobile home parks have at least one house in the floodplain. Statewide, 11.7 percent of mobile homes in parks are in flood plains. A key element in this assessment was an existing GIS dataset showing the location and E911 addresses of residences, an outcome of Vermonts decision to geolocate all residences in the state and make that dataset publically available. Similar data is available in most states but has not been made public. The research demonstrated the benefits to policy-makers and emergency planners of creating and making available accurate E911 GIS databases of residences.. A database developed through the project has been adopted and used by the Vermont Agency of Housing and Community Development. The PI and staff assisted two mobile home parks develop and exercise park-scale emergency response plans, and evaluated other projects in the statewide exercise. In addition to journal articles, this research has been disseminated through presentations at emergency management conferences in and outside of Vermont, housing and emergency management conferences, numerous meetings with local emergency planning committees (LEPC) and a commentary on public radio. A website has been developed to share project information and a database documenting Vermont mobile home park vulnerabilities has been developed.
Baker, D., S. Hamshaw, K. Hamshaw (2014) Rapid Flood Exposure Assessment of Vermont Mobile Home Parks Following Tropical Storm Irene. Natural Hazards Review. v15 n1, 27-37
Enhancing the Sustainability of Food Systems through Service Learning-based Entrepreneurship Education and Outreach
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The purpose of the project is to inform curricula for food entrepreneurship. We conducted interviews and surveys of entrepreneurs in Vermont. Results have been disseminated through workshops and are being incorporated into current classes. Future directions focus on the proper role of service-learning.
Conner, D., Becot, F., Kolodinsky, J., Resnicow, S. and Finley Woodruff, K. (2014). Fostering the Next Generation of Agri-food Entrepreneurs in Vermont: Implications for University Based Education. NACTA Journal, 58 (3), 221-229.
Linking the Cost of Health Insurance and Child Care to Future US Agricultural Production
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Objectives: 1) Identify the types and cost of health insurance and child care options available for farm families in the Northeast. 2) Identify how farm families in the Northeast obtain health insurance and child care and the associated costs of each.3) Identify how health care and child care influence the way farm families structure their enterprise and manage their human and financial resources. This research will explore the relationship between resource allocation and household demographics. 4) Employ qualitative and quantitative research methods to identify the relationship between health insurance, child care, household employment strategies, state and federal policy, farm structure and farm development and growth.5) Evaluate how farm business development and growth are related to household level factors. 6) Inform state and national policy debates on beginning farmer and agriculturally based economic development through academic research papers, presentations, Extension and policy briefs.
To date interviews in Vermont have been conducted to examine health care and child care issues. Key informant interviews with state officials in Vermont in regards to health insurance revealed there was a significant gap in attention to farmer needs when designing the new Vermont Health Connect program nor was there any strategic outreach and communication focused on farmers. Recognizing these gaps I worked with UVM Extension, UVM Risk Management Team, Farm to Plate, Vermont Agency of Agriculture and Vermont Health Connect to develop outreach materials designed to address farmer needs and questions, and created fact sheets for farmer and health insurance navigators, and scheduled several navigator workshops targeting farmers throughout Vermont. Additionally, the UVM Risk Management Team sent out information through their direct mailings.
In regards to research there are focus groups scheduled to take place in six states in November and December of 2014 to gather more qualitative data on both health insurance and child care. The qualitative data collection will continue this year and be analyzed with NVivo software. Initial data collection, and this hatch project was leveraged into a recently funded $500,000 USDA - AFRI Agriculture Economics and Rural Communities: Rural Communities and Regional Development Research and Extension grant. The grant is titled Linking Health Care Reform and Economic Development in the Agriculture Sector and is a national project focused on understanding health care reform on the farm sector in 9 case study states across the US.
Vermont Broadband Mapping Initiative
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The purpose of the project is to contribute to the state of Vermont's understanding of the extent of broadband infrastructure. We are comparing reported infrastructure deployment to actual availability (and utilization) at individual residential, commercial and anchor institution points across VT.
Each year we complete multiple rounds of data collection with the resulting use and availability information being reported to technicians and policy makers at the state and federal levels.
The findings of our research are incorporated into the www.broadbandvt.org website and are used by policy makers to develop next steps in continued broadband infrastructure deployment in Vermont.
Sustainability Indicators
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Sustainable communities strive for development that is environmentally sound, economically viable and socially equitable. To know whether progress is being made toward these goals requires sound and agreed-upon performance indicators. The Center for Rural Studies assisted the ECOS(Environment, Community, Opportunity, Sustainability)Project Consortium in the development and collection of specific indicators to guide the region and its municipalities as they make development decisions to implement sustainable community development plans. A key focus was the development of metrics and indicators that are meaningful for use in rural areas and at the municipal level. Over 80 indicators were developed for the ECOS Project and they will be published annually in a standalone regional indicator update for Chittenden County. The first draft of indicators was included in the Chittenden County Regional Plan which was adopted in June 2013 and the first annual update of these indicators was released in January 2014. This work has been shared nationally through the US Department of Housing and Urban Development Partnership for Sustainable Communities Consortium. The Center for Rural Studies continued this work in 2013 with the Northwest Regional Planning Commission Healthy People, Strong Communities Initiative and continue working with the Two Rivers-Ottauquechee Regional Commission East Central Vermont Sustainability Consortium through 2014. Sustainability indicators in Vermont rely on data collected by state agencies and the US Census. As regions, communities, and organizations move towards developing performance measurement plans there is a need for third-party, non-bias, expertise to lead indicator development. This project has resulted in a process for indicator development with large groups of stakeholders. This project has identified reliable and available indicators of sustainability that can be used at the regional level. This project has identified gaps in available data that require primary collection, i.e. quality of life indicators. Chittenden County will benefit in the short term. In the long term similar Vermont communities, Regional Planning Commissions, and groups of stakeholders, required to conduct this performance measurement plans will benefit from the indicators that have been selected for Chittenden County and the process that has been developed by the Center for Rural Studies.
ECOS Partnership. (2013). 2013 ECOS Annual Report: The State of Chittenden County. Burlington, VT: Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission.