Progress 09/01/13 to 08/31/14
Outputs
Target Audience: The target audiences reached during year 2 consisted of the diverse segments of the Michigan population who were exposed to the recruitment efforts, data collection processes, educational publications, interviews, articles and press releases about the Food Access in Michigan Project. In year 2 these audiences included: Key individual and organizational stakeholders working within the food system in Michigan. 127 key informants provided interviews and many of these connections assisted in (and will continue to support) project data collection efforts (such as farmer focus group participant recruitment). Many of these individuals live in or work with communities and individuals who are likely to be food insecure, are socially and economically disadvantaged, and are themselves racial ethnic minorities or serve racial or ethnic minority communities. Small and mid-sized farmers, including underserved and socially disadvantaged, racial and ethnic minority farmers, women, and beginning farmers were reached by project team recruiting efforts and 67 participated in farmer focus groups, many of these individuals include small farmers who are often struggling to run an economically viable operations; Low-income, economically-disadvantaged, racial and ethnic minorities who are vulnerable to becoming food insecure were the targets of the raised-bed gardening program recruitment efforts. 90 individuals participated in the raised bed gardening program across all of the sites. Homeless individuals who are acutely vulnerable to becoming food insecure were part of a specific recruitment effort in Grand Rapids, Michigan where 21 individuals completed diet, physical activity and/or food access/food insecurity surveys. Undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Michigan, University of Michigan-Flint, Michigan State University, and the University of Wisconsin were the target audiences for the university-level courses and advising from project faculty; 133 students were engaged in these educational opportunities across the four institutions collaborating on this project. Additionally, 24 students served as research assistants during year 2, seven of whom were racial minorities. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Training Activities- Six training opportunities have been provided to project research assistants: Key Informant Interviewing Skills Workshop: A 1 hour introductory training for research assistants around interviewing skills. Key Informant Interviewing – Interviewing skills review and Transcription Training: A 2- hour training for research assistants discussing questions or challenges in conducting interviews and well asproviding instruction for transcribing interview audio files. Content Analysis: Methodologies and Techniques in the Analysis of Qualitative Data: A 2-hour training on qualitative analysis techniques and coding methodology. Analyzing and Coding Qualitative Data using the software HyperResearch: A 2-hour training for research assistants introducing the qualitative analysis software. Physical activity, diet and health data collection methodologies: 2 hour training for research assistants at GVSU to collect energy intake data using a five-step 24 hour recall protocol, and physical activity using an ActiGraph GT1M activity monitor (6 undergraduate and 2 graduate students) Primary spatial data collection and analysis techniques: 8 hours of on-site training was provided to a new research assistant. The training involved reviewing past literature, and teaching appropriate project related database inventory, database management (QA/QC), and spatial analysis techniques. Professional Development Activities: 13 Other conferences, summits and seminars that provided opportunities to increase knowledge around local, statewide and national research and efforts focused on improving food access and addressing food insecurity included: Maren Spolum, Project coordinator. Invited to attend the Michigan Farm to Institution Network Meeting, October 17, 2013, Lansing, MI Maren Spolum, Project coordinator. Attended the American Public Health Association Annual Meeting, November 2-6, 2013, Boston, MA. Maren Spolum, Project coordinator. Invited to attend the meeting “Food Metrics and Social Justice – Beyond Pounds and Meals”, co-sponsored by Gleaners Community Food Bank and the University of Michigan-School of Social Work, November 21, 2013, Detroit, MI. Maren Spolum, Shannon Brines (GIS consultant) and Ethan Schoolman (Post-doc) attended the Great Lakes Fruit, Vegetable and Farm Market Expo, December 10-12, 2013, Grand Rapids, MI Co-I Greg Zimmerman and community partner Nome Buckman attended the Food Summit hosted by the Upper Peninsula Food Exchange on November 7, 2013 in Sault Ste Marie, MI. Maren Spolum, Ethan Schoolman, and research assistants Juliana Pino, M’Lis Barlett, Ima Otudor, Beatriz Canas and Molly Lutton attended the Michigan Family Farms Conference, January 18, 2014, Battle Creek, MI Maren Spolum and Shannon Brines attended the Northwest Michigan Food and Farming