How Local Food System Development Affects the Sustainability of Agriculture: The Impact of Farmer-Consumer Interactions on Production Practices

How Local Food System Development Affects the Sustainability of Agriculture: The Impact of Farmer-Consumer Interactions on Production Practices

Summary

The purpose of this project is to look at the impact of local food system development on the production practices of farmers. If a goal of local food organizers and advocates is to build systems of food production and distribution that are environmentally sound, then we need to understand how the dynamics in localizing food systems, specifically the interactions between farmers and consumers, are shaping this process. Research activities are conducting interviews with farmers and surveys with local food consumers and analyzing existing data that bear on trends in farmer production practices in the region over a period of 10 years. The information learned from this project will provide local food practitioners with important insights into how the movement to localize food systems is contributing (or not) to the development of environmentally sustainable agriculture – the strategies and actions that facilitate this process, the actions practitioners need to take. For farmers and farmers market, project findings will provide a deeper understanding of consumer perceptions/concerns and how best to communicate information about production practices.

Objectives/Performance Targets

1. Review literature that pertains to the impacts of farmer-consumer interactions on farmer practices and consumer knowledge/expectations/choices. What do existing studies tell us about the impacts and potential implications (and limitations) of these interactions?
2. Conduct research with farmers growing for/selling to local markets to find out about their interactions with local customers. What kinds of interactions are they having with customers about production practices? How/what do they communicate with their customers about production practices? What have they learned from these interactions in terms of what customers want to know and what their concerns are? (How) have these interactions affected their production practice decisions and what/how they are communicating to the public?
3. Conduct research with consumers of local food to find out about their interactions with local farmers around how food is being produced. Specifically, what are consumers’ assumptions about local food and the way it is produced? What kinds of interactions are they having with farmers about how food is being produced? What are they learning from farmers, what are they communicating to farmers? How is this interaction influencing their perceptions and actions around local food?
4. Study trends in farmer production practices in the project region to understand how agricultural practices in the region have evolved in relation to local food movement activities.
5. Disseminate project findings to local food practitioners, farmers and farmers markets, university students and staff, and the public.  

Accomplishments/Milestones

While the project technically began in August 2015, project activities did not begin until the contract was executed in November 2015.  The following activities were conducted between November 2015 and March 2016:

• Conducted literature searches

• With project staff and UNCA partners, reviewed project goals and parameters and methodology. Developed a detailed timeline of project activities – the original timeline was adjusted in relation to the execution of the contract – and confirmed project staff roles

• Developed all research documents (interview and survey instruments, recruitment language, informed consent forms) and submitted the project application to UGA’s IRB

• Executed the selection criteria for farmers market and farmer participants

• Conducted farmer outreach

• Began conducting farmer interviews

• Analyzed farmer production data in ASAP’s Local Food Guide (ongoing)

Work left to do:

• Finalize the analysis of Local Food Guide data

• Conduct an analysis of production data from the USDA Census of Agriculture (for Western North Carolina)

• Complete the farmer interviews. Transcribe and analyze the data

• Conduct surveys with local food consumers at farmers markets. Analyze survey data

• Disseminate project findings: develop a blog post with preliminary findings, develop a best practices document for farmers, develop abstracts for journals and conferences

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

There is nothing to report on project impacts and contributions; research is still in the early stages. However, we believe the information learned from this project will provide ASAP and other local food organizers across the country with important insights into how the movement to localize food systems is contributing (or not) to the development of environmentally sustainable agriculture. What strategies and actions facilitate this process? What actions do we need to take? For farmers and farmers markets, project findings will provide a deeper understanding of consumer perceptions and concerns and how best communicate information about production practices.

Collaborators: