Progress 10/01/16 to 09/30/18
Outputs
Target Audience:The findings generated by this project may help different stakeholders in Oklahoma. First, Oklahoma ranchers and farmers benefited from the project outcomes as they start implementing practices that facilitate sourcing to restaurants. Local restaurateursalsowere able to take advantage of the best practices shared with them. The identified barriers to local sourcing guided Oklahoma governing agencies in the allocation of resources where most needed. Additionally, Oklahoma State University Extension Services were provided factsheet information pertinent to advancing local sourcing from farmer and ranchers to restaurants. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project has provided training opportunities for two graduate students in the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management. Participation in the project has allowed these students to gain insights into the complexities of local sourcing in Oklahoma as well as to advance their qualitative and quantitative research skills, which are being incorporated into the students' research publications. Graduate students completed an Oklahoma Department of Agriculture Food and Forestry grant writing workshop in February 2018. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The findings of the study were transformed into a report and a one-page executive summary to serve as a foundation for developing guidelines to the key stakeholders. The findings were shared with Agritourism Working Group, Farm-to-Table Advisory Board, and participants of the ICHRIE, Palm Springs CA, 2018. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The initial step of reviewing existing literature to determine the gaps in previous studies of food systems regarding connections between local producers and restaurants was completed in year 1 and resulted in the development of the interview questions for the qualitative phase of the project. From this review, a set of initial interview questions were developed. The main phase of the project started as planned with a qualitative component involving individual interviews with Oklahoma ranchers/farmers and restaurateurs. Oklahoma Cooperative Extension County specialists, Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry, and the Oklahoma Restaurant Association were used as facilitators in establishing the pool of producers participating in the interview phase. Twenty interviews with ranchers/farmers and eighteen interviews with restaurateurs were conducted. The interview questions included inquiries about employed selling/purchasing practices and barriers and facilitators of farm-to-restaurant systems. The number of participants resulted from the saturation point when additional interviews stopped producing new knowledge. All interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and analyzed for recurring themes. Consequently, we developed a survey questionnaire based on the set of barriers and facilitators identified from the interviews. The survey has been distributed electronically in an online format using Qualtrics software. The findings of the study were transformed into a report and a one-page executive summary to serve as a foundation for developing guidelines to the key stakeholders. The findings were shared with Agritourism Working Group, Farm-to-Table Advisory Board, and participants of the ICHRIE, Palm Springs CA, 2018.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Slevitch, L., Zerman, S., & Tomas, S. (2018). Barriers and facilitators of farm-to-table sourcing from agriproducers to restaurants: Case of Oklahoma, USA. Annual European Council on Hotel Restaurant, and Institutional Education Conference Proceedings, 2018.
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Progress 10/01/16 to 09/30/17
Outputs
Target Audience:The findings generated by this project may help different stakeholders in Oklahoma.First, Oklahoma ranchers and farmers may benefit from the project outcomes as they start implementing practices that facilitate sourcing to restaurants. Local restaurateurs would also be able to take advantage of the best practices shared with them. The identified barriers to local sourcing should guide Oklahoma governing agencies in allocation of resources where most needed. Additionally, Oklahoma State University Extension Services will be given factsheet information pertinent to advancing local sourcing from farmer and ranchers to restaurants. Changes/Problems:Survey data collection phase has taken longer period than anticipated due to lower than expected response rate. However, we still were able to generate sufficient number of responses. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project has provided training opportunities for two graduate students in the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management. Participation in the project has allowed these students to gain insights into the complexities of local sourcing in Oklahoma as well as to advance their qualitative and quantitative research skills, which are being incorporated into the students' research publications. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We are approaching the last phase of the project: quantitative data analysis, reporting, and dissemination of results. Moving forward, we plan to finish survey data collection and analyze obtained information using statistical tools. We anticipate that the findings will be transformed into reports for the key stakeholders as well as presentations and publications to the academic community. The results will also be transformed into factsheets to be used through OSU Cooperative Extension.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Over the course of the current reporting period we have been progressing along the proposed project schedule. The initial step of reviewing existing literature to determine the gaps in previous studies of food systems regarding connections between local producers and restaurants have been completed and resulted in the development of the interview questions for the following qualitative phase of the project. From this review a set of initial interview questions will be developed. The main phase of the project started as planned with a qualitative component involving individual interviews with Oklahoma ranchers/farmers and restaurateurs. Oklahoma Cooperative Extension County specialists, Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry, and Oklahoma Restaurant Association were used as facilitators in establishing the pool of producers participating in the interview phase. Twentyinterviews with ranchers/farmers andeighteen interviews with restaurateurs were conducted. The interview questions included inquiries about employed selling/purchasing practices and barriers and facilitators of farm-to-restaurant systems. The number of participants resulted from the saturation point when additional interviews stopped producing new knowledge. All interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and analyzed for recurring themes. Consequently, we developed a survey questionnaire based on the set of barriers and facilitators identified from the interviews. The survey has been distributed electronically in an on-line format using Qualtrics software. The survey data collection is currently under way. The findings are expected to serve as a foundation for developing guidelines to the key stakeholders.
Publications
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