Network’s Annual Food & Farming Summit, January 31, 2014, Traverse City, MI Gregory Zimmerman, Maren Spolum, Shannon Brines, research assistants Katelynn Cordero and Josie Fegan attended the Northern Michigan Small Farms Conference, February 1, 2014, Traverse City, MI Stephen Gasteyer and research assistant Chloe Hui attended the Everybody Eats: Cultivating Food Democracy conference, Saturday February 8, 2014, Lansing MI Maren Spolum, graduate students Beatriz Canas, Justin Burdine and Kristine Schantz attended the Homegrown Local Food Summit, March 30-31, 2014, Washtenaw Community College, Ypsilanti, MI Debbie Lown, Synergy Works!, Grand Valley State University, Allendale, MI. March 14, 2014. Debbie Lown, Michigan Food Hub Learning and Innovation Network, MSU Center for Regional Food Systems, Grand Rapids, MI. March 5, 2014. Emma Popma (Graduate Assistant at GVSU) attended the National Obesity Conference, Atlanta, GA, November 11-14, 2013. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? In order to educate communities of interest about the Food Access in Michigan project, the Principal Investigator, Co-Investigators, Project coordinator and research assistants have all engaged in numerous educational presentations and outreach activities, community presentations, been highlighted in articles in local newspapers, attended community events, conferences, seminars and summits, conducted television interviews and attended events hosted by community partners in order to engage their broader constituents. In order to present a coherent message across the state regarding the research partnership, Food Access in Michigan Project Talking Points were developed. Flyers were also developed to educate farmers being recruited for focus groups about the aims of the entire project and the aims of the farmer focus groups. These flyers were developed in both English and Spanish. The relationships established with individuals and organizations during year 2 will serve as critical avenues for dissemination of data analysis and results in subsequent years. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? (a)Identify the disparities in access to healthy foods in each municipality by examining the relationship between the demographic characteristics of the cities and the distribution patterns of various types of food outlets (including EBT retailers); - Year 3 plan: GIS Data collection efforts in year 3 will include: establishments accepting WIC; food assistance groups for central Michigan; and farm locations/demographics from the USDA Census of Agriculture. Spatial analysis of food access barriers and facilitators for each of the 18 study sites using the complete and cleaned databases will begin. Presentations and publications on work conducted in years 1 and 2 will be submitted to conferences and journals. (b) Identify the factors related to the presence of food deserts and food oases; - Year 3 plan: Key stakeholder demographics will be analyzed in year 3 along with a qualitative analysis of the interview transcripts. Articles and other products will be drafted for submission and dissemination. (c) Examine the relationship between access to healthy foods, purchasing and consumption behavior, and health outcomes; - Year 3 plan: Clean and analyze data collected during year 2, and present and publish articles based on findings. (d) Identify mechanisms through which producers and consumers can be connected more directly and effectively and help facilitate more efficient connection; - Year 3 plan: Approximately 6 more focus groups will be held with farmers across the state of Michigan. Farmer demographics will be analyzed in year 3, along with a qualitative analysis of the focus group transcripts. (e) Identify those who are vulnerable to becoming food insecure and facilitate their increased participation in local food networks; - Year 3 plan: The research team will continue to work with their community partners to build their capacity to deliver programmatic support to individuals across the state of Michigan who are interested in participating in urban agricultural activities and who are vulnerable to being food insecure. (f) Create two service-learning courses - one graduate and one undergraduate - related to food security and urban agriculture issues; - Year 3 plan: Project faculty will continue teaching courses developed in years 1 and 2 that address issues of food security and critically analyze different facets of the food system. (g) Promote national, state, and local food policies that will help to reduce food insecurity. - Year 3 plan: Based on the results of the analysis of different portions of the project above, the research team will identify and disseminate findings regarding policy solutions to reduce food insecurity among various constituent groups. Additionally, three publications are currently in development: Taylor, D. & Ard, K. An Assessment of the Food environment in Food Desert and Non-Food-Desert Census Tracts in Detroit. Johansen, R. and S. Gasteyer. Volunteers and Voluntolds: The Problematics of Labor in Urban Gardening. Johansen, R. and S. Gasteyer. An Integrated Assessment of the Neighborhood Level Impacts of Improving Green Space: Flint, Michigan
