Moving the NC Local Food System Toward Sustainablility: A Comprehensive Graduate course in Local Food Systems for Cooperative Extension Agents, Specialists, and other Educators

Potential Contributions

Graduate course student interviews provided insights into project contributions and current and future application of the graduate content to their own Extension practice.

Application and Usefulness of Course Content

Six of the nine students interviewed agreed that they applied specific knowledge and/or relied on specific resources identified in the course to enhance their food system projects. Four students noted that course content related to food hubs and incubator farms prepared them to be a knowledgeable resource on local food systems in their own communities. One noted that a presentation in the class led them to online resources on planning and evaluating food hubs. Another noted that the course sessions on food hubs and field trip to a hub (including discussions with hub management) allowed her to counsel community members struggling with the economic viability of an existing food hub:

We had a food hub here, a small food hub that was trying to survive. And it just wasn't ... it was having all kinds of issues as far as feasibility. So I brought to the attention of some [community members] what we learned about in the class and how most of them [food hubs] are run like businesses, and so through evidence and all of us talking that were on the committee for the food hub, they decided to merge it into a business that's already here. So we don't have, per se, a food hub anymore. [Now it is] a business that works with the farmers and [it] provides local foods. (student 3)

Two students also noted the valuable information gained on key site considerations and successful operation of an economically viable farmers market, learned through a panel discussion that included a market manager and discussions with a market manager and vendor. Noted one:

I'm working with the farmers market so I was able to use some of the information that I learned when we went to [the Cooperative Extension office that provides support to a farmers market] and talked with the director there, and how she's working well with the manager at that farmers market. She was the one that inspired me to get a manager for our little farmers market. (student 6)

Three students noted that course content on food access had inspired them to increase their work with canning, preserving, and cooking with low income and elderly residents.

In addition to specific actions already taken or in a planning stage reflecting course content, students noted that participation had drawn their attention to the broad range of issues encompassed in local foods work. This increased their general knowledge on the components and structure of local food systems such that they were equipped to share this knowledge with others, and inspired to take action in the future. Following are illustrations of this sentiment:

We don't have access to a lot of local produce except for when the farmers markets are open. Just thinking and trying to look at those labels [in grocery stores] and see how far away your food is coming from [is important]. It really has kind of opened my eyes to just being more aware and helping others to be more aware. (student 6)

A lot of people are not 100% sure even what local foods means, how that applies to them, how it works in [X] County, so it's been helpful for me to just be able to discuss it with people, and give them a short definition of what is local food, and how is it important in [X] County. In that aspect, of just filling people in and making them aware that the local foods movement is important as far as agriculture in the county… (student 5)

The whole class was wonderful. It really was, [it] kind of solidified and validated everything that I had been learning on my own and through other means because it was being presented with scientific research and with a peer group that was trying to do the same work. (student 7).

I remember thinking quite a bit throughout the course, [food policy councils] is an idea I want to take back directly to my community. I think throughout the class there was this theme of strong community connections, in grass roots. Local food is really community development. You know, you're trying to develop a part of the community that may not be very strong. Those connections are so important. The food policy council seemed like a really important component of any strong local food system. (student 7)

I would really say it has reinforced what I was already doing, and certainly helped give me more resources across the state to call on and more practical examples, so when I'm trying to teach people about the potential I've got more things to work with…[having] the academic pieces to back up what [I’d] already seen in action in the field [was useful]. (student 4)

Lasting Impressions of the Graduate Course

When asked what parts of the graduate course stood out to them, 6-months after course conclusion, students noted the field trips and panel presentations by practitioners. One-half of the course participants were Family and Consumer Science Agents, and these students expressed strong appreciation for being able to visit and hear from participants along the food chain, including producers and processors. Noted one:

I don't have a strong background in the production side of local foods. Seeing where farmers are coming from, what their issues are, being exposed to that world, I think, was really memorable. (student 1)

Students also appreciated the opportunity to network with other agricultural educators across the state:

That was one of the biggest feelings at that last class… wow, this has been so neat. To really build a relationship with these other people doing the same work and … that I can reach out to. I was really sad actually when I was leaving because I was like, I really was just starting to build the network that I needed. That class was hugely valuable for that.  (student 7)

The group that we had, we all came from different backgrounds with different situations. Some people had food hubs. Some people managed markets. Some people worked with new growers. A wide variety of backgrounds that all came together. I think it was just ... It was very helpful in helping me and everyone else to see all of those components brought together. (student 5)

