Community Capacity Building to Strengthen the Links within the Iowa Local Foods Value Chain

Community Capacity Building to Strengthen the Links within the Iowa Local Foods Value Chain

Summary

A committee of nine people, consisting of extension and non-extension staff, was created to plan the fall professional development training. The training was held September 11 – 13, 2012 in Ames, IA. Seventy participants participated in the 3-day training include a day of value-chain tours and a World Cafe activity and two days of concurrent sessions and meetings with Regional Food System Working Groups. The program included 45 speakers 13 displays from Iowa State University programs and several NGO’s active in the Iowa local food system. A local foods activity assessment was complete by participants prior to attending the training. Evaluation data was collected by distributing an electronic survey administered one month after the conference. Four follow-up meetings will be held throughout the state in April to strengthen partnerships and share programming resources.

Objectives/Performance Targets

Objective 1. Provide a professional development educational forum on Iowa’s extensive local food value chain by bringing together staff from Iowa State University Extension and Outreach(ISUEO), Natural Resource Conservation Service, school educators, and other governmental and non-governmental organizations (NGO’s).

A committee of nine people, consisting of extension and non-extension staff, was created to plan the fall professional development training. The training was be September 11 – 13, 2012 in Ames, IA. Due to limited space, invited extension participants were recommended by their Regional Directors. Other invitees included several USDA employees, Iowa Food System Working Group leaders, NGO representatives, and other educators. A website (http://www.aep.iastate.edu/localfoods) was developed to inform invitees of the training event and enable them to register on-line. The three-day training began with 30 participants touring either the meat or vegetable industries in the local foods value chain. The tour participants engaged in a World Cafe activity to address questions that were asked at each tour stop. The following two days included include speakers and displays. A Resource Tool Kit(a flashdrive containing an organized system to locate resources and information on local food systems) was developed and given to conference participants and speakers.

Objective 2. Provide a conduit in which sectors involved in the Iowa local foods movement will be able to learn what others are doing in the state.

The 3-day training included displays, discussions, and many opportunities for participants to network and gather information. The training concludes with extension staff attending the Regional Food System Working Group quarterly meeting. This training enabled extension staff to learn more about what is going on their specific region and determine how their resources and knowledge can assist with and strengthen the local and regional foods system efforts.

Objective 3. Build community capacity among educators, institutions, and others within regional food systems enabling groups, consumers, and youth to work together to strengthen and sustain the local foods value chain in Iowa.

The 3-day training was the introduction and served as the foundation for community capacity building within the local food system in Iowa. Regional meetings to be conducted in April, 2013, will further build networks and community capacity among those who participated in the training.

Evaluation data was collected by distributing an electronic survey administered one month after the conference. to “wait” for immediate post conference activities to take place and measurable outcomes to emerge. Out of 70 survey invitations mailed, we received 38 usable surveys for a response rate of 54% (several surveys were incomplete and therefore unusable). Respondents overwhelmingly agreed that what they learned could be applied to their work in the future.

Accomplishments/Milestones

Seventy key extension staff and leaders in Iowa local food systems attended all or part of a 3-day training event. Evaluation data was collected by distributing an electronic survey administered one month after the conference. to “wait” for immediate post conference activities to take place and measurable outcomes to emerge. Out of 70 survey invitations mailed, we received 38 usable surveys for a response rate of 54% (several surveys were incomplete and therefore unusable). Respondents overwhelmingly agreed that what they learned could be applied to their work in the future.

• Conference Evaluation Report

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

At the beginning of the conference, participants were asked to complete a brief assessment of their participation in local/regional food system development. This information will be used a a baseline to evaluate changes in participants’ involvement in local food systems after one year.

Evaluation data was collected by distributing an electronic survey administered one month after the conference to “wait” for immediate post conference activities to take place and measurable outcomes to emerge. Out of 70 survey invitations mailed, we received 38 usable surveys for a response rate of 54% (several surveys were incomplete and therefore unusable). Usable surveys were defined as those where at least half of the survey was completed. The results showed that Evaluation data was collected by distributing an electronic survey administered one month after the conference to “wait” for immediate post conference activities to take place and measurable outcomes to emerge. The survey showed 67% of respondents were associated with Extension.

95% of respondents (35) reported they made new contacts as a result of the conference. Of those, the vast majority (86%) made new contacts with ISUEO staff. More than two in three (68%) also made new contacts with non Extension staff.

The conference has already facilitated the development of 8 new partnerships. If plans for new collaborations are carried out, the total will be 16 new partnerships attributable to connections made at this conference.

Of the 22 respondents attending the Regional Food Systems Working Group (RFSWG) portion of the 3-day conference,the vast majority (17 or 77%) said they learned something new about the activities of the RFSWG in their area. For whom it applied, 14 or 70% discussed opportunities for future partnerships with RFSWG coordinators in their area.

Compared to non Extension respondents, Extension respondents are more likely to agree that the organization they represent (Extension) has the capacity and resources it takes to organize and lead local food systems work in their geographic service area.

Collaborators: