COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT RESOURCES AND FOOD SYSTEM RESEARCH IN VERMONT

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: SPECIAL GRANT
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 0218497
• Grant No.: 2009-34269-19870
• Proposal No.: 2009-03377
• Project Start Date: Aug 1, 2009
• Project End Date: Jul 31, 2012
• Grant Year: 2009
• Program Code: [HV]- Center for Rural Studies, VT

Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT
(N/A)
BURLINGTON,VT 05405

Performing Department
Community Development and Applied Economics

Non Technical Summary
The local community is the stage on which life plays out in Vermont. Nearly every square mile of the state is allocated into one of 246 municipal governments - towns and cities - which act as the first gateways between residents and government information and services. Planning for growth and development primarily occurs in each of these municipalities. These are also the local economies where small entrepreneurs take their shots at success. Local decision making activities - voting at Town Meeting, formulating a small business strategy, adopting the new municipal comprehensive plan - drive personal success and quality of life in Vermont. There are disconnects between the resources and skills of Vermont's local government officials, small entrepreneurs and general data users and the technology, information and other resources that could make their decision making activities much easier and more effective. Providing quality information resources and data services to Vermont's residents and local officials is essential for rapid and targeted decision-making. Many governmental bodies offer data to constituents, but there is no coordinated effort in Vermont to provide municipal and county-level data and the technical support in accessing and using data resources in local decision making. Moreover, where state agencies may have the resources to use and access data services, the large number of non-professional volunteer officials in local government and the numerous financially struggling constituencies, including non-profits, require easily negotiable pathways to meaningful data and support in decision-making. This support directly affects constituencies' day-to-day work as well as local capacity to access external resources, such as grant funding. Overall the need for technical assistance and outreach targeted at local land use officials is well recognized by many groups in this state. Board and commission turn-over, complex regulations and increased development pressures at the local level necessitate the planning data and public input materials of this program area. Municipal land use officials are clamoring for any assistance with their important local decisions that have an impact statewide. Rural entrepreneurs in Vermont face a barrier to successfully accessing today's markets: they are less likely to have broadband Internet access and the opportunity to make full use of e-commerce tools. Thus this project will support projects that lend technical assistance and opportunities for developing and positioning local products and that study community-level processes for local solutions. CRS is the ideal institution for this project work because of its connection with multiple parties and initiatives, including those above. CRS enjoys the research footing of its location in the University of Vermont and can tap the academic and applied experience and knowledge of its own staff as well as that of UVM Extension, the Department of Community Development and Applied Economics and the whole of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

Animal Health Component

35%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

30%

Applied

35%

Developmental

35%

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
604	6030	3030	20%
608	6050	3030	35%
608	6099	3010	35%
703	6010	3020	10%

Knowledge Area
703 - Nutrition Education and Behavior; 608 - Community Resource Planning and Development; 604 - Marketing and Distribution Practices;

Subject Of Investigation
6010 - Individuals; 6099 - People and communities, general/other; 6030 - The farm as an enterprise; 6050 - Communities, areas, and regions;

Field Of Science
3020 - Education; 3010 - Economics; 3030 - Information and communication;

Keywords

community, economic, development, food system, entrepreneur, rural,

agriculture, land use, data

Goals / Objectives
Program Area Goals: Program Area: Food System Research and Outreach Goal: To further the traditions of the local food system and economic development in Vermont and facilitate their transition into the 21st Century. Program Area: Indicators for Vermont Communities Goal: To provide local decision-makers in Vermont - be they local officials, business-owners, parents, service-providers, etc. - with access to critical community-level data and information on how to properly use it. Program Area: Community Planning Tools for Vermont Goal: To provide tools and information in support of sound community planning and development activities in Vermont. Program Area Objectives: Food System Research and Outreach 1. To convene food system stakeholders in Vermont for the sharing of research and knowledge and collaborative outreach activities. 2. To provide local entrepreneurs with technical assistance in starting their businesses, positioning their products and pursuing success. 3. To educate Vermonters, especially schoolchildren, on the role of food in our lives and the role of all of us in Vermont's food system. 4. To support the creation of new venues and opportunities for local Vermont farms and businesses and their goods. Program Area: Indicators for Vermont Communities 1. To make relevant community-level data from various sources easily available to Vermonters on the Internet and in other forms and to prepare such venues to serve new data that will become available in the coming decade. 2. To provide Vermont data users with information and education on how to find and interpret U.S. Census Bureau data and indicators from other organizations and agencies. 3. To encourage and assist the participation of local governments, other groups, and general residents in U.S. Census Bureau programs and other activities to proactively ensure the quality and accuracy of Census 2010 data for Vermont, as well as other data products. 4. To represent the needs of Vermont data users to U.S. Census Bureau staff, particularly in the area of the quality of data collected and tabulated for small, rural areas. Program Area: Community Planning Tools for Vermont 1. To make information and educational resources available to local land use officials as they carry out their crucial local planning responsibilities. 2. To provide leadership in the coordination and facilitation of education for local land use officials in Vermont. 3. To support the development of new training materials and curricula for local land use officials in Vermont. 4. To support a ground-breaking and intensive community facilitation process for towns in Vermont.