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
GOAL (a): Activities completed: The major activities completed in year 2 included finalizing the food outlet database and a carrying out a rigorous cleaning up of said data. The sub-type classification method proposed in year 1 was used to rectify all food outlet subtypes for each of the 18 sites during year 2. The spatial accuracy of all food outlets was verified for each point throughout the state of Michigan. In addition, eight new databases were collected to enhance the robustness of the overall database and analysis. Specifically, the eight new databases will contribute to a food access index and include: State of Michigan bicycle routes, Census tract (and zipcode) crime data, landcover data, average household spending on groceries at the census block group level, bus routes and bus stops from downloaded bus route data for transportation database, sidewalks, and EPA’s new smart location database, and medical clinics. In addition, all project related data was cleaned, organized, and placed in a geodatabase to ensure future data integrity. Specific objectives met: Year 2 objectives entailed the procurement of all food outlet data, subtype classification, and spatial verification of each food outlet. The former remains to be completed. Food outlet dot density maps were produced to illustrate the added amounts of data. In addition, eight food access indicators were added to the database. The GIS databases will be used to spatially analyze food access barriers and facilitators for each of the 18 study sites, and throughout the State of Michigan. Data collection efforts in year 3 will include: establishments accepting WIC; food assistance groups for central Michigan; and farm locations/demographics from the USDA Census of Agriculture. GOAL (b): Activities completed: 113 key informant interviews with major stakeholders working throughout Michigan’s food system were conducted (for a total of 127 interviews between years 1 & 2). 124 of the interviews have been transcribed by project research assistants. Many of these individuals live in or work with communities and individuals who are likely to be food insecure, are socially and economically disadvantaged, and are themselves racial ethnic minorities or serve racial or ethnic minority communities. Key stakeholder demographics will be analyzed in year 3 along with a qualitative analysis of the interview transcripts. GOAL (c): Activities completed: The scope of site data collection has increased to include Grand Rapids, and Ypsilanti, MI. 58 participants were recruited from Grand Rapids and Ypsilanti to complete 24-hour diet recall surveys in year 1 and 2: 14 from Baxter (years 1 and 2); 7 Growing Hope; 21 from Dégagé and16 from non-gardeners all living in the Baxter community. Complete, valid physical activity information was collected on 40 participants. In years 1 and 2, Resident food security and food behavior surveys have been completed by 106 individuals: 52 non-garden members in Grand Rapids, 23 garden members at Baxter Garden program in Grand Rapids, 7 garden members of Growing Hope in Ypsilanti and 23 homeless women at Degage‘s Open Door program in Grand Rapids. GOAL (d): Activities completed: A pre-test of the farmer focus group instrument was conducted and the focus group questions were revised based on data collected during the pre-test. Farmers were initially recruited at 5 different Michigan-based agriculture conferences, and recruiting efforts have focus on small to mid-sized farmers, as well as farmers who are underserved and socially disadvantaged, racial and ethnic minority farmers, women, and beginning farmers. Additionally, contacts were made at those conferences with key individuals connected to Michigan farmers (such as food hub coordinators). To date, 13 focus groups with a total of 67 participants have been held across the state of Michigan with small to mid-sized farmers. Farmer demographics will be analyzed in year 3, along with a qualitative analysis of the focus group transcripts. GOAL (e): Activities completed: The six community partner organizations ran gardening programs during year 2 of the project. Four of the sites construct raised bed gardens for program participants, while in the two other partner organizations, one worked with individuals growing produce collectively in community gardens while, the other worked with families whose children participate in after-school and school-yard gardening programs. There were 90 participants in the raised-bed gardening programs in year 2, and families from 4 community/school yard gardens were also recruited during year 2 (though there were challenges with data collection efforts in those sites). Across the six partner sites, 35 gardening education classes have been offered to the program participants, all of whom were identified as vulnerable to becoming food insecure as part of program eligibility. Topics included planting, canning/food preservation, composting, food