West Side Community Environmental Inventory.

Prepared for NO SHAMS! Sponsored by Neighborhood Planning for Community Revitalization, Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, University of Minnesota

The Rebirth of Direct Farm Marketing and the Rethinking of Food Safety Regulation: A View from the Ground in Oregon

Consumers are increasingly turning to farm direct foods for personal reasons, such as fresh and healthy food, and for public reasons, such as supporting local and rural economies and reducing the environmental impact of their food choices. As a result, farmers’ markets and other direct farm marketing has increased substantially in recent years despite current laws and regulations regarding food processing and sales to the public. Government regulation is justified in conventional food markets due to the high costs of food borne illness and the “market for lemons” that results from incomplete information regarding the safety of food. On the other hand, government regulation of direct farm marketing of food is more difficult to justify due to (1) the lower risk of food borne illness and higher cost of regulation; (2) the presence of trustworthiness and redressibility inherent in direct farm marketing transactions that provide adequate information for consumers to make informed choices about their exposure to food risk; and (3) the policy choice to lift barriers to entry for small local farm direct marketing and generating accompanying public goods. Oregon’s Direct Farm Marketing Bill, currently in the state legislature, clarifies Oregon law on the regulation of direct farm marketing venues and eases regulation of some low-risk types of small-scale food processing for direct farm marketers using economically and politically justifiable means

Building Resilience in Social-Ecological Food Systems in Vermont

There is an expanding interest in Local Food Systems (LFSs) in Vermont, along with a growing effort to create adaptive governance to facilitate action. In this case study, we investigate how adaptive governance of LFS can provide ideas and act as a catalyst for creating resilience in other social-ecological systems (SESs). By participating in meetings and interviewing stakeholders inside and outside the Vermont LFS network, we found that consumers were highly motivated to participate by supporting environmental issues, the local economy, and interactive communities, as well as building social relationships. Farmers experienced better income and increased respect in the local community. All participants found adequate “safe space” to share new ideas and explore partnerships. Their identities and values were also place-specific, reflecting the working landscape of Vermont. Adaptive governance was built on equal partnerships, where problems were discussed and responsibilities were shared among many stakeholders across geographic areas and multiple sectors. Some skepticism was expressed towards mainstreaming local food production and sales. Challenges remain to more fully include farmers, for-profit players, and low-income consumers in the network. This might limit the resilience and sustainability of the LFS. Because SESs are held together by common culture and identities, the risk of non-adaptive social patterns exemplifies one key challenge for future adaptive management towards resilient and sustainable outcomes. There is a critical need for developing relevant theory and conducting further research on LFSs and their potential roles in local SESs

Farm Direct at five years: An early assessment of Oregon's farm-focused cottage food law

In 2011, the Oregon legislature passed the Farm Direct Marketing Law (FDML), which took effect in 2012. The law clarified licensing and food safety requirements for direct-to-consumer sales at farmers markets, farm stands, and similar venues. It also included a "cottage food" provision allowing farms to make and sell certain low-risk, value-added products from farm-grown ingredients, direct to consumer, without a food processor's license. Advocates predicted enhanced small farm viability through new products and revenue streams, market season extension, reduced processing costs, test marketing opportunities, and other avenues. Detractors warned the deregulation would cause outbreaks of foodborne illness. In 2016, the law's fifth year, we explored these predictions and early outcomes. We conducted a focus group with stakeholders and semistructured interviews with two key informants, 18 farmers, and 24 farmers market managers around Oregon. We found farmers making and selling a variety of value-added products under the FDML. We found no foodborne illness linked to FDML products. Interviewees described multiple benefits resulting from the law, many corresponding to predicted benefits. They also described unanticipated benefits at the community level. Interviewees identified barriers and recommended changes related to the law and related education. We discuss the feasibility of these recommendations as well as the long-term potential of the cottage food provision. We end by reflecting on the FDML as a whole, as it supports Oregon's direct market farming sector

The Value of Values-Based Supply Chains: Farmer Perspective

In the last few decades, the emergence of mid-scale, intermediated marketing channels that fall between commodity and direct markets has attracted growing interest from scholars for their potential to preserve small and mid-sized farms while scaling up alternative agrifood sourcing. When such mid-scale supply chains are formed among multiple business partners with shared ethics or values related to the qualities of the food and the business relationships along the supply chain, they may be termed values-based supply chains (VBSCs). Most of the research on VBSCs to date has relied primarily on a case study approach that investigates the performance of VBSCs from the perspective of VBSC founders or leaders. In contrast, this research seeks out the perspectives of farmers who participate in VBSCs. A nationwide farmer survey conducted in 2017 offers original insights on farmer motivations for participating in VBSCs and how they are being used by farmers relative to other marketing channels. We find that VBSCs serve farms of all sizes. Overall, smaller farms were more likely to market a higher percentage of overall sales through their VBSC and more likely to rank their VBSC as one of the top three marketing channels in their portfolio. But it was the larger farms that were more likely to perceive VBSC-specific benefits. Our findings confirm that while there is a limited volume of product that such regional supply chains can currently handle, farmers view VBSCs as a valuable marketing option that aligns with their own values and preserves their product\u27s identity

