Home gardening has historically been a subsistence or supplemental form of food procurement worldwide and promoted as a food security project in times of economic hardship. Qualitative research was used to investigate container gardening's potential to provide the impetus for further agricultural activities within low-income, low-food-access, rural Appalachian Virginia, thereby impacting community food security, food choices of individuals, and the local food system. Ethnography and phenomenology methodologies were used through the lens of community-engaged research, and the lived experiences of participants were recognized as valid representations of food insecurity. Semi-structured interviews with fourteen participating households revealed program involvement was deeply connected to previous food production experiences and fueled by existing interest in home gardening. Containers were valued as providing alternative modes to continue a meaningful practice, specifically mitigating challenges of limited mobility for the elderly. As rural areas are experiencing an outmigration of young people and struggling social services, container gardening could be utilized as a low-cost culturally appropriate mental- and nutritional-health service for the rural elderly. Similar initiatives should begin with appreciative inquiry into existing perceptions, values, assets, and potentials within a target community. Through preliminary investigation, needs and barriers can be acknowledged and community-identified solutions can be implemented through culturally sensitive program development. With the existing impetus for home gardening in the region, program expansion could potentially impact food security and the local food system. Overall, this case study serves to further endorse a public effort to support home food production in rural areas of the United States. / Master of Science

The vast majority of earned agricultural dollars in Vermont come from the dairy industry, but with volatility in the market in recent years, including rising costs of feed and the fluctuating price of milk, state officials have begun to recommend diversification of farm activities to instill resiliency into the system. The research presented in this thesis explores two avenues for diversification, farm-to-consumer sales of raw milk and local beef production. The second chapter utilizes diffusion theory to understand the prevalence of raw milk consumption in Vermont, develop a profile of the raw milk consumer, document the motivations of raw milk consumers, and identify sources and channels of information for raw milk consumers. The results of a general population telephone survey indicate that 11.6% of those surveyed reported consuming raw milk and are on average educated, middle-aged, and middle-income earners in small households. Compared to US Census data, there are no demographic differences between raw milk consumers and the average Vermonter. Motivations for consumption include preference for raw milk's flavor, believed health benefits, and knowing or being a farmer. The primary sources of information are dairy farmers, friends, family, and co-workers. The primary channel through which information is obtained is person-to-person discussions. We conclude by discussing the implication of our findings on food protection trends and future research The third chapter investigates beef processing in the state and through the Agriculture of the Middle paradigm develops a firmographic profile of processors, identifies the frequency of use of a set of industry best practices and articulates the current opportunities and barriers to beef processing. The results of the firmographic profile show that most processors utilize both fee-for-service processing and buy-in processing and that each model is an equal percentage of revenue for business. Most processors indicated clearly demarcated busy and slow seasons with no change in the number of employees during these times and little change in operation capacity. Most processors are involved with some industry best practices and most had at least one anchor client to stabilize their operations. There are opportunities in marketing and opening up new markets but the seasonality, infrastructure and consistency of supply are and may remain a hindrance to this advancement. We conclude that there is little difference between models and that most farmers and processors are already in the stages of developing positive and equitable business relationships and that the future of beef production in Vermont is strong.

The local food movement has become a prominent force in the U.S. food market, as represented by the explosive expansion of direct-to-consumer (DTC) marketplaces across the country. Concurrent with the expansion of these DTC marketplaces has been the development of the social ideal of localism: a political and ethical paradigm that valorizes artisanal production and smallness, vilifies globalization, and seeks to recapture a sense of place and community that has been lost under the alienating conditions of capitalism’s gigantism. Supporters of localism understand the movement to be a substantial political and economic threat to global capitalism, and ascribe distinct, counter-hegemonic attributes to localized consumption and production. However, critics argue that localism lacks the political imagination and economic power to meaningfully challenge global capitalism, and that it merely represents an elite form of petite bourgeois consumption. While scholars have debated this issue feverishly, there is a dearth of empirical cases measuring whether or not actual local consumers understand their local consumption within the political and ethical frame of localism, leaving much of the discussion in the realm of esoteric theorizing. This study seeks to uncover whether or not local consumers interpret their local consumption habits within localism’s moral framework by using an original survey instrument to gather primary data, and conducting an exploratory quantitative inquiry.