safety, nutrition, fall season extension, and how to use fish emulsion organic fertilizer. Pre-season and post-season surveys, as well as harvest tracking forms were distributed at the gardening sites. Monthly meetings with gardening partners were held where sites reports hundreds of pounds of produce being grown (exact numbers will be available after data analysis in year 3). Data QC is currently being conducted. Demographic information will be analyzed in year 3 along with food security status and the effects of participating in gardening activities. Significant results: Over 90 participants grew hundreds of pounds of produce as a result of project activities during year 2, and increased their knowledge of gardening activities. In addition, anecdotal evidence from our partners suggests that a portion of the participants were using the produce grown during the program to mitigate times of potential food insecurity- this effect will be further investigated in year 3. GOAL (f): Activities completed: In Year 2, 135 students, from undergraduates to doctoral students, attended courses taught by (or were advised by) project investigators: Six graduate students on a project team advised by PI Dorceta Taylor produced a thesis based on research conducted throughout the year. Five of the six students were racial minorities. The chapters are listed above. A second cohort of graduate students will conduct research for a group thesis with Dr. Taylor in year 3- one of the three students is a racial minority. Additionally, Co-Investigator Monica White re-taught the course she created during year 1, designed for upper-level undergraduate students titled ENV 600—Urban Food Systems, Urban Agriculture and Food Security and the Environment in Detroit, 12 students were enrolled. PI Dorceta Taylor also taught 75 undergraduates in “Introduction to Environmental Justice” Course, which incorporated several units on urban agriculture and food insecurity in the U.S. and internationally. And PI Taylor advised 3 doctoral students whose work focuses on food systems and urban agriculture. Co-Investigator Greg Rybarczyk developed and taught an undergraduate course titled Community Food Access Planning, ENV 291, during the winter 2014 semester to 11 students. And Co-Investigator Stephen Gasteyer incorporated units on urban agriculture, food access and food disparities into three courses- 25 students wrote term papers on food access, communities engaged in addressing food access issues and local agriculture issues. GOAL (g): Nothing to report
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Under Review
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Taylor, D. & Ard, K. Understanding the Complexity of Detroits Food Environment: Access, Justice, and Social Change. In Review.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Johansen, R., K. Herman, S. Gasteyer. 2014. Green Spaces in Red Budgets: accounting for grassroots neighborhood greening efforts in Flint, Michigan's era of austerity. Midwest Sociological Society Annual Conference April 2-4, 2014 Omaha, NE
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Taylor, D., & Ard, K. Panel presentation at the American Sociological Association annual meeting in San Francisco, CA. August 15-18, 2014.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Submitted
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Popma E., Lown, D., Taylor, D., Spolum, M. Poster submission, Nutrient Intake of Homeless Women in Grand Rapids, Michigan . Obesity Conference, Boston, MA, November, 7, 2014.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Submitted
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Lown, D., Taylor, D., Spolum, M. Poster submission. The Influence of Raised-Bed Garden Participation on Fruit and Vegetable Consumption . Obesity Conference, Boston, MA, November 7, 2014.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Submitted
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Spolum M, Taylor D, Schoolman E, Gasteyer S, Lown D, Rybarczyk G, White M, Zimmerman G. Oral presentation submission, Strengthening Michigan's Food System: Examining Disparities in Food Access and Enhancing the Food Security of Underserved Populations . American Public Health Association Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, November 15-19, 2014.
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
1 Masters Project thesis was written in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor with PI Dorceta Taylor as the 6 graduate students faculty advisor:
- Ahn S, Johnson K, Lutton M, Otudor I, Pino J, Yu C. Examining disparities in food access and enhancing the food security of underserved populations in Michigan. Thesis chapters include:
o What Lunch in Michigan Really Looks Like: An Exploration of School Lunch Menus
o Reimagining Food Security in Michigans Emergency Food Network: Linking Capacity and Effectiveness with Culturally Appropriate and Fresh Foods
o Can Farmers Market Managers Help Ameliorate Food Insecurity through the Acceptance of Federal and State Food Assistance Program Benefits?
