Progress 09/01/12 to 08/31/14
Outputs
Target Audience: Target audiences reached during this reporting period were diverse, and include: policymakers (local, state, and federal); practitioners, including extension educators; federal government employees; and researchers. Most efforts focused on formal presentations as well as extension and outreach. Presentations include: an invited webinar to the Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Funders network, a coalition of some of the largest private funders of food systems efforts in the U.S. (10/2013); the keynote address at the New York State Farmers’ Market Federation’s Annual Meeting in Binghamton, NY (2/2014); an invited presentation at the National Food Hub Conference, sponsored by the Wallance Center Winrock International in Raleigh, NC (3/2014); a roundtable of research at the Trans-Atlantic Rural Research Network meeting at Newcastle University in England (4/2014); an organized panel at the Agriculture and Human Values annual meeting in Burlington, VT (6/2014); and two special track sessions at the annual Applied Agricultural Economics Association meeting in Minneapolis, MN (7/2014). Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? This project facilitated incredible opportunities for training and professional development, beyond just presenting information at conferences. As one of the first researchers to collect the requisite data and modify a social accounting matrix model to assess the economic impacts resulting from local food systems, I have been asked to join many national projects. I wrote the economic impact section for the forthcoming congressionally-mandated USDA ERS report on “Trends in U.S. Local and Regional Food Systems” (Administrative Publication Number 067). I was the only now USDA affiliated author included on the report. Additionally, I was asked to participate in a USDA AMS funded project, including agricultural economists from across the U.S. tasked with developing a best practice toolkit for evaluating the economic impacts of local food systems. I also won two national awards based on the research funded from this project. 1) The Graduate Student Extension award from the Applied Agricultural Economics Association; and 2) the award for “outstanding research in food marketing and distribution” from the Food Distribution Research Society. Additionally, I recently found out that a grant I wrote with one of my mentors, Todd Schmit, which was largely based on the future research section of my dissertation, was awarded a foundational grant from the USDA AFRI. And thus I will be able to build on the research from the doctoral grant for years to come. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? As mentioned above, I have disseminated my results to policymakers (local, state, and federal), practitioners (including extension educators), private funders, federal government employees, and researchers – over 20 presentations in the U.S. and Europe over the two year project period! Additionally, as part of the cooperative agreement funding from the USDA AMS, Todd Schmit, David Kay and I developed a practitioner’s guide to conducting economic impact assessments of regional food hubs. This guide has already been used by researchers at the University of Vermont and the University of California, and will soon be released to the public by the USDA AMS. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
All of my research during the entire grant period contributes to the development of a ‘best practice’ methodology to quantitatively and qualitatively evaluate the community economic impacts of policies supporting re-localized food systems. The first research project completed during this grant, undertaken in conjunction with one of my mentors, Professor Todd Schmit, uses two case studies and U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) data to develop a sophisticated understanding of the ways that farms that sell through local markets (i.e., farm products marketed under certain social or supply chain characteristics) interact with local and regional economies through their patterns of sales and expenditure. The first case study involved interviews with 120 farms that sell products through direct-to-consumer marketing channels in an 11-county region in New York State. A second case study, with additional funding support from a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service (USDA AMS) and a NE Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education graduate student grant, included interviews with 30 farmers and 15 processors in New York State who sell products to ‘food hubs’ (local food aggregation and distribution businesses). We used ARMS data, the only national source of farm-level financial data, to corroborate and extend the case study results. This research is the first to demonstrate empirically that farms selling to local food outlets spend a larger percentage of total expenditure in the local economy, and use more labor (per unit of output), than farms that do not use these market channels. An article based on these findings is currently under review in The Journal of Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, and has been presented at many conferences throughout the U.S. and Europe. In order to understand the community economic impacts of agricultural producers’ differential expenditure patterns, we used the data from the case studies to construct two separate social accounting matrix (SAM) models—which represent all of the economic transactions that take place within a given economy. For the first case study, we used the SAM model to analyze the differential impacts of a federal policy that supports the small and mid-scale local food sector, compared to a policy that supports more traditional commodity growers in the region. Results from this study show that policymakers interested in maximizing economy-wide, labor, and value-added impacts from a stimulus to the agricultural sector should support farmers who sell through local food outlets. An article from these results was revised and resubmitted to Economic Development Quarterly. For the second case study, the USDA AMS and the NE Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (NE SARE) commissioned a small team at Cornell to build a replicable, data-driven methodology to assess the economic impact of policies that support food hubs. In conjunction with supporting qualitative results gleaned from the interviews, we show empirically that food hubs increase overall farm sales, particularly for mid-scale operations, but that the economic impact is not pure, as they also divert sales from other businesses. Results from this study are now available in a USDA AMS report, and have been submitted to the Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy. In addition to quantitative assessments, I use a rural wealth creation framework to provide a more encompassing method to evaluate the impacts of local food development policies. By defining wealth in relation to its net impacts on eight types of community capital (physical, financial, natural, human, intellectual, social, political and cultural), I have shown how farmers’ markets may have important long-term community impacts, even where the net farm-level impact is minimal. This research is published by Routledge in an edited volume entitled Rural Wealth Creation. Understanding the community economic impacts of local and regional food systems, however, does not provide the requisite details to discern the farm-level profitability impacts. This is important as there may be trade-offs between maximizing community economic impacts and improved farm profitability (i.e., farms may purchase more inputs locally, thereby support local economic development, but these inputs may cost more than inputs purchased elsewhere and thus may impede profitability). In an effort to address this gap, Clare Gupta (Yale) and I conducted a case study of farm-grocer relations in two counties in Hawai‘i, the state with the highest percentage of farms selling direct to retail in the U.S. In examining the farm-level impacts of grocers’ local purchasing, we found that the short-term net impacts resulting from increased sales are limited, due in large part to the tradeoffs between volume and profit (i.e., farms can move larger volumes at lower per unit prices). However, many farmers and grocers reported that longer-term relationships, which developed as a result of these buyer-seller interactions, fostered opportunities for business incubation and farm-level entrepreneurship, and thus supported longer-term farm viability. Farmers reported that conversations with grocers attuned to mainstream consumer demand precipitated diversified and higher-value production, as well as development of new value added products. Our results provide fodder for future studies to consider these longer-term impacts resulting from farm sales to local grocery stores.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Awaiting Publication
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Jablonski, B.B.R. forthcoming. Better Butter: Local Food and Entrepreneurship. The Journal of Food Distribution Research.
- Type:
Book Chapters
Status:
Awaiting Publication
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Jablonski, B.B.R. and T.M. Schmit. forthcoming. Food Hubs: Expanding Local Food to Urban Customers. In Morales, A and J. Dawson (eds.) Cities of Farmers: Problems, Possibility and Processes of Producing Food in Cities. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press.
- Type:
Book Chapters
Status:
Awaiting Publication
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Jablonski, B.B.R. forthcoming. The Rural Impact of Urban Concentrated Local Food Initiatives: a literature review. In Dannenberg, P. and E. Kulke (eds.) Economic Development in Rural Areas. Dynamics of Economic Space Series. London: Ashgate.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Under Review
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Schmit, T.M., B.B.R. Jablonski, and Y. Mansury. Assessing the economic impacts of local food system producers by scale: a case study from New York.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Under Review
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Jablonski, B.B.R. and T.M. Schmit. Differentiating local producers expenditure profiles to evaluate impacts of policies supporting local food systems.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Submitted
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Jablonski, B.B.R., T.M. Schmit, and D. Kay. The economic impacts of food hubs to regional economies: a framework including opportunity cost.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Under Review
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Gupta, C. and B.B.R. Jablonski (joint authorship). The farm-level impacts of grocers local purchases: the case of Hawaii.