abstract: Consumers can purchase local food through intermediated marketing channels, such as grocery stores, or through direct-to-consumer marketing channels, for instance, farmers markets. While the number of farms that utilize direct-to-consumer outlets keeps increasing, the direct-to-consumer sales remain lower than intermediated sales. If consumers prefer to purchase local food through intermediated channels, then policies designed to support direct channels may be misguided. Using a variety of experiments, this dissertation investigates consumer preferences for local food and their demand differentiated by marketing channel. In the first essay, I examine the existing literature on consumer preferences for local food by applying meta-regression analysis to a set of eligible research papers. My analysis provides evidence of statistically significant willingness to pay for local food products. Moreover, I find that a methodological approach and study-specific characteristics have a significant influence on the reported estimates for local attribute. By separating the demand for local from the demand for a particular channel, the second essay attempts to disentangle consumers’ preferences for marketing channels and the local-attribute in their food purchases. Using an online choice experiment, I find that consumers are willing to pay a premium for local food. However, they are not willing to pay premiums for local food that is sold at farmers markets relative to supermarkets. Therefore, in the third essay I seek to explain the rise in intermediated local by investigating local food shopping behavior. I develop a model of channel-selection in a nested context and apply it to the primary data gathered through an online food diary. I find that, while some consumers enjoy shopping at farmers markets to meet their objectives, such as socialization with farmers, the majority of consumers buy local food from supermarkets because they offer convenient settings where a variety of products can be bought as one basket. My overall results suggest that, if the goal is to increase the sales of local food, regardless of the channel, then existing supply-chain relationships in the local food channel appear to be performing well. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Agribusiness 2018

Scandic Hotels AB driver två hotell i Umeå, Scandic Umeå Syd samt Scandic Plaza Umeå. Det förstnämnda är beläget på Teg ca 15 minuters promenad från centrum, medan det andra ligger mitt i centrum. Fram till för ungefär tre år sedan hette restaurangen på Scandic Plaza Umeå Viskningar & Rop, något som varit restaurangens namn sedan hotellet byggdes. Därefter valde de att byta namn till Brasseri Plaza. De tre efterföljande åren har Scandic Plaza Umeås hotellrestaurang sett en nedåtgående trend på deras försäljning. För Scandic finns inte alternativet att stänga ner sin restaurang, utan de är beroende av att alltid driva en restaurang för att kunna tillgodose sina gäster med frukost. I Umeå byggs det för tillfället fler hotell och restauranger, vilket gör att Scandic Plaza är i behov av att komma till rätta med deras negativa trend. Med anledning av det skriver vi på uppdrag av Scandic Plaza Umeå för att göra en gästanalys och föreslå en ny positionering för deras restaurang. Vi har både studerat gästernas åsikter om restaurangen på Scandic Plaza Umeå, samt möjliga teorier som kan appliceras vid en repositionering. För ett serviceföretag såg vi det som intressant att undersöka hur relationsmarknadsföring, servicekvalitet, värdskapsutövande, skapande av upplevelser samt lokalproducerat utövas eller kan appliceras på verksamheten. Service är en väsentlig del i en hotellrestaurangs verksamhet och beteende både hos personal samt gäster kan påverka upplevelsen. Genom en enkätundersökning har vi visat på vad Scandic Plaza Umeås gäster anser om hotellrestaurangens service, prissättning samt deras uppfattning om lokalproducerat. Enkätundersökningen visade även på vad gästerna söker hos restauranger generellt, vilket vi jämfört med vad de anser i synnerhet hos restaurangen på Scandic Plaza Umeå. Vårt resultat visar på att de 106 respondenterna är övervägande positivt inställda till servicen som utövas på restaurangen, men att kunskapen hos personalen kunde vara större. Vidare visar studien på att fåtalet av Scandic Plazas gäster bryr sig om prisnivån på restauranger och att deras uppfattning om en rimlig nivå ligger i linje med Scandic Plazas. Lokalproducerade alternativ på restaurang ställde sig majoriteten positiva till och om det skulle införlivas i utbudet på Scandic Plazas restaurang ville respondenterna att det skulle framgå av menyn. Bland de övriga kommentarer som framkom genom studien visade det på att många av gästerna ville ut och uppleva stadens utbud. Vår slutsats är att Scandic Plaza bör inrikta sig mer mot lokalproducerad mat samt marknadsföra restaurangen mot lokalbefolkningen eftersom att kundunderlaget sviktar bland hotellgästerna.

Efforts to maintain a relationship to food pathways have been consistent throughout U.S. history despite the general evolution towards an increasingly industrialized food system. Urban agriculture serves as a means of reclaiming and furthering knowledge of where food comes from while also addressing larger social, economic, and environmental goals. This has been demonstrated in Chicago where urban farmers have worked to improve food access, increase employment, and revitalize communities all across the city. For many years, federal policies have promoted maximum production of commodity crops and kept supermarket prices low, allowing the government to ignore the impacts these policies are having on local economies, the environment, and public health. State and municipal policies have been similarly unsympathetic to any efforts to subvert the industrial food system. However, the individuals and organizations working to promote urban agriculture in Chicago demonstrate how community activism can break through these obstacles, and create fertile ground for the movement to grow. Chicago is recognized as a national leader in the urban agriculture movement, and the city is becoming an increasingly accommodating place for urban agriculture to thrive. In this thesis I describe the progress some of these urban farmers have made in Chicago, and emphasize how community engagement and support has played a crucial role in achieving this progress; I also discuss obstacles that have prevented the movement from attaining certain goals; and explore the implications of what it would mean for agriculture to change the landscape of a city.