o Examining the Link between Social Missions versus Actions to Promote Food Security in Michigan
o Addressing Food Deserts in Michigan through Farmers Markets
o Sustainable Techniques in Community Gardens and Urban Farms
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Progress 09/01/12 to 08/31/13
Outputs
Target Audience: The target audiences reached during year 1 of the project consist of the diverse segments of the Michigan population who were exposed to the educational publications, interviews, articles and press releases about the Food Access in Michigan Project. Target audiences served by the raised-bed gardening program include low-income, economically-disadvantaged, racial and ethnic minorities who are vulnerable to becoming food insecure. Additionally, undergraduate students at the University of Wisconsin and graduate students at the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources and the Environment were the target audiences for the university-level service learning courses developed in year I (nine of the twenty-two students were racial minorities). Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Training Activities: Six training opportunities have been provided to project research assistants: Techniques in compiling and cleaning raw spatial data: 1 hour training for 17 research assistants (both undergraduate and graduate students, including six minority students). Primary spatial data collection and analysis techniques: Two research assistants at UM-Flint have received extensive training over the course of the academic year from Co-Investigator Rybarczyk regarding spatial data analysis techniques. Overview of qualitative research techniques: 4 hour training for 16 research assistants (both undergraduate and graduate students, including five minority students) Focus Group research methodology: 3 hour training for 11 research assistants (undergraduate students) Telephone interview research methodology: 2 hour training as well as individual feedback for 16 research assistants (both undergraduate and graduate students, including 4 minority students) Physical activity, diet and health data collection methodologies: Research assistants at GVSU received week long training on how to collect demographic and health data, Energy intake data using a five-step 24 hour recall protocol, and physical activity using an ActiGraph GT1M activity monitor (11 undergraduate and graduate students) Professional Development Activities: Other conferences attended by project coordinator and four UM project research assistants that provided opportunities to increase knowledge around local and statewide activities focused on improving food access and addressing food insecurity included: Homegrown Local Food Summit, February 22, 2013, Washtenaw Community College, Ypsilanti, MI Agriculture, Food Systems, and Human Values Conference in East Lansing, MI on June 21, 2013 Michigan Food Hub Network Statewide Meeting, Eastern Market, Detroit, MI July 9, 2013 How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? In order to educate communities of interest about the Food Access in Michigan project, the Principal Investigator, Co-Investigators, Project coordinator and research assistants have all engaged in numerous educational presentations and outreach activities, community presentations, been highlighted in articles in local newspapers, attended community events, conducted radio interviews and attended events hosted by community partners in order to engage their broader constituents. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Figure A Activities Year I Year II I) PROJECT MANAGEMENT Hire project staff X X - Hire and train research assistants X X Identify and form the Community Advisory Council X Connect to key orgs and stakeholders across Michigan X X Coordinate project administration, financial operation X X Communicate and coordinate activities across sites X X Convene meetings of project research team X X - Monthly conference calls and annual meeting X X Establish collaborative web infrastructure for project X X - Project website; Collaborative web space; Databases X X Write annual reports X X Conduct internal and external evaluations X X II) KEY INFORMANT INTERVIEWS Revise key informant interview questions X Develop key informant interview sampling strategy X Identify potential key informants X Train research assistants on interview methodology X X Conduct key informant interviews X X Analyze key informant interview data X III) FOCUS GROUPS WITH FARMERS Revise farmer focus group questions X Develop farmer sampling strategy X Identify farmers across the state of Michigan to survey X Train research assistants on focus group methodology X Conduct farmer focus groups X Analyze farmer focus group data X IV) RESIDENTIAL RAISED BED GARDENS PROGRAM Identify community partners X Design garden harvest tracking form X Design pre-post survey X Identify gardening participants, consent and support X X Develop & disseminate programmatic materials X X Collect pre-post harvest tracking & resident survey data X X V) SPATIAL ANALYSIS OF FOOD RETAILERS Identify and code food retailers X X Conduct mapping and spatial analysis of retailers X X * Expanded: SPATIAL ANALYSIS OF FOOD ENVIRONMENT Create database of farmers’ markets X X Create