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Jablonski, B.B.R. Food Systems and Regional Economic Development: evaluating policies and methods. Cornell University. Ithaca, NY.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Awaiting Publication
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Low, S.A., A. Adalja, E. Beaulieu, N. Key, S. Martinez, A. Melton, A. Perez, K. Ralston, H. Stewart, S. Suttles, S. Vogel, and B.B.R. Jablonski. forthcoming. Trends in U.S. Local and Regional Food Systems. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service. Administrative Publication Number 067.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Schmit, T.M., and B.B.R. Jablonski. 2013. Assessing the Economic Impacts of Food Hubs. Webinar. Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Funders Network.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Jablonski, B.B.R. 2014. The Future of Farmers' Markets and their Role in Expanding Local Food. New York State Farmers Market Federation Annual Meeting. Binghamton, NY.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Jablonski, B.B.R. 2014. The Emergence of Food Hubs and Their Impact on Farmers Markets. New York State Farmers Market Federation Annual Meeting. Binghamton, NY.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Jablonski, B.B.R., and R. Pirog. 2014. Economic Impacts of Food Hubs. The Wallace Center Winrock International, National Food Hub Conference. Raleigh, NC.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Gupta, C., and B.B.R. Jablonski. 2014. Farm-level Impact of Scaling Up Local Food Systems Through Grocers Purchasing. Agriculture and Human Values Conference. Burlington, VT.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Jablonski, B.B.R., S. Vogel, and T.M. Schmit. 2014. Leveraging Federal Data Sources: The Case of Local Food Assessments. CRENET Track Session, Applied Agricultural Economics Association. Minneapolis, MN.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Jablonski, B.B.R. 2014. 'Better Butter: Local Food Systems as a Catalyst for Innovation. Applied Agricultural Economics Association. Minneapolis, MN.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Schmit, T.M., B.B.R. Jablonski, and D. Kay. 2013. Quantifying the Economic Impacts of Food Hubs. Cornell University. http://dx.doi.org/10.9752/MS145.09-2013
- Type:
Other
Status:
Awaiting Publication
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Schmit, T.M., B.B.R. Jablonski, and D. Kay. forthcoming. A Practitioners Guide to Assessing the Impacts of Regional Food Hubs. Cornell University.
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Progress 09/01/12 to 08/31/13
Outputs
Target Audience: Target audiences reached during this reporting period were diverse, and include: policymakers (local, state, and federal); practitioners, including extension educators; federal government employees; and researchers. Most efforts focused on formal presentations as well as extension and outreach. I made one presentation to the New York State Council on Food Policy (12/2012), prepared a paper on my research for the NYS Association of Counties’ Legislative Conference (2/2013); gave an extension-oriented presentation at the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group’s Annual Conference (2/2013); presented current research at the USDA’s Economic Research Service (3/2013); participated in a webinar sponsored by the Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development, housed at Penn State University (5/2013); and gave an invited talk to the USDA’s Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food Task Force (8/2013). In addition, I presented research at six academic conferences during this report period across several disciplines and countries, including: the Association of American Geographers Annual conference in Los Angeles, CA (4/2013); Agriculture and Human Values conference in East Lansing, MI (6/2013); the Northeast Agricultural Economics Association conference in Ithaca, NY (6/2013); the International Geographical Union Commission on the Dynamics of Economic Spaces special conference in Berlin, Germany (7/2013); the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning and Association of European Schools of Planning joint conference, Dublin, Ireland (7/2013); and the Applied Agricultural Economic Association annual conference in Washington, D.C. (8/2013). Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? The fellowship has provided numerous opportunities for training and professional development. In addition to the presentations described earlier in the report, I gained access to the USDA’s ARMS data by becoming a visiting scholar with the USDA ERS. I spent a month at the ERS headquarters in DC, working closely with Stephen Vogel – the main researcher at USDA ERS interested in local and regional food systems. Gaining access to the USDA ARMS data has been extremely fruitful, as has the opportunity to interact more closely with USDA employees from several agencies. Perhaps one of the greatest opportunities I had during the report period was the chance to participate in the Applied Agricultural Economic Association’s (AAEA) annual graduate student extension competition – where I won 1st place. Finally, I helped to put together a ‘pre-organized’ session at the AAEA meetings focused on quantifying the economic impacts of local and regional food system activity. The event was very well received and has helped to coalesce a community of scholars interested in these issues. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? As mentioned above, I have disseminated my results to policymakers (local, state, and federal), practitioners (including extension educators), federal government employees, and researchers. I plan to continue to disseminate my findings, but have made a significant effort to date. Additionally, as part of the cooperative agreement funding from the USDA AMS, Todd Schmit, David Kay and I are putting together a practitioner’s guide to conducting an economic impact assessment of regional food hubs. Though the guide is food hub specific, its methodology can be applied to a variety of local food economic impact assessment contexts. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? My biggest goal during the next reporting period is to complete and submit my dissertation. In addition, I hope to present my research at several other venues, and to complete the food hub economic impact assessment project. Additionally, I hope to work to think through conceptually how ‘local’ should be defined, which I believe will be useful in better understanding the actors involved in local and regional food system activity.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
