GROWING COMMUNITIES: ESTABLISHING INCUBATOR FARMS AND FARMER`S MARKETS TO INCREASE HEALTH AND ECONOMIC VIABILITY FOR SOCIALLY DISADVANTAGED POPULATIONS

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: OTHER GRANTS
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 1026107
• Grant No.: 2021-38821-34660
• Cumulative Award Amt.: $249,999.00
• Proposal No.: 2020-11201
• Project Start Date: Apr 15, 2021
• Project End Date: Apr 14, 2025
• Grant Year: 2021
• Program Code: [EWE]- Extension Project

Recipient Organization
Central State University
1400 Brush Row Rd.
Wilberforce,OH 45384

Performing Department
Land Grant Extension

Non Technical Summary
Socially disadvantaged individuals often live in food deserts--communities where access to affordable, healthy foods is limited, which creates greater risk for obesity, heart disease and diabetes. Farmer's markets are also a barrier for these communities as markets are disproportionally found in more affluent communities.Creating farms in socially disadvantaged communities is one solution for increasing access to healthy foods. However new farmers, especially those who are socially disadvantaged, face barriers in gaining access to technical assistance, mentorship, land, capital, markets and equipment.This project proposes to build an infrastructure of new farmers in the socially disadvantaged communities by creating small, incubator farms. Farmers will be trained by CSUE and local farm mentors in crop production and farm business planning. To build a healthier community and increase access to fruits and vegetables, farmer's markets will be held at the incubator farm with the new farmers as vendors. CSUE will provide cooking demonstrations using produce available for sale and residents will be encouraged to attend nutritional classes to increase self-efficacy for choosing, storing, preparing, and preserving fresh produce.CSU is a new 1890 Land Grant Institution and many students have not been exposed to Extension as a career. The project also includes opportunities for minority undergraduate students to observe and job shadow Extension personnel during teaching activities at the incubator farm. Students will also be encouraged to participate in teaching at the farm to encourage them to consider Extension as a career option.

Animal Health Component

(N/A)

Research Effort Categories

Basic

(N/A)

Applied

(N/A)

Developmental

(N/A)

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
901	6099	3020	100%

Knowledge Area
901 - Program and Project Design, and Statistics;

Subject Of Investigation
6099 - People and communities, general/other;

Field Of Science
3020 - Education;

Keywords

beginning farmer

farmers market

food desert

food safety

incubator farm

nutrition education

Goals / Objectives
Socially disadvantaged communities face access barriers to fresh fruits and vegetable as these communities are in food deserts where access to affordable, healthy foods is limited. Among barriers such as access to transportation, low number of retail outlets selling fresh produce and high number of fast-food options, residents in socially disadvantaged communities lack self-efficacy for preparing fresh produce for meals and knowledge of nearby non-supermarket sources of produce (Strome et al., 2016). Lower consumption of these healthy foods leave residents in socially disadvantaged communities at greater risk for obesity, heart disease and diabetes.Increasing retail outlets selling fresh fruit and vegetables and farmer's markets offering local produce have been identified as ways to increase access (Karpynet et al., 2019). However, socially disadvantaged communities have fewer retail outlets that provide healthy foods. Additionally, farmer's markets are disproportionally found in communities with a median household income higher than the national average. The number of farmer's markets decreases relationally when the community has more residents living below the poverty threshold (Singleton et al., 2015).This project proposes to build community around farmer's markets by building an infrastructure of new farmers in the socially disadvantaged communities. By developing new farmers and providing access to healthy food, this project seeks to grow the community through economic and health solutions while developing sustainable farmers who will continue to benefit the community.The objectives of the project are:Empower new farmers through training at incubator farms to establish their own farming operationDevelop curriculum for training farmers at incubator farms in socially disadvantaged communitiesImprove community health as residents integrate fruits and vegetables into meal planning and preparationEncourage minority students to choose Extension as a career

Project Methods
Objective 1: Empower new farmers through training at incubator farms to establish their own farming operation: The incubator farm and accompanying farm market will be a focus for the CSUE educators. Farmers will be recruited through local community groups such as churches and community centers as well as flyers and in-person recruitment at community events and businesses. Recruitment will focus on minorities who live in the local community of the incubator farm. The number of farmers will be dictated by the available space with the partner farm areas. If too many farmers are identified for a location, a lottery system will be used to select the initial group of farmers.At the beginning the project during the winter months, the educators will conduct training to prepare farmers for the upcoming growing year with programs about crop preparation and production as well as farm business planning. Each incubator farm will have a farm mentor identified from the local farming community to provide troubleshooting, advice, and demonstration for the incubator farmers. The mentor will work closely with the CSUE educators for practices and techniques that will be used for the incubator farm. The educators will be providing on-site training sessions with timely topics such as installing plastic mulch and drip irrigation, direct seeding, setting transplants, fertilizing, integrated pest management (IPM), season extension, in-field food safety, safe handling and storage techniques, etc. The educators will provide the training or bring outside speakers as needed. Crops will be planned for the growing season to begin in March and extend into November. One of the new farmers will be designated as the manager and will receive a stipend for their efforts. The farm manager will help organize the farmers and provide daily management during the growing season. The farm manager will work closely with the farm mentor and Extension educators.A farm market will be established at the incubator farm site for local residents to purchase produce grown by the farmers. The market will be open on a regular basis during the evening and weekends to provide more access for local residents. The farm market will be advertised and promoted in the local area with the help of community partners. The market will be registered with the State of Ohio to provide SNAP, WIC, and Senior Nutrition customers the ability to purchase produce with their benefit cards or coupons.In the second year, the incubator farm will be expanded. The farmers who started in year one will be provided with a larger plot. The ANR and CED Extension Educators will provide training for these farmers to develop their own crop plan, based on their knowledge of sales the previous years. These farmers will also be encouraged and mentored to seek out additional sales outlets such as local farmer's markets for their additional produce. Mentoring and training will also be provided to help the farmers make connections with other potential outlets such as restaurants and small retail stores. Another group of farmers will be recruited to begin their first year at the incubator farm. These farmers may be on the waiting list from the previous year's lottery or recruited through word-of-mouth from the first season. Recruitment will also take place through the local groups developed from the first year. These farmers will receive the training curriculum that was developed with the first-year farmers.In the third year, the farmers who started in year one will be encouraged and mentored to find their own resource for land. They will have an option to rent space at the incubator farm if there is enough room or find other resources for land. The ANR and CED educators will help farmers with land access to develop their own agricultural enterprise. The farmers will also be mentored to scale their enterprises with marketing potential. Outlets such as a daily farm market, restaurants, institutions, and farmer's markets will be analyzed by the farmers to determine the optimal marketing plan for their farm.Objective 2: Develop curriculum for training farmers at incubator farms in socially disadvantaged communitiesThe first two years of the project will focus on developing a curriculum for training beginning farmers at the incubator farms. Evaluations will be ongoing with the participating Extension educators and farmer participants. Time has been allotted for evaluation of the curriculum internally and also for external review.This pilot project will involve two socially disadvantaged communities in Southwest Ohio and once completed, the curriculum will be updated with feedback from the evaluations and used by educators in the other regions of the state.Objective 3: Improve community health as residents integrate fruits and vegetables into meal planning and preparationDuring the spring, summer and fall CSUE will utilize their mobile teaching kitchen to bring the educational interventions to the incubator farms during their farm market schedule. The FCS educator and EFNEP program assistant will provide demonstrations, recipes and nutrition education utilizing the products that are being harvested at time of the year. For example, in the spring they may focus on radishes, peas, spinach and lettuce; the summer, tomatoes, summer squash, greens, peppers; fall, beets, winter squash, cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower. The EFNEP PA will recruit families to participate in a nutrition education series that will address making healthful food choices, food safety, increasing the consumption of fruits and vegetables, resource management, food preparation and physical activity. This series can be offered during the farm market days or at other times to keep the families engaged.To assist in improving food security and safe storage of food products food preservation topics and demonstrations will also be offered throughout the growing season. Topics will include, jams and jellies including freezer jam, canning low and high acid foods, pickles and fermentation, freezing and dehydration of foods. The mobile teaching kitchen will be used to demonstrate all food preservation practices.During the non- growing season additional programs will be offered in the community to continue addressing the needs of the families. The Diabetes Empowerment Education Program, an evidence-based curriculum developed to address individuals experiencing pre-diabetes and diabetes to help control the disease and prevent life altering compilations.Depending on the needs of the community additional educational programs will be provided, financial and resource management, healthful holiday celebrations, kids in the kitchen, stress management and effective communication. Additional EFNEP series can also be offered. Evaluations will be conducted after each program to assess knowledge and behavior change.Objective 4: Encourage minority students to choose Extension as a careerMinority students from Central State University will participate in project activities for observation and experiential learning. Students will be made aware of the opportunities to participate through their major-specific classes in Sustainable Agriculture, Agricultural and Extension Education, Agribusiness, and Exercise Science/Nutrition. Students will have the opportunity to observe adult education with informal settings such as the farmer training taking place at the incubator farm, the cooking demonstrations, the EFNEP nutrition classes, and DEEP training. Students will learn how Extension professionals plan and execute programming and interact with community members. The project also includes opportunities for students to participate in teaching at the farm to encourage them to consider Extension as a career option.

Progress 04/15/23 to 04/14/24

Outputs
Target Audience:The third year of the project focused on the second cohort of beginning farmers. Prospective farmers were recruited to participate in beginning farmer classes and develop plots in the incubator farm. The incubator farms that were used were established the first year in two Ohio communities: Trotwood and the Edgemont neighborhood in West Dayton, Ohio. Farm managers for the incubator sites were farmers who graduated from the first class of beginning farmers. Trotwood Incubator Farm The City of Trotwood provided land for the incubator farm that was next to the Trotwood Community and Cultural and Arts Center. Central State University (CSU) Extension maintains a classroom in the center, which was used for the beginning farmer classes. Trotwood is a city of 24,000 that is 68 percent African American and 27 percent of the population live in poverty as classified by the U.S. Census. The beginning farmer class has 24participants who are attending classes and are involved with the incubator farm. The demographics of the group attending the classes were 60% Black, 3% Hispanic, 14%White, 17% Two or more races, and 6% Prefer not to answer. Womenmade up 69% of the class and 7% were veterans. Edgemont Incubator Farm The Edgemont Solar Gardens was the site of the incubator farm and beginning farmer classes for the Edgemont neighborhood with the Greater Edgemont Community Coalition as the partner organization. The Edgemont neighborhood in West Dayton has a population of just over 2,000 people, with 94 percent African American and 45 percent of the population living below the poverty line. The beginning farmer class has 13participants who are attending classes and are involved with the incubator farm.The demographics of the group attending the classes were 51% Black, 6% Hispanic, 6%White, 35% Two or more races, and 2% Prefer not to answer. Womenmade up 41% of the class and 4% were veterans. Local Community Members Health and nutrition education was conducted in the local communities as outreach to encourage more consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables in the neighbors near the incubator farms. Classes were taught by Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) Extension Educators on topics such as managing diabetes and incorporating fresh fruits and vegetables in meal planning. Additionally, the Edgemont site has established an on-site farm market to increase access to healthy product for the immediate neighborhood. They are currently working on the application for EBT to increase the buying power for the local consumers. Minority Students In the spring semester, we had three minority students who participated in observing classes and participating in a marketing workshop for beginning farmers as well as other local farmers. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?At each of the sites, a farm manager and farm mentor were subcontracted to provide assistance and guidance for the beginning farmers and helped with training and professional development for the farmers. In the third year at the Edgemont incubator farm, the two new farm managers were identified who had attended beginning farmer classes and were able to provide leadership for beginning farmers. At the Trotwood incubator farm, two participants who became farm managers in the second year continued working and provided leadership for the new cohort of farmers. Providing opportunities for the farmers to gain leadership rows helps to strengthen the sustainability of the farmer cohorts. This leadership was also shown as each incubator farm produced a cooperative of farmers who are working together to grow and diversify their farming operations. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The health fairs also provided an open house for the incubator farm plots. The beginning farmers in the program were able to show their plots and discuss what they were learning. These informal interactions provided an opportunity to discuss the curriculum to people in the neighborhood and potential participants for the upcoming new class of participants. The new class has several farmers recruited through outreach efforts of the current farmer cohort. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We were able to obtain a No Cost Extension for the grant. This will allow the second year of advanced curriculum for the second cohort of farmers. The extension also provides an opportunity to provide sustainability for the sites through the plot design, irrigation infrastructure, and improved soil health. The health fairs will continue to reach the neighborhood with the importance of integrating fresh produce in a healthy diet. In the final year of the grant, the partners have taken the lead on organizing the health fairs to provide sustainability for the activity and involvement from the community. Student involvement will be developed more with the increase of on-campus learning and availability of the students to attend events, classes, and work days at the incubator farm sites.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Empower new farmers through training at incubator farms to establish their own farming operation The third year of the grant included in-depth classes on crop planning, production, and management along with classes on business development, marketing, and planning for the second cohort of beginning farmer. The classes were designed to provide the beginning farmers with the knowledge to begin their own farm operation after two years of participating in the classes and grant. During the first year, 23 classes were taught and participants were encouraged to commit work time on the incubator farm or at their own farm operation. The classes were attended by 37beginning farmers during the year with 13farmers at the Edgemont site and 24farmers at Trotwood. The classes taught by the Regional Extension Educators for ANR focused on the crop planning, production, pest management, food safety and harvest topics. The Regional Extension Educators for CED provided the teaching for business planning, development, and marketing. Develop curriculum for training farmers at incubator farms in socially disadvantaged communities The curriculum developed for the first year focused on vegetable production, management, and marketing along with business planning. This curriculum was adjusted based on participant feedback and used with the second cohort of farmers. The classes featured in-classroom teaching along with hands-on, interactive teaching in the incubator farm plots. Feedback from evaluations from the first year was used to fine-tune the classes. The class topics included: Crop Planning Crop/Variety Selection On-Farm Recordkeeping Seed Starting Land Assessment Soil Health Bed Preparation Irrigation Spring, Summer, and Fall Crop Planting Season Extension Weed Management (Organic Production) Pest Management (Organic Production) Food Safety Post-Harvest Handling and Storage Pruning and Trellising Organic Fertility Cover Crops Business Planning Marketing Conducting customer research for farm enterprise Enterprise Budgeting Improve community health as residents integrate fruits and vegetables into meal planning and preparation In both communities, the focus on marketing the fresh produce locally was achieved. The Edgemont incubator farm is working on establishing a regular farm market. The Trotwood incubator farm is marketing at several local outlets. The spring and fall health fairs featured produce sales by the farmers. Over 40 people attended each fair. FCS Extension Educators conducted Diabetes Empowerment Education Programs. This six-week class is designed to help people with pre-diabetes, diabetes, relatives, and caregivers gain a better understanding of diabetes self-care. Nutrition and diet are important elements of the curriculum that encourages integration of fruits and vegetables in meal planning and preparation. Encourage minority students to choose Extension as a career In the third year of the program, three minority students participated in a daylong marketing conference for beginning farmers from the incubator farms and other local farmers. This provided an opportunity to interact with Extension professionals and stakeholders while observing programs.