database of urban farms & community gardens X X Create database of U-pick farms X X Create database of food coops, locally-grown groups X X Create database of food assistance organizations X X Create database of health departments, WIC offices X X Create database of farms X X Create database of SNAP/EBT/WIC vendors X X Create database of the food supply chain X X Explore innovative GIS analytic methodologies X X VI) INTERVIEWS WITH FOOD RETAILERS Revise food retailer survey questions X Develop food retailer sampling strategy X Identify food retailers to survey X Disseminate food retailer survey X Analyze food retailer survey data X VII) PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, NUTRITION, HEALTH STUDY Train RAs in diet recall & Actigraph methodologies X X Develop participant sampling strategy X Identify participants and conduct PANH study X X Analyze PANH data X Nutrition education community outreach activities X X VIII) SURVEY OF RESIDENT FOOD SECURITY & BEHAVIOR Refine Resident survey questions X Develop resident sampling strategies X Build database of survey participants and partner orgs X X Disseminate survey across the state of Michigan X Collect and analyze resident survey data X IX) UNIVERSITY COURSES Develop undergraduate course X Develop graduate course X X X) PUBLIC EDUCATION Develop and disseminate public education materials X X Finish project website update X Figure A is an updated Schedule of Activities outlining the activities planned for year 2 of the Food Access in Michigan project: Concluding statement The following are the anticipated future outcomes of the project: Fact sheets, research briefs, press releases, and summary reports. Enhanced collaboration between farmers, retailers, consumers, and food advocates Research papers on access to healthy foods Michigan’s underserved urban residents Promotion of food policies and practices to enhance access to healthy foods. Web information on food security in Michigan. Greater awareness of food security issues and increased participation in food initiatives Conference and workshop presentations on findings of the project. Through creation of nuanced data systems, analysis, and collaboration with local partners, we have made significant progress toward enabling deeper understanding of the systems that contribute to food access and insecurity in Michigan. We are continually building complex and actionable knowledge on the mechanisms that may alleviate systemic barriers to food access.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Project goals, activities and accomplishments over the past year: Identify the disparities in access to healthy foods in each municipality by examining the relationship between the demographic characteristics of the cities and the distribution patterns of various types of food outlets (including EBT retailers). Activities completed: At the Introductory Meeting for the Food Access in Michigan (FAIM) research team (December 14, 2012, UM-Ann Arbor) it was quickly identified that an expanded amount of data is needed in order to research and analyze the complexities of the food environment affecting an individual’s access (perceived and real) and behaviors regarding food. Consequently, the breadth and depth of spatial analysis activities was significantly expanded in Year I. The following eight datasets have been developed and preliminary maps created: 1) Farmer’s markets, N=298; 2) Urban farms and community gardens, N=549; 3) U-pick farms, N=353; 4) Food coops, locally-grown and slow-food groups, N=174; 5) Food assistance organizations, N=2030; 6) Public health departments, health clinics and WIC clinics, N=248; 7) SNAP/EBT vendors, N=9510; 8) Food retailers: Tens of thousands of food retailer locations from multiple database sources were collected, merged, quality-control analyzed, and then preliminary maps were developed. N=2,384 retail grocers have been classified to date as well as 16,386 restaurants. Significant developments: Creation of an innovative sub-type classification methodology to more accurately identify different types of food retail outlets. Identify the factors related to the presence of food deserts and food oases. Activities completed: 249 major stakeholders working throughout Michigan’s food system have been identified and to date 14 key informant interviews have been conducted. Examine the relationship between access to healthy foods, purchasing and consumption behavior, and health outcomes. Activities completed: The first cohort of participants was recruited to participate in this portion of the study. 9 participants completed 24-hour diet recall surveys. Complete, valid physical activity information was collected on 15 participants, and 11 of the participants completed the resident food security and food behavior survey. Identify mechanisms through which producers and consumers can be connected more directly and effectively and help facilitate more efficient connections. Activities completed: Survey instruments for farmers and food retailers have been developed and interviews with these two populations will begin in year 2. Identify those who are vulnerable to becoming food insecure and facilitate their increased participation in local food networks. Activities completed: Six community partner organizations have been identified and raised bed gardening programs have been developed at each of the partner sites. To date, 79 participants have been recruited and approximately 30 more participants are expected. 