abstract: Disparities in access to healthy food are a key public health concern in the United States (U.S.) Food access is considered as a critical element of food insecurity. Food insecurity can often be prevalent in a region due to lack of healthy food outlets as well as inequitable access to healthy food outlets. A large body of literature pertaining to access to healthy food has reported that conventional food outlets such as supermarkets and large grocery stores may not be equitably distributed across different neighborhoods in a region. There has been limited research on local food access patterns. Despite the few studies focused on access to individual types of local food outlets, such as farmers markets, little is known about whether such access varies among different types of local food outlets and how such access patterns compare with the uneven access to conventional food outlets. This study uses Maricopa County, one of the largest counties in Arizona, as a case study to examine the spatial patterns of access to conventional food markets (i.e. supermarkets or large grocery stores) and four different types of local food outlets, including farmers market, community garden, community supported agriculture (CSA) and mobile food markets. By analyzing the association between healthy food access and neighborhood characteristics, the study suggests that the local food system has a great potential in providing healthy food access to low-income and minority populations of the County than conventional food outlets. The study provides important insights into the way different types of local food outlets offer their availability in space and whether they are more equitable in serving underserved neighborhoods. The findings from this study can assist both government agencies and city planner formulate strategies to improve access to healthy food in disadvantaged neighborhoods. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Urban and Environmental Planning 2020

Agrihoods are a recent trend in real estate development that integrate agricultural amenities - such as working farms, orchards, or community gardens - into residential or mixed-use communities. As an emergent trend, agrihoods have the potential to enhance farmland preservation and local and regional food systems, making them a ripe area for research. However, very little scholarly research has been carried out to characterize, contextualize or evaluate agrihood developments. Thus far, the development model has primarily been detailed in popular media sources. This thesis serves as a baseline study that seeks to understand how neighborhood food systems operate within agrihood developments and how residents engage with their agricultural amenities. A mixed-methods approach utilized an online survey for agrihood residents and interviews with developers and farm managers to describe a subset of agrihoods as case studies. Seventy-eight agrihoods were identified; six were selected for case study analysis, three of which provided results for the resident survey (n=388). Survey results indicate that the character of the community was a more important motivator for agrihood residents to move to their community compared to the agricultural amenities. While all vi case study agrihoods sell produce directly to consumers through a CSA, farm store, or both, few survey respondents indicated they were CSA members or regularly shopped at the neighborhood farm store, with cost and convenience identified as the biggest barriers. While resident engagement with the neighborhood farm may be limited, charging an annual resident fee to support the farm – an approach taken by four out six case study communities – may provide a guaranteed revenue source to the farm amidst low levels of resident engagement with the agrihoods’ sales outlets. Interviewees provided insight into the nuances of operating agrihood farms, enhancing resident engagement, and the spatial design of communities. The results of this thesis can help agrihood developers and managers, and land-use regulators to further understand this new development model. Furthermore, the findings in this thesis provide avenues for future research on how agrihoods contribute to farmland preservation and local and regional food systems.

<p>Women who operate small-scale farms and sell to small markets in Indiana may encounter certain obstacles and constraints due to self-employment in the traditionally male-dominated field of agriculture. Researchers have recognized the role of sustainable agriculture ideology in attracting women to these niche agricultural markets. Despite increasing opportunities for women in sustainable agriculture, research suggests that traditional gender roles are often maintained, manifesting itself through several obstacles (Pilgeram & Amos, 2015). Female agricultural entrepreneurs encounter obstacles including work-family balance, geographic barriers, access to physical resources, access to financial resources, access to places of information. Previous research indicates that female entrepreneurs have less access to human, social, and financial capital to support their business ventures (Powell & Eddleston, 2013). However, this study explored the feminine perspective and management styles which may serve as beneficial resources. </p> <p>The purpose of this study was to explore and describe existing obstacles encountered by female entrepreneurs in niche agricultural markets and their methods of building resilience in their business. Quantitative data was collected through an online survey of 62 agricultural entrepreneurs across the state of Indiana. Participants were asked questions pertaining to their business structure, resources, constraints, processes, achievements, and demographics. Several responses to open-ended questions were also collected and analyzed through open, axial coding. Study results include the diversity of the population, value of human capital resources, prioritization of quality products, significance of internal constraints, discrepancies in division of labor and women’s obstacles to access to social networks. A greater understanding of the obstacles encountered by women agricultural entrepreneurs can also provide valuable insight to Land-Grant University Extension, policymakers, and stakeholders in the Indiana agriculture industry. </p>

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