Edible Connections: A Model for Citizen Dialogue Used to Discuss Local Food, Farm, and Community Issues

Edible Connections: Changing the Way We Talk About Food, Farm, and Community introduces a model created to facilitate public dialogue on local food system issues such as farmland preservation, food safety, and hunger. Overall, this article describes and compares Edible Connections to other public discourse strategies used to engage individuals within a community in discussions regarding concerns about their local food system. Two characteristics set Edible Connections apart from other public dialogue strategies. First, the media—print, broadcast, e-commerce—are forum participants. Second is Edible Connections’ clear focus on food system issues. Its format allows those carrying out forums the flexibility to structure the dialogue to meet specific local objectives. Descriptions of how Pennsylvania communities defined and carried out Edible Connections to address locally important questions on the food system illustrate the ways in which Edible Connections helps to meet community interests and needs

Strengthening Community Engagement Toward Sustainable Local Food Systems

Perspectives of Extension educators relative to local food system (LFS) issues are examined. These educators perceived consumer food safety, viable ag-related businesses, land use planning, farm land preservation, loss of family-owned farms, and access to quality foods as important issues. Extension educators viewed county Extension directors, regional directors, and program advisory boards as the strongest supporters for the local LFS. Lack of program resources to support and carry out LFS programming was identified as a barrier. Significant differences were also found between Extension educators\u27 demographic and program characteristics and important LFS issues

Evaluating Alternatives for Communicating About Food Risk

This article describes the development and preliminary evaluation of model materials designed as one-step in helping consumers understand how scientists assess food risk, how that information is used in food safety policy decisions and what individuals can do to protect themselves from residual risks

Dessert Banana

Short publication providing information on nutritive value and recipes for bananas

Papaya

Short publication providing information on nutritive value and recipes for papaya fruit

Aku

The skipjack tuna, locally known as aku, is the most abundant and commercially important species in Hawaiian waters. Millions of pounds are caught every year. In Hawaii, most of the aku catch is canned at the Kewalo Basin plant of Hawaiian Tuna Packers

Sweet Potato

Short publication providing information on nutritive value and recipes for sweet potato tubers and leaves

Checking for Nonresponse Bias in Web-Only Surveys of Special Populations using a Mixed-Mode (Web-with-Mail) Design

Since web surveys can be a quick and cost-effective option to survey special populations, it is important to understand the extent to which the data and analyses are biased by nonresponse. We demonstrate that using an experimental mixed-mode design provides a way to check whether nonresponse is a nonignorable source of bias in web surveys of special populations; we also demonstrate that it provides a cost-effective option to correct for nonresponse bias, if bias exists. We incorporated an experimental mixed-mode design to test for nonresponse bias in a web survey of the entire faculty at Penn State University. The members of the whole population sample were randomly assigned to two different subsamples: 5548 were assigned to a web-only treatment group and 1000 were assigned to a web-with-mail treatment group, which received the identical web treatment plus an equivalent paper follow-up survey and a reminder postcard. Comparison of the samples provides a cost-effective way to identify sources of nonresponse bias. The design also increased response rates, potentially in a ‘significant’ way. We also demonstrate the benefits of using structural equation modeling as a method to explore the effects of nonresponse bias