Project Methods
To Accomplish Goals and Objectives: This project will staff and support a new on- and off-campus Food System Research Collaborative and develop tools for sharing research and information. This project will continue and evaluate specialized workshops for introducing Vermont farmers to the opportunities and challenges represented by e-commerce. It will also explore the provision of further post-workshop technical assistance and integration into existing farm business curricula. This project will support workshops by the Vermont Food Venture Center for local entrepreneurs in aspects of starting or expanding a value-added or specialty food business and of bringing product to market. This project will support the VT FEED program in raising awareness about healthy food, good nutrition and the role that Vermont farms and farmers play in our communities; and in rebuilding local food systems by linking school classrooms, cafeterias, local farms, and communities. This project will leverage a local Vermont products store to provide technical assistance to entrepreneurs in the fields of product marketing and promotion, business plan/expansion research and modeling, and financial analysis. This project will collaborate with the Vermont Center for Geographic Information on resources to ensure the dissemination and informed use of indicators and information on rural communities in Vermont. This project will support the Center for Rural Studies' role as Vermont's liaison with the U.S. Census Bureau through the State Data Center program, including technical assistance and outreach to data users and the representation of Vermont's needs to Bureau staff and programs. This project will support participation and activities in the Vermont Land Use Education and Training Collaborative, which brings together organizations involved in education and technical assistance for local land use officials in Vermont. This project will contribute to the Vermont Law School in a collaborative project to develop a series of teaching modules for a curriculum on development review for local land use officials in Vermont. This project will contribute to the Vermont Council on Rural Development Community Visit Program, an intensive and thorough community prioritization and capacity-building program.

Progress 08/01/09 to 07/31/12

Outputs
OUTPUTS: The Vermont Food Venture Center completed the workshops that this grant funded. The Vermont Council on Rural Development completed its 2 year e-Vermont Community Broadband project to get 24 Vermont communities to expand use of digital learning and advance community and economic development. Vermont Law School has completed its development review training modules. This grant also provided funds to Shelburne Farm to support its Vermont Food Education Every Day program. The Opportunities for Agriculture working paper series was also sponsored by this grant. PARTICIPANTS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. TARGET AUDIENCES: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
Small business workshops were conducted for food entrepreneurs. Schools throughout Vermont received technical assistance for incorporating local foods into school meals and using local agriculture in the classroom. 24 communities got better public Internet access (broadband) through libraries, 40 Internet use trainings were conducted, and small business advising was provided to over 100 small businesses interested in using the Internet for their business. The Opportunities for Agriculture series is available on the Center for Rural Studies website and the UVM Food Systems Spire website. The State Data Center continues to address new data needs brought about through the 2010 census and the American Communities Survey.

Publications

• Kolodinsky, Jane (2012). Persistence of Health Labeling Information Asymmetry in the United States: Historical Perspectives and 21st Century Problems. Journal of Macromarketing. Advance Publication, April 26, 2012, DOI: 10.1177/0276146711434829. 32 Issue 2 June 2012 pp. 193 - 207.
• Conner, D., King, B., Kolodinsky, J., Roche, E., Koliba, C. and Trubek, A. (2012). You can know your school and feed it too: Vermont farmers' motivations and distribution practices in direct sales to school food services. Agriculture and Human Values. Online first publication: http://www.springerlink.com/openurl.aspgenre=article&id=doi:10.1007/ s10460-012-9357-y

Progress 08/01/10 to 07/31/11

Outputs
OUTPUTS: The 2009 grant supported the Food Venture Center, Shelburne Farms, VCGI, Vermont Law School and VCRD. Some funds were also used to support the Food Systems Research Collaborative's Opportunities in Agriculture Working paper series. VCRD received funds to support the e-Vermont Community Broadband Project. These funds were used as match to obtain a $2.5 million grant to support the e-Vermont Partnership. e-Vermont is a two year project to support 24 Vermont communities to expand use of digital learning and advance community and economic development through expanding and improving online applications that support business, social networks, education and public information. PARTICIPANTS: Food Venture Center, Shelburne Farms, VCGI, Vermont Law School, VCRD, Food Systems Research Collaborative TARGET AUDIENCES: Communities throughout the state of Vermont PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.

