Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
G022 MCCARTY HALL
GAINESVILLE,FL 32611
Performing Department
Agricultural Education and Communication
Non Technical Summary
Agriculture impacts the food, health, economy, environment, and well-being of all. As a nation, we have reaped the benefits of a successful agricultural system that has allowed our society to flourish, engage in leisure activity, and dream about future endeavors. Our successful food and fiber innovations have resulted in fewer agricultural producers and higher productivity. However, this success story has come with a consequence: a society that has little understanding of agricultural production/processing or how this system meets our basic needs (food, clothing, shelter) while remaining sustainable over time. Daily decisions made by individuals, through dollars and voting, affect our agricultural system from soil to spoon. If U.S. agriculture is going to continue to meet the needs of the U.S. population and address growing global needs, agriculture needs to be understood and valued by all.Currently, the U.S. agricultural sector annually accounts for 1.6% ($278.4 billion) of the $17.4 trillion U.S. GDP (Central Intelligence Agency, 2015). While this percentage appears low, it should be noted that the United States has the largest national economy in the world. The current 1% of the U.S. population working on farms is supported by nearly 21 million agricultural-sector-related U.S. workers, about 15% of the total U.S. workforce (Goecker, Smith, Smith, & Goetz, 2010). A shortage of workers in the agricultural sector affects the labor and technical markets alike. With only 1% of the U.S. population actively engaged on farms and 15% in related careers, the majority of consumers--both youths and adults--may have lost a fundamental understanding of agriculture or how it impacts their lives. In addition, as agriculture has become more specialized, even those engaged in agriculture may know little about the resources and other inputs used to produce food, clothing, and shelter outside of their specialized contexts. Additionally, attitudes, perceptions, and other affective factors drive human decision making by both consumers and elected officials even among informed populations. To meet the challenges of the future, it is imperative that young people and adults become informed, "agriculturally literate" and [supportive of agriculture] consumers, advocates, and policy makers regarding agricultural issues.In 1988, the National Research Council of the National Academies appointed a committee of agricultural educators and researchers to determine the future direction of agricultural education. The committee published its findings in a report, Understanding Agriculture: New Directions for Education. In this report, the committee stated that "Agriculture--broadly defined--is too important a topic to be taught only to the relatively small percentage of students considering careers in agriculture" (National Research Council, 1988, p. 8). The committee also published two important findings:Most Americans know very little about agriculture, its social and economic significance in the United States, and particularly its links to human health and environmental quality.Few systematic educational efforts are made to teach or otherwise develop agricultural literacy in students of any age. Although children are taught something about agriculture, the material tends to be fragmented, frequently outdated, usually only farm oriented, and often negative or condescending in tone (p. 21).This committee recommended that "beginning in kindergarten and continuing through twelfth grade, all students should receive some systematic instruction about agriculture" (p. 20). The committee envisioned that "an agriculturally literate person would understand the food and fiber system, and this would include its history and its current economic, social and environmental significance to all Americans" (p. 8).More recently, the National Research Agenda for Agricultural Education (Roberts, Harder, & Brashears, 2016) established seven priorities to address issues in agricultural education. These priority areas were written by members of the American Association of Agricultural Education. The first priority area was Public and Policy Maker Understanding of Agriculture and Natural Resources, written by three members of the W2006 Multi-State Research Team (Enns, Martin, & Speilmaker, 2016). The following research priority questions were identified as significant in the priority area:What methods, models, and programs are effective for informing public opinions about agricultural and natural resources issues?What methods, models, and programs are effective in preparing people to inform policy makers on agriculture and natural resources?The work outlined in this proposal builds on these objectives with the following ultimate goals:improve the fundamental agricultural knowledge of U.S. residents, from kindergarteners through adults;Engage more people in the broader conversation about agricultural policy from local to national and even global decisions, as advocates for sustainable agriculture that feeds our growing population while maintaining or improving our environment;Design effective agricultural literacy programming to continue work on goals 1 and 2The second research objective is aligned with the National Agricultural Literacy Logic Model objectives and supports agricultural literacy desired knowledge/behavior/skill outcomes for K-20 youth ("National Agriculture in the Classroom," 2013):Understand how science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) are integrated into agriculture;Identify and understand the connections between academic subjects and agricultural careers including, but not limited to, STEM;Understand the relationships between agriculture, the environment, plants and animals for food, fiber, energy, health, and society and economics;Understand the importance and value of agriculture in their daily life;Practice and apply STEM skills in the context of agriculture;Explore and pursue courses and careers related to agriculture and STEM;Demonstrate or explain relationships between agriculture, the environment, plants and animals for food, fiber, energy, health, and society and economics;Explain the value of agriculture and how it is important in their daily life.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
1. Assess the agricultural knowledge of diverse population segments related to agriculture, including consumers, students, and producers. Specifically, explore and/or measure: a. points of acquisition of agricultural knowledge; b. decisions made based on assessed knowledge. The following institutions will be working on objective 1: Oregon State University, Colorado State University, Kansas State University, Utah State University, and Florida State University.
2. Assess attitudes, perceptions, and motivations of diverse population segments related to agriculture, such as consumers, students, and producers. Specifically, explore and/or measure: a. how perceptions, attitudes and motivations are developed; b. decisions made based on assessed attitudes, perceptions, and motivations; c. behavior changes that have occurred due to changes in attitude, perceptions, and/or motivation. The following institutions will be working on objective 3: Kansas State University, Colorado State University, and Florida State University
Project Methods
Assessing the agricultural knowledge of diverse segments of the population (Objective 1) will be measured using exploratory and existing instruments that will examine both factual knowledge and critical thinking related to agricultural content and/or issues. Questionnaire content will be developed using an established learning outcome framework, the National Agricultural Literacy Outcomes (Spielmaker & Leising, 2013), or theoretical frameworks related to knowledge acquisition and decision making related to food and agriculture. The National Agricultural Literacy Outcomes have been validated by key stakeholders representing agricultural businesses, commodity organizations, public relations firms, government agencies, and educators of both traditional audiences and nontraditional agriculture stakeholders. The topics of these instruments will vary in scope and size to replicate the complexity of agriculture and differences in agricultural knowledge across the nation. For example, Stofer and Newberry (2017), as part of the previous multi-state research, has examined affective dimensions of adults related to genetically engineered foods as well as consumer background in agriculture as it affects these affective dimensions.To assess the attitudes, perceptions, and motivations of diverse segments of the population concerning agriculture (Objective 2), both quantitative instruments and qualitative approaches will be employed. The quantitative instruments include semantic differentials and Likert-type scaled response choices. Items for these instruments will be developed by thoroughly reviewing relevant literature and consulting with researchers in agricultural education and agricultural communications. Qualitative methods for this objective include interviews, document analysis, visual analysis, and focus groups. Both the qualitative and quantitative methods need to include the multitude of agricultural viewpoints and values in the United States. The goal of this research is to objectively describe how people perceive agriculture, are motivated to make decisions, and how they change their behaviors. This research informs future research on best practices for communicating with and educating individuals who hold differing perspectives to collectively influence community development through agriculture. For instance, research falling under the umbrella of the previous agricultural literacy multi-state research group included the works of Martin (2016) as well as Martin and Enns (2017) which explored how different ideologies of agriculture impacted agricultural education.