Skill-Based Cooking Class with the Health Care Share

Food Insecurity is a significant public health concern in Vermont. 64,370 Vermonters (10%) live in food insecure households. There are many contributing factors to food insecurity including lack of affordable housing, a decrease in affordable grocery stores, low wages, and lack of public transportation. One of the many strategies for addressing food insecurity in Chittenden County, Vermont is the Health Care Share (HCS). The HCS is a partnership between the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps farm and UVMMC that connects Vermont families experiencing food-insecurity with farm-fresh foods through a weekly farm share that includes skills and recipes to prepare healthy meals at home. Participants pick up their share weekly at their family practice. In this project, a skill-based cooking class was conducted with HCS participants where we worked together to cook a dish using produce from their share. Cooking confidence was assessed using a pre-class and post-class survey.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/fmclerk/1450/thumbnail.jp

Health Professionals and Public Awareness of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning in Vermont

Introduction. Carbon monoxide (CO) is the second leading cause of non-medical poisoning death in the United States. Between 1999 and 2012, Vermont saw the highest rates of CO poisoning deaths in New England. Public education and the use of CO alarms have been identified as important prevention strategies. We developed and distributed a survey to assess public and health professional knowledge of CO. Methods. A 21-question survey was designed, based on the validated Chicago Lead Knowledge Test, to assess knowledge about sources of CO exposure and symptoms and treatment of poisoning. Fifteen additional questions collected occupational and demographic information and preferred sources of educational information. Surveys were distributed over two months to the public, healthcare professionals, and emergency responders within Chittenden County, as well as physicians throughout Vermont. Survey responses were analyzed using SPSS. Results. There were 256 respondents. Healthcare professionals performed better than public respondents overall (public: mean correct=15.69, SD= 2.83, N=104; healthcare provider and emergency responder: mean correct= 17.5, SD= 2.23, N= 152). The survey questions which were most frequently answered incorrectly related to treatment and sources of exposure, as well as the similarity of CO poisoning to symptoms of influenza. Respondents preferred to receive information from printed and internet sources. Discussion. Medical professionals are more knowledgeable about carbon mon- oxide than the general public. Public education should include printed and online for- mats, focusing on important sources of exposure (particularly ice rinks), seeking treatment following symptoms, and similarity to flu symptoms.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/comphp_gallery/1267/thumbnail.jp

The V-Network Form: Economic Organization and the Theory of the Firm

In this paper, we characterize what we call the "V-network form," a vertical organization distinct from a horizontal network of firms, in which a "hub-firm" organizes and coordinates regular essential operations such as provision, production and distribution between legally independent entities. The hub-firm's economic problem is the provision of incentives to the parties in the network while coordinating their complementary capabilities or competences without recourse to equity ownership. We discuss the relation of this organizational form to the "firm versus market" typology and stress that the V-network form is not a "hybrid form." We argue that valuable insights for the theory of the firm may be gained from a thorough theoretical analysis of the V-network form. In particular, some of these insights may be used as an attempt to clarify the terms of the current debate between the contractual and competence theories of the firm. The approach also inevitably raises questions related to the legal apprehension of the V-network fir