Publications

Progress 04/15/22 to 04/14/23

Outputs
Target Audience:The second year of the project focused on completing the training with the cohort of beginning farmers who started the class. These farmers attended more advanced classes in crop production that included exposure to crops other than vegetables and business classes that included setting up cooperatives. These farmers received a certificate of completion in the spring of 2023. Beginning in January, 2023, prospective farmers were recruited to participate in beginning farmer classes and develop plots in the incubator farm. The new cohort of farmers was recruited from the same two Ohio communities of Trotwood and the Edgemont neighborhood in West Dayton, Ohio. Trotwood The City of Trotwood provided land for the incubator farm that was next to the Trotwood Community and Cultural and Arts Center. Central State University (CSU) Extension maintains a classroom in the center, which was used for the beginning farmer classes. Trotwood is a city of 24,000 that is 68 percent African American and 27 percent of the population live in poverty as classified by the U.S. Census. The second-year farmers received a certificate of completion for the beginning farming program. There were 7 farmers who received a certificate for completing the two years of the program. The beginning farmers started with classes in March and the class has 19 participants who are attending classes and are involved with the incubator farm. Edgemont Incubator Farm The Edgemont Solar Gardens was the site of the incubator farm and beginning farmer classes for the Edgemont neighborhood with the Greater Edgemont Community Coalition as the partner organization. The Edgemont neighborhood in West Dayton has a population of just over 2,000 people, with 94 percent African American and 45 percent of the population living below the poverty line. The second-year farmers received a certificate of completion for the beginning farming program. There were 5 farmers who received a certificate. The beginning farmers started with classes in March and the class has 7 participants who are attending classes and are involved with the incubator farm. Local Community Members Health and nutrition education was also conducted in the local communities as outreach to encourage more consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables in the neighbors near the incubator farms. Classes were taught by Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) Extension Educators on topics such as managing diabetes and incorporating fresh fruits and vegetables in meal planning. The classes reached 50 people. Additionally, the Edgemont site began work to establish an on-site farm market to increase access to healthy product for the immediate neighborhood. They are currently working on the application for EBT to increase the buying power for the local consumers. Minority Students In the spring semester, we had one minority students who participated in observing classes and were exposed to developing class lessons and presentations. These students were able to attend more than one class and gain exposure to Extension teaching methods Changes/Problems:This year is building on the feedback of the class evaluations and farmer feedback to fine tune the curriculum. We will also strive to contact faculty this fall to increase the participation from minority students with the incubator classes. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?At each of the sites, a farm manager and farm mentor were subcontracted to provide assistance and guidance for the beginning farmers and helped with training and professional development for the farmers. In the second year at the Edgemont incubator farm, the farm manager moved into the farm mentor position which rewarded the individual for their growth as a farmer and in leading people. At the Trotwood incubator farm, two participants also became farm managers which provided leadership opportunities for them. Providing opportunities for the farmers to gain leadership rows helps to strengthen the sustainability of the farmer cohorts. This leadership was also shown as each incubator farm produced a cooperative of farmers who are working together to grow and diversify their farming operations. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The health fairs also provided an open house for the incubator farm plots. The beginning farmers in the program were able to show their plots and discuss what they were learning. These informal interactions provided an opportunity to discuss the curriculum to people in the neighborhood and potential participants for the upcoming new class of participants. The new class has several farmers recruited through outreach efforts of the current farmer cohort. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The new class of beginning farmers will be able to benefit from the improved curriculum and will help solidify the curriculum. We plan to provide evaluation of the farmers who are currently starting the cooperatives to achieve feedback on the leadership opportunities from the classes. The health fairs will continue to reach the neighborhood with the importance of integrating fresh produce in a healthy diet. The fairs also raise awareness about the availability of locally raised, fresh produce and introduces the cohort of beginning farmers to the community. Student involvement will be developed more with the increase of on-campus learning and availability of the students to attend events, classes, and work days at the incubator farm sites.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Empower new farmers through training at incubator farms to establish their own farming operation The second year of the project focused on completing the training with the cohort of beginning farmers who started the class. These farmers attended more advanced classes in crop production that included exposure to crops other than vegetables and business classes that included setting up cooperatives. There were 12 farmers who received a certificate of completion in the spring of 2023. Beginning in January, 2023, prospective farmers were recruited to participate in beginning farmer classes and develop plots in the incubator farm. The classes taught by the Regional Extension Educators for ANR focused on the crop planning, production, pest management, food safety and harvest topics. The Regional Extension Educators for CED provided the teaching for creating cooperatives, writing a business plan, and identifying markets. The farmers who received their certificate of completion from the classes identified their intent to start a farming operation. Additionally, each incubator farm site had farmers who formed a cooperative for their farming enterprise to continue collaboration as a cohort. The cooperatives are providing the farmers with the opportunity to farm together increasing their access to available land and increasing resources for marketing in various venues. The cooperatives also have increased purchasing power for the individuals for supplies and inputs for their growing operations. One of the cooperatives is operating at a site with access to high tunnels to extend the growing season. New farmers were recruited to participate in the new classes beginning in March 2023. The Trotwood incubator farm has 19 farmers in the classes and the Edgemont site has 15 farmers. The farmers are attending 23 classes and committing work time at the incubator farm or at their own farm operation. Develop curriculum for training farmers at incubator farms in socially disadvantaged communities The second year curriculum focused on more in-depth subjects and also included technical assistants to individual participants to help prepare them for starting their farming operation. Classes taught included: Herb production Berry production Aquaponics and hydroponics Sustainable Landscape Design Public Speaking and Developing Skills for Customer Interactions Business Planning and Cooperatives Meet USDA Staff and Learning about Available Programs A curriculum was developed for the first year that focused on vegetable production, management, and marketing along with business planning. The classes featured in-classroom teaching along with hands-on, interactive teaching in the incubator farm plots. Feedback from evaluations from the first year was used to fine-tune the classes. The class topics included: Crop Planning Crop/Variety Selection On-Farm Recordkeeping Seed Starting Land Assessment Soil Health Bed Preparation Irrigation Spring, Summer, and Fall Crop Planting Season Extension Weed Management (Organic Production) Pest Management (Organic Production) Food Safety Post-Harvest Handling and Storage Pruning and Trellising Organic Fertility Cover Crops Business Planning Marketing Conducting customer research for farm enterprise Enterprise Budgeting Improve community health as residents integrate fruits and vegetables into meal planning and preparation In both communities, the focus on marketing the fresh produce locally was achieved. The Edgemont incubator farm is working on establishing a regular farm market. The Trotwood incubator farm is marketing at several local outlets. The spring and fall health fairs featured produce sales by the farmers. Over 100 people attended each fair. FCS Extension Educators conducted Diabetes Empowerment Education Programs. This six-week class is designed to help people with pre-diabetes, diabetes, relatives, and caregivers gain a better understanding of diabetes self-care. Nutrition and diet are important elements of the curriculum that encourages integration of fruits and vegetables in meal planning and preparation. Encourage minority students to choose Extension as a career In the second year of the program, a minority student was able to participate in class preparation and some teaching opportunities. The goal for the next year is to increase the number of students participating.