Impacts
The e-Vermont Partnership has had the following impacts and outcomes: *Digital Wish provided Netbooks to 665 students in grades 4 - 6, provided 79 educator trainings, and 764 participant trainings, totaling over 1,000 training hours to advance the use of new technology in Vermont classrooms. *Front Porch Forum had over 2,000 subscribers to their online neighborhood conversations and started to see towns reach a critical mass for rapidly adding subscribers (for example 59% of Middlesex households, 31% Bristol, 23% Cambridge) *Department of Libraries worked with public librarians to develop specifications for purchasing 42 computers to improve public Internet access. Some libraries have larger projects such as an iPad lending program in Bristol and e-learning center in Arlington. *Vermont State Colleges scheduled almost 40 trainings for delivery in spring of 2011 combining in-person workshops and a new webinar series. *Snelling Center for Government hosted a regional workshop in December and built guidance materials for municipalities to use in designing websites. *Small Business Development Center provided one-on-one advising to 32 businesses and presented 11 workshops with 84 businesses participating.

Publications

• Conner, Kahler, Berlin & Hoffer (2011). Economic Opportunity in Local Food Systems: Baselines and Targets. Opportunities for Agriculture Working Paper Series 2 (5) http://www.uvm.edu/~foodsys/documents/workingpapers/vol2/WorkingPaper Conner.pdf
• Koliba, Campbell & Davie (2011). Regional Food Systems Planning: A Case Study from Vermont's Northeast Kingdom. Opportunities for Agriculture Working Paper Series 2 (5) http://www.uvm.edu/~foodsys/documents/workingpapers/vol2/WorkingPaper Koliba.pdf
• Kolodinsky & Smith (2011). Place-based Marketing Opportunities for Vermont. Opportunities for Agriculture Working Paper Series 2 (5) http://www.uvm.edu/~foodsys/documents/workingpapers/vol2/WorkingPaper Kolodinsky.pdf
• Bose & Laramee (2011). Taste of Home: Migration, Food and Belonging in a Changing Vermont. Opportunities for Agriculture Working Paper Series 2 (5) http://www.uvm.edu/~foodsys/documents/workingpapers/vol2/WorkingPaper Bose.pdf
• Berlin, Schattman & Hamilton (2011). Working towards the Common Table: How Vermont Addresses Social Justice and Food Access with Local Food and Why it Matters. Opportunities for Agriculture Working Paper Series 2 (5) http://www.uvm.edu/~foodsys/documents/workingpapers/vol2/WorkingPaper Berlin.pdf

Progress 08/01/09 to 07/31/10

Outputs
OUTPUTS: All sub-awards associated with this project have been set up. Work has completed with the Vermont Food Venter Center "Recipe to Market" and "Selling Skills" workshops. The Vermont Council on Rural Development completed its work on the Community Visit program, including a Community Visit in Shoreham, VT, and preparations for Community Visits in Marlboro and Fairfield, VT. VCRD has also consulted on various community issues with Windsor, Essex, West Fairlee, the Mad River Valley, Castleton, Fairhaven, Proctor, Shaftsbury, Winhall, Concord, Peacham, St. Albans, Charlotte, Pittsford, and Canaan, VT, and provided follow-up consultation with Killington, Woodstock, Hinesburg, Rutland, Wilmington, and Johnson, VT. The Vermont Law School has completed work on the development of three local development review training modules, as part of a larger series. The three modules are titled "Interpreting and Applying Standards," "Reading Plats and Site Plans," and "Taking Evidence." Work continues with Shelburne Farms on the VT Food Education Every Day farm to school program support and with the Vermont Center for Geographic Information on a substantial upgrade to the Vermont Indicators Online website. PARTICIPANTS: Individuals staffing project: Jane Kolodinsky (Principal Investigator), Will Sawyer (Project Manager), Jessica Hyman, Michael Moser, David Deutl. Collaborating Organizations: Vermont Council on Rural Development (sub-awardee), Vermont Center for Geographic Information (sub-awardee), Vermont Law School (sub-awardee), Shelburne Farms (sub-awardee), Vermont Food Venture Center (sub-awardee), Vermont Land Use Education and Training Collaborative, Vermont Dept. of Economic, Housing and Community Development, Vermont League of Cities and Towns, Vermont's Regional Planning Commissions, Vermont Planners Association, U.S. Census Bureau. TARGET AUDIENCES: Target Audiences included local communities, farmers, entrepreneurs, local land use officials, municipal officials, local decision-makers in general, Vermont data-users, affordable housing advocates, policy-makers, and practitioners in community and economic development. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
Reports on project impacts are forthcoming.

Publications

• No publications reported this period