Writing a Recipe for Teaching Sustainable Food Systems: Lessons from Three University Courses

The sustainability of the food system is at the forefront of academic and policy discussions as we face the challenge of providing food security to a growing population amidst environmental uncertainty and depletion, social disruptions, and structural economic shocks and stresses. Crafting a sustainable and resilient food system requires us to go beyond disciplinary boundaries and broaden critical and creative thinking skills. Recent literature calls for examples of pedagogical transformations from food systems courses to identify successful practices and potential challenges. We offer a recipe for what to teach by framing systems thinking concepts, then discuss how to teach it with five learning activities: deductive case studies, experiential learning, reflective narrative learning, system dynamics simulations and scenarios, and inductive/open-ended case studies, implemented with collaborative group learning, inter/trans-disciplinarity, and instructor-modeled co-learning. Each learning activity is animated with concrete examples from our courses at Oregon State University, University of Minnesota, and University of Vermont, USA. We discuss opportunities and challenges implementing these strategies in light of student, instructor, and institutional expectations and constraints. But the challenge is worth the effort, because food system transformation requires active learners and systemic thinkers as engaged citizens, food system advocates, entrepreneurs, and policy makers

The Future of Oregon's Agricultural Land

Sixty-four percent of Oregon's farmland is expected to change hands in the next 20 years, yet many Oregon farmers are unprepared for succession. Simultaneously, beginning farmers are finding it harder to start farmers because of dramatically increasing land prices. These distinct but interwined challenges are addressed in a new research report from the Oregon State University Center for Small Farms, Portland State University's Planning Oregon/Institute for Metropolitan Studies, and Rogue Farm Corps. The study examines trends in land tenure and the effects they might have on Oregon's economy, rural communities, and environment. The report was in many ways inspired and informed by the land access working group of the Oregon Community Food Systems Network

Can We Have Our (Safe and Local) Cake and Eat It Too? Oregon Re-crafts Food Safety Regulations for Farm Direct Marketed Foods

Food safety regulations involve a tradeoff: the costs of regulatory compliance in exchange for a reduction in the risk of foodborne illness. But local food advocates point out that these costs have a disproportionate impact on small food producers, and that this impact threatens the viability and continued growth of the farm direct marketing sector. Oregon's farm direct marketers and local food advocates crafted new legislation to reform three areas of food safety regulatory affecting farm direct marketers: (1) licensing of the physical spaces where farm direct products are sold, (2) streamlining produce peddler licenses, and (3) deregulating specified low-risk producer-processed farm direct marketed products. Oregon's Farm Direct Marketing Bill, HB 2336, passed the Oregon legislature; it became effective January 1, 2012. The Oregon Department of Agriculture issued final administrative rules on June 1, 2012. After reviewing the narrow exemptions in the law and the unique characteristics of farm direct foods, it appears that Oregon's Farm Direct Marketing Bill preserves food safety while fostering the direct farm marketing sector

Writing a Recipe for Teaching Sustainable Food Systems: Lessons from Three University Courses

The sustainability of the food system is at the forefront of academic and policy discussions as we face the challenge of providing food security to a growing population amidst environmental uncertainty and depletion, social disruptions, and structural economic shocks and stresses. Crafting a sustainable and resilient food system requires us to go beyond disciplinary boundaries and broaden critical and creative thinking skills. Recent literature calls for examples of pedagogical transformations from food systems courses to identify successful practices and potential challenges. We offer a recipe for what to teach by framing systems thinking concepts, then discuss how to teach it with five learning activities: deductive case studies, experiential learning, reflective narrative learning, system dynamics simulations and scenarios, and inductive/open-ended case studies, implemented with collaborative group learning, inter/trans-disciplinarity, and instructor-modeled co-learning. Each learning activity is animated with concrete examples from our courses at Oregon State University, University of Minnesota, and University of Vermont, USA. We discuss opportunities and challenges implementing these strategies in light of student, instructor, and institutional expectations and constraints. But the challenge is worth the effort, because food system transformation requires active learners and systemic thinkers as engaged citizens, food system advocates, entrepreneurs, and policy makers