71 raised-bed gardens have been successfully constructed at participants’ homes. Across the six partner sites, 35 gardening education classes have been offered to the program participants, all of whom were identified as vulnerable to becoming food insecure as part of program eligibility. Create two service-learning courses – one graduate and one undergraduate – related to food security and urban agriculture issues. Activities completed: In Year I, a graduate level prototype for a food systems course was developed by Principal Investigator Dorceta Taylor in tandem with the Master’s project process that students at the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources and Environment are required to complete as the capstone to their academic programs. The course combined faculty mentorship from Dorceta Taylor and project guidance by Project Coordinator Maren Spolum. Each of the seven students are focused on a specific portion of the food system at large, and each student will conduct site visits and interviews, in addition to collecting topic-specific data, in the cities covered by the FAIM study. Objectives met: Co-Investigator Monica White created a new curricula and course for upper-level undergraduate students titled ENV 600—Urban Food Systems, Urban Agriculture and Food Security and the Environment in Detroit. The course enrolled 15 students and was a capstone course designed to include a week-long, all-expense paid, service-learning trip to Detroit for the expressed purpose of participating in urban agricultural projects, assessing resident access to healthy food, and investigating the strategies that residents engage in, such as agriculture, to increase access to healthy food in Detroit. Promote national, state, and local food policies that will help to reduce food insecurity Nothing to report Impact The project team and community partner network capacity building has grown given monthly collaborative conference calls and meetings. Learning and resource sharing spaces have been structured into meetings, providing a platform for community partners and researchers to benefit from co-learning opportunities around factors influencing food insecurity, and strategies employed to mitigate the harmful effects food insecurity and improve access to healthy foods. A change in knowledge resulting from this collaboration is the expanded collection of data illustrating the complex food environments across Michigan and the use of innovative techniques to classify this data, which will result in the most robust and comprehensive dataset depicting a state’s food environment to date. Due to community partner implementation of the raised bed gardening program in Year 1, a change in conditions of the nutritional opportunities available to 71 families across Michigan shifted as they are gaining access to fresh food and produce one year ahead of schedule. Finally, 46 students participating in university courses or as research assistants on the FAIM project have engaged in changes in their knowledge and actions by applying the skills they’ve learned through project training opportunities, coursework and applied service opportunities, becoming more thoughtful and critical thinkers regarding the factors influencing food access and food security as well as effective solutions.
Publications
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Dorceta Taylor. Featured in The Desert Oasis: Redefining food access in Michigan. Stewards. Article by Allie Goldstein. Spring 2013: 14-15.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Dorceta Taylor. Announcement of the USDA grant in the American Sociological Associations Footnotes. February 2013.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Dorceta Taylor. Featured in announcement of USDA grant in the American Sociological Association Environment and Technology Section Newsletter. January 4, 2013.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2012
Citation:
Dorceta Taylor. Dorceta Taylor to deliver MLK Lecture Jan. 21 at SNRE. Article by Kevin Merrill. http://www.snre.umich.edu/news/12-12-2012/dorceta_taylor_to_deliver_mlk_lecture_ jan_21_at_snre. December 12, 2012.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2012
Citation:
Dorceta Taylor. Professor Dorceta Taylor Lead Investigator of New Study. Article by Robin Grice. http://www.lsa.umich.edu/daas/news/ci.professordorcetataylorlead investigatorofnewstudytue11dec2012_ci.detail. December 11, 2012
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2012
Citation:
Dorceta Taylor. Taylor Leads Research Team Examining Food Security Across Michigan. Article by Kevin Merrill. http://snre.umich.edu/news/11-07-2012/taylor_leads_research_ team_examining_food_security_across_michigan. November 7, 2012
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2012
Citation:
Dorceta Taylor. U-M Researchers to Study Food Security Across Michigan. Article by Kevin Merrill. http://www.ns.umich.edu/new/releases/20967-u-m-researchers-to-study-food-security-across-michigan. November 7, 2012
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