All nine of the students said they would recommend the course to other Extension educators. The below quotes illustrate this sentiment:

…This is a really valuable course… it's valuable for our agents to have the resources and the knowledge to be able to help foster these local food systems and really keep them alive and keep them sustained. It's a lot more complicated process than it sounds, but this course provided, literally, informational aspects from agricultural production to the sale of the finished product. I think it's important for agents to have that full spectrum and to understand what their role is in the process and how they can interact with all these different players to really be that coordinator, moderator, facilitator, organizer type person. I think that puts extension agents in a very important role and I think this class will be wonderful for them. (student 1)

I think that just having a broader knowledge of it to share with our clientele is probably the best, the most important aspect of it, because we do get asked a lot of questions. A lot of people have a lot of misconceptions about what local food is and how it applies to cooperative extension. (student 5)

I think Extension, generally, as an organization, has a potential to really become “Extinction” if they're not careful. Because this is a public sector entity that quite frankly is a little bit behind the curve when it comes to meeting what's actually happening on the ground and what I think most, or a lot of, folks in the public are demanding and wanting, from small farmers to consumers. I think every agent in the state who's at all planning to be around with the organization in the next decade, in the next two decades, in the next four decades, they need to go through local foods training and be really up on that, because I think that's where the future lies. (student 8)

Preliminary Feedback from Distance Education Certificate Series Pilot Participants

Since the distance education certificate series is in process of piloting at the time of this report, no final evaluation of accomplishments are available. However, review of preliminary qualitative responses from those who have completed the first course in the series reveals similar results and accomplishments may be rendered from the online version of the course as the face-to-face graduate course. The below quotations illustrate this sentiment:

I have already used parts of this class in local food policy council meetings and advisory council meetings. It has helped me to educate community members about the sectors of the food system and how we all play a part and what we can do to better the food system.

 I'm the kind of person that doesn't like to jump in with both feet until I know how to swim (which is a bit difficult!). This course is helping me overcome a learning curve of being new to the food movement. I feel like, even though I work at [non-profit organization], I couldn't be a truly useful member of a food council, for example. I think this course will help me get up to speed to be able to get more involved in community food systems activities, outside of my work.

 It has helped me to design more structured and efficient programming/efforts to reach specifically identified goals of the population I serve.

 It has helped to more clearly understand the need for a diverse approach to developing a local food system that takes into account not just individual choices but how social, environmental and macro influences can affect someone’s behaviour.

 When asked how the first course in the certificate series has been helpful to the participants, two responses stood out, reflecting potential future accomplishments of the distance education format:

[The course is] educating me about food systems as a whole - the basic background knowledge that you don't get from working on the ground in food.

 I think that the different mediums for providing content (short and long videos, interactive case studies, text, periodic questions that I had to consider and answer...) were helpful in keeping me engaged in the subject matter. I also felt like the flow of the course built in a nice way to help me better understand a local food project in my community that I was previously unaware of.

Future Recommendations

The graduate course met its objective of designing and delivering a course on local food systems that positively influenced the aspirations and knowledge base of participating Extension educators, and the objective of making course materials widely available via the web. The program design and details on execution of the course should continue to be widely shared with other state Extension programs to maximize impact.

It should be noted that the participant pool for the end-course interviews were primarily from the FCS program area. As the course is further developed and utilized more widely, it will be instructive to analyze pre-post course survey and interview findings to understand to what degree the course meets the expectations of participants in other program areas.

Two aspects of the graduate course that were viewed by participants as major strengths -- the ability to network with Extension educator peers, and the ability to engage in site visits and talk with practitioners (e.g., farmers market and food hub managers) --  are features that were anticipated to be challenging to replicate in a distance education format. A comparative evaluation of the outcomes of the distance education format, currently being piloted, as well as the blended (face-to-face and online) programs proposed by our partners in VA and SC in our 2017 SARE PDP grant, will be useful as we seek to meet the demand from Extension and agricultural educators for food systems training.

Through our outreach efforts to build awareness of this project, we have heard from other states who have interest in either partnering with us on future iterations of the distance education certificate series or have interest in delivering their own graduate course to Extension agents. We have shared the graduate course content and syllabus online for those interested in a graduate course opportunity. Once the pilot of the distance education certificate series is complete, and updates have been made based on evaluation of the series, we intend to pursue other state partnerships, beyond our current partners in VA and SC, to expand the impacts of this project. We will be seeking leveraged funding to do this work.