All of my research during the project grant period has attempted to develop a methodology to quantitatively and qualitatively evaluate the community economic impacts of policies supporting re-localized food systems. The first research project completed during this report period, undertaken in conjunction with one of my mentors, Professor Todd Schmit, uses two case studies and U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) data to develop a sophisticated understanding of the ways that farms that sell through local markets (i.e., farm products marketed under certain social or supply chain characteristics) interact with local and regional economies through their patterns of sales and expenditure. The first case study involved interviews with 120 farms that sell products through direct-to-consumer marketing channels in an 11-county region in New York State. A second case study, with additional funding support from a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service (USDA AMS) and a NE Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education graduate student grant, included interviews with 30 farmers and 15 processors in New York State who sell products to ‘food hubs’ (local food aggregation and distribution businesses). We used ARMS data, the only national source of farm-level financial data, to corroborate and extend the case study results. This research is the first to demonstrate empirically that farms selling to local food outlets spend a larger percentage of total expenditure in the local economy, and use more labor (per unit of output), than farms that do not use these market channels. An article based on these findings will be proposed as part of a special issue to The Journal of Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy. In order to understand the community economic impacts of agricultural producers’ differential expenditure patterns, we used the data from the case studies to construct two separate social accounting matrix (SAM) models—which represent all of the economic transactions that take place within a given economy. For the first case study, we used the SAM model to analyze the differential impacts of a federal policy that supports the small and mid-scale local food sector, compared to a policy that supports more traditional commodity growers in the region. Results from this study show that policymakers interested in maximizing economy-wide, labor, and value-added impacts from a stimulus to the agricultural sector should support farmers who sell through local food outlets. An article from these results is under review in Economic Development Quarterly. For the second case study, the USDA AMS commissioned a small team at Cornell to build a replicable, data-driven methodology to assess the economic impact of policies that support food hubs. In conjunction with supporting qualitative results gleaned from the interviews, we show empirically that food hubs increase overall farm sales, particularly for mid-scale operations, but that the economic impact is not pure, as they also divert sales from other businesses. Results from this study will be released in a USDA AMS report in December, and submitted to a journal this winter. In addition to quantitative assessments, I use a rural wealth creation framework to provide a more encompassing method to evaluate the impacts of local food development policies. By defining wealth in relation to its net impacts on eight types of community capital (physical, financial, natural, human, intellectual, social, political and cultural), I have shown how farmers’ markets may have important long-term community impacts, even where the net farm-level impact is minimal. This research is forthcoming in an edited volume entitled ‘Rural Wealth Creation,’ published by Routledge (available 5/2014).
Publications
- Type:
Book Chapters
Status:
Awaiting Publication
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Jablonski, Becca B.R. forthcoming. Farmers Markets as Rural Wealth Creation. In Pender, J., T. Johnson, B. Weber, and B. Fannin (eds.) Rural Wealth Creation. (Chapter 14). New York: Routledge.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Under Review
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Schmit, T.M., B.B.R. Jablonski, and Y. Mansury. 2013. Assessing the economic impacts of local food system producers by scale: a case study from New York. submitted to Economic Development Quarterly
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Jablonski, B.B.R. (March 2013). The effect of local and scale in local agri-food systems, The Association of American Geographers Annual Conference, Los Angeles, CA
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Jablonski, B.B.R. and T.M. Schmit. (June 2013). Local producers production functions and their importance in estimating economic impacts, Agriculture and Human Values Conference, East Lansing, MI.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Jablonski, B.B.R. and T.M. Schmit. (June 2013). Local producers production functions and their importance in estimating economic impacts, Northeast Agricultural Economics Association, Ithaca, NY.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Jablonski, B.B.R. (July 2013). The Rural Impact of Urban Concentrated Local Foods Initiatives, International Geographical Union, Commission on the Dynamics of Economic Spaces, Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Jablonski, B.B.R. (July 2013). The Rural Impact of Urban Concentrated Local Foods Initiatives, Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning and Association of European Schools of Planning Joint Conference, University College Dublin, Ireland
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Jablonski, B.B.R. and T.M. Schmit (August 2013). Local producers production functions and their importance in estimating economic impacts, Applied Agricultural Economic Association, Washington, D.C.
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