Publications

Progress 04/15/21 to 04/14/22

Outputs
Target Audience:Beginning Farmers The first year of the project focused on starting the cohort of beginning farmers. Prospective farmers were recruited to participate in beginning farmer classes and develop plots in the incubator farm. The two Ohio communities identified were Trotwood and the Edgemont neighborhood in West Dayton, Ohio. Farmers were recruited from the surrounding area around the incubator farm sites to participate. Trotwood The City of Trotwood provided land for the incubator farm that was next to the Trotwood Community and Cultural and Arts Center. Central State University (CSU) Extension maintains a classroom in the center, which was used for the beginning farmer classes. Trotwood is a city of 24,000 that is 68 percent African American and 27 percent of the population live in poverty as classified by the U.S. Census. The response of participants in Trotwood was overwhelming as 48 people initially expressed interest in the beginning farmer classes. The demographics of the group attending the classes were 67% Black, 3% American Indian/Native Alaskan, 18% White, and 12% Other. Women made up 58% of the class and 13% were veterans. Classes were attended by the 48 people. Edgemont Incubator Farm The Edgemont Solar Gardens was the site of the incubator farm and beginning farmer classes for the Edgemont neighborhood with the Greater Edgemont Community Coalition as the partner organization. The Edgemont neighborhood in West Dayton has a population of just over 2,000 people, with 94 percent African American and 45 percent of the population living below the poverty line. Twenty-nine people attended classes at the Edgemont site. The demographics of the group were 65% Black, 32% White, and 3% Other. Women made up 46% of the class and 14% were veterans. Local Community Members Health and nutrition education was also conducted in the local communities as outreach to encourage more consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables in the neighbors near the incubator farms. Classes were taught by Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) Extension Educators on topics such as managing diabetes and incorporating fresh fruits and vegetables in meal planning. The classes reached 180 people. Minority Students In the spring semester, we had two minority students who participated in observing classes and were exposed to developing class lessons and presentations. These students were able to attend more than one class and gain exposure to Extension teaching methods. Changes/Problems:The proposal had identified starting weekly farmer's markets at each incubator site. After beginning the incubator farms, local partners were identified who were also beginning farmer's markets and a relationship was developed to enable the beginning farmers to sell their produce and support local efforts to bring fresh fruits and vegetables to the immediate and surrounding neighborhoods. The beginning farmers were able to learn how to market their produce through wholesale, retail and farmer's markets to help the local food system. The avenues for selling the produce included partnering with a non-profit in the area that provides a mobile farmer's market service for the neighborhoods that host the incubator farm sites. The second avenue was a helping with the farm stand already operating by the Greater Edgemont Community Coalition at the site of the incubator farm plots. The third was to partner with other farmers in the area to help enlarge a pre-existing farmer's market in Trotwood that needed more local food vendors. We anticipate continuing to partner with these grass-roots, local non-profits on developing the local farmer's markets. These partners are growing the local food systems and, with the farmers in the program, will provide a network for beginning farmers. The involvement of minority students in the incubator farms was below the expected level. In the second year, the COVID restrictions will be less and students will have more opportunities to become involved. Beginning with fall semester, faculty will be contacted with information to share with students about the incubator farms and ways they can become involved with the program. Additional evaluations will be used to measure the interest of the students in considering Extension as a career option based on their experience with the incubator farms. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?At each of the sites, a farm manager and farm mentor were subcontracted to provide assistance and guidance for the beginning farmers and helped with training and professional development for the farmers. The farm managers worked with the ANR Regional Extension Educators to provide assistance to the beginning farmers when they were working on the incubator farm plots. The farm mentors were area farmers who provided local assistance and guidance for the student farmers who were learning to farm with their plots at the incubator farms. These relationships provided opportunities for training and sharing of ideas to help the ANR Regional Extension Educators conduct hands-on, interactive learning with input from the farm mentors and managers. The long-term benefit for the beginning farmers is access to a network of local farmers for continued support with their new farm. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The health fairs also provided an open house for the incubator farm plots. The beginning farmers in the program were able to show their plots and discuss what they were learning. These informal interactions provided an opportunity to discuss the curriculum to people in the neighborhood and potential participants for the upcoming new class of participants in year 3 of the grant. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The beginning farmers who completed the first year are now attending more advanced classes and are taking care of larger plots in the incubator farm. Class topics include other crop management such as fruit and agroforestry, land access, discovering opportunities with USDA Beginning Farmer Programs and business planning. The second year also focuses on helping the beginning farmers develop their business plan to start their farming operation. The health fairs will continue to reach the neighborhood with the importance of integrating fresh produce in a healthy diet. The fairs also raise awareness about the availability of locally raised, fresh produce and introduces the cohort of beginning farmers to the community. These fairs will also help to recruit new student farmers for year 3. Student involvement will be developed more with the increase of on-campus learning and availability of the students to attend events, classes, and work days at the incubator farm sites.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Empower new farmers through training at incubator farms to establish their own farming operation The first year of the grant included in-depth classes on crop planning, production, and management along with classes on business development, marketing, and planning. The classes were designed to provide the beginning farmers with the knowledge to begin their own farm operation after two years of participating in the classes and grant. During the first year, 23 classes were taught and participants were encouraged to commit work time on the incubator farm or at their own farm operation. The classes were attended by 77 beginning farmers during the year. Certificates of completion were awarded to the 44 beginning farmers who attended all the classes (28 at Trotwood and 16 at Edgemont). The classes taught by the Regional Extension Educators for ANR focused on the crop planning, production, pest management, food safety and harvest topics. The Regional Extension Educators for CED provided the teaching for business planning, development, and marketing. A retrospective pretest was used to evaluate the knowledge and self-efficacy changes for the beginning farmers. In the knowledge area, the beginning farmers learned the most in vegetable production reporting a 66% increase in knowledge after attending the classes. The beginning farmers also reported increased knowledge in insect and disease management (57% increase), food safety (48% increase) and recordkeeping (46% increase). Self-efficacy parameters were used to measure the farmers' self-reported increases in confidence on their ability to engage in farming after attending the classes. The beginning farmers reported their confidence increased the most in business planning with a 68% increase in confidence. The farmers also reported increased confidence successfully managing insects and disease (67% increase), raising vegetables (65% increase) and marketing their produce (51% increase). Written comments on the evaluations from the farmers highlighted their increased confidence in growing and managing vegetable farming. Develop curriculum for training farmers at incubator farms in socially disadvantaged communities A curriculum was developed for the first year that focused on vegetable production, management, and marketing along with business planning. The classes featured in-classroom teaching along with hands-on, interactive teaching in the incubator farm plots. The class topics included: Crop Planning Crop/Variety Selection On-Farm Recordkeeping Seed Starting Land Assessment Soil Health Bed Preparation Irrigation Spring, Summer, and Fall Crop Planting Season Extension Weed Management (Organic Production) Pest Management (Organic Production) Food Safety Post-Harvest Handling and Storage Pruning and Trellising Organic Fertility Cover Crops Business Planning Marketing Conducting customer research for farm enterprise Enterprise Budgeting Improve community health as residents integrate fruits and vegetables into meal planning and preparation In both communities, FCS Extension Educators conducted Diabetes Empowerment Education Programs. This six-week class is designed to help people with pre-diabetes, diabetes, relatives, and caregivers gain a better understanding of diabetes self-care. Nutrition and diet are important elements of the curriculum that encourages integration of fruits and vegetables in meal planning and preparation. In the Edgemont neighborhood, 95 people were reached with this education and 85 were reached in the Trotwood area. Health fairs were held in the spring and fall at each incubator farm site. The focus of the fairs was healthy living and integrating fruits and vegetables into meal planning and preparation. Cooking demonstrations used produce available from the incubator farms to show participants how to incorporate these locally available vegetables into their meals. Farmers at the incubator sites also provided produce for sale so participants could see the demonstration and purchase vegetables to take home and cook. The health fairs partnered with local health-related businesses to promote local connections between community members and these businesses. At the Edgemont health fair, screenings were available from a local health provider. The Trotwood health fair included a partnership offering free COVID vaccinations for attendees. In the spring health fair, 75 people attended at both Edgemont and Trotwood. The fall health fair had over 100 participants at each location. Encourage minority students to choose Extension as a career As the first year of the grant was during COVID, many students were either 100% virtual, or attending hybrid classes. The students enrolled in methodology classes for agricultural and extension education were using a virtual model. Since the beginning farmer classes were in person, we were unable to have a live feed to enable observation by CSU students. In the spring semester, we had two minority students who participated in observing classes and were exposed to developing class lessons and presentations. These students were able to attend more than one class and gain exposure to Extension teaching methods. We look forward to a more integrated approach for the coming year as students will have more opportunities in engage with in-person training.

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