Progress 09/01/21 to 12/31/23
Outputs
Target Audience:UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN AGRIBUSINESS & LEADERSHIP. YOUTH- MIDDLE SCHOOL AGED PRIMARY AUDIENCE & ELEMENTARY AGED SECONDARY AUDIENCE- FOCUS ON BIPOC AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED STUDENTS. From August- December 2023, the project served 36 undergraduate students who attended the Agribusiness in the Modern Economy course at MSU Mankato. These students presented a fall Ag in Action educational event for disadvantaged youth from our grant partner MYPlace (Mankato Youth Place) which targeted youth from elementary to middle school age. From August-December, 2023, our partner MN Venture Farms provided 143 youth with farm tours at the Catholic Worker Farm located in Lake City, Minnesota, 11 of which were BIPOC and 7 students were low-income.During the same period, MN Venture Farms held a Genius Labs sessions with 189eighth grade studentsin Winona, Minnesota, 181 of which were BIPOC and 175 students were low-income. . Changes/Problems:This report includes the period from August-December 2023 which was an extension of the original grant period which started during the covid pandemic. We underestimated the impact of the pandemic in working with schools and youth programming. We also underestimated the challenges that nonprofit organizations would face coming out of the pandemic that changed how we operated as a partnership. The following are challenges faced and the resulting outcomes. 1. Schools participating in farm tours. Covid limited the participant pool from public schools and then post covid the lack of bus drivers prevented public schools from being able to provide transportation.We were able to exceed our participation numbers and BIPOC/socially disadvantaged participation through working with the community to identify charter schools both in Minneapolis-St, Paul and in southeastern Minnesota (Winona). These schools were anxious to offer this type of field trip and with some additional funding for private transportation we saw a dramatic shift from the first year and a half of the project period. 2. Genius Labs delivery modality. The first summer program offered had fewer than anticipated participation. In the summer of 2023, our graduate student, the project directors andMN Venture Farms worked together to reimagine this part of the project from a day camp to an integrated activity in schools. Again, by reaching out to the charter schools and exploring more collaborative solutions, the participation increased and the population shifted from predominately Black/African to a more diverse BIPOC population including Hispanic and Indigenous youth. In summary, Covid-19 posed additional challenges we did not anticipate when we applied for the grant. It took us longer to ramp up to serve our participants outside of the university students. However, the resulting challenges actually provided opportunities to work more collaboratively with BIPOC communities in Minnesota, to be more creative about how we delivered the project activitites, and without the extension of the grant period to December 31, 2023, we would not have been able to exceed our participation outcomes. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?While it was not a formal part of the proposed project, our project co-directors found the opportunityto assist the organizations build their capacity to deliver programming and to manage grants, especially federal grants. This capacity-building technical assistance/professional development proved highly valuable as two of our original grant partners, GMCC and Model Citizen, both were unable to complete their obligations to the project. GMCC released the MN Venture Farms portion of their organization forcing them to find other fiscal sponsorship for their participation and as a result the organization developed their own 501c3 entity and they continue to flourish. Model Citizen ceased its operations and was not able to provide the facilities for the farm tours. Working with MN Venture Farms, we were able to locate a new farm location in Lake City, Minnesota to host the farm tours and the connections that MN Venture Farms built with community groups and charter schools significantly increased the participation resulting in exceeding all of our project goals in terms of participants served, and it increased the participation in certain BIPOC groups that are historically underserved, Indigeneous students. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have not at the date of this report provided any large scale reports on the project, however, MN Venture Farms created a powerpoint presentation on their portion of the project for their charter school partners and will continue to provide this presentation in an effort to continue the Genius Labs and farm tours portion of the project through other funding sources going forward. In an effort to increase attention to service learning in the agriculture and food disciplines of Minnesota State University, Mankato, the project co-directors plan to present a report on results to the University and community leadership through the new School of Agriculture and Food. They are in the process of hiring a new leader for the School and thus reporting has been delayed until the new executive director is on staff and can facilitate such a presentation. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
1. Undergraduate students at MSU Mankato. During the period from August-December 2023, we provided an additional 36 undergraduate students with agribusiness education. We had already fulfilled our goals of delivering the Agriculture and Leadership course, but with the remaining funds we were able to serve more students and those students prepared and delivered a mini-Ag in Action afterschool event fordisadvantaged and low income youth in Mankato, Minnesota at our campus where they prepared educational displays and activitieson agricultural topics and nutrition/healthy eatingissues. The graduate student (1) assisted faculty with the event. 2. MYPlace Mankato (Mankato Youth Place) continued to offer their youth programming on healthy eating and agriculture through their afterschool program to youth aged 6-16. Activities during the period from August to December 2023 included attending the mini Ag in Action event at MSU Mankato and the participants also participated in education on good nutrition and healthy eating including assisting in meal preparation and practicing math and scienceusing recipes. 3. Farm Tours, MN Venture Farms took over the farm tour portion of the grant from Model Citizen who ceased operation during the project. They relocated the farm tours to the Catholic Worker Farm in Lake City, Minnesota and substantially increased the number of students served. During the period from August to December, 140middle school aged youth were transported and had hands-on farm tours. The demographics of the partipants were 8% BIPOC and 5% low income.We learned so much about developing strong community partnerships and the fragility of fledgling nonprofits. Collaborating with the new farm location enabled us to serve more participants that we projected at the beginning of the project. 4. Genius Labs. MN Venture Farms regrouped in the summer of 2023, choosing to shift from a summer day camp to an in-school partnership with a variety of charter schools in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area and southeastern Minnesota (Winona) where we were able to serve more BIPOC and socially-disadvantaged youth. The in-school pivot for the program resulted in 189 students participating compared to 15 in the first year. The majority (96%) were students of color which was the primary target population for the grant project. This is an example of how the partners learned and innovated throughout the grant and that when things don't go as planned you can embrace the challenge as fuel for change and pivot to find an even more successful outcome.
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Progress 09/01/22 to 08/31/23
Outputs
Target Audience:UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN AGRIBUSINESS & LEADERSHIP. YOUTH- MIDDLE SCHOOL AGED PRIMARY AUDIENCE & ELEMENTARY AGEDSECONDARY AUDIENCE- FOCUS ON BIPOC AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED STUDENTS. In November 2022 we held an Ag in Action event for youth in Mankato with 38 undergraduateagribusinessstudents presenting and leading the event and 28 youth participants from the area MyPlace/Mankato Youth Place. 100% of the youth participants were low-income and/or BIPOC. In April 2023 we held a large-scale Ag in Action event like what we offered in April 2022. Fifty-one university students, both undergraduate and graduate organized and delivered programming for the one-day event to 185middle school aged youth from the region. The Agriculture & Leadership course was offered in fall and spring semesters to MSU Mankato students as well as enrolling one visiting student from Winona State University. The enrollment for the two courses totaled 29 students. In addition, the project reached out to the Agribusiness course students who also participated in the planning and delivery of the Ag in Action events in the fall and spring. There were 76 students enrolled in those courses. The farm tours which had been a challenge during the Covid pandemic showed significant progress in achieving the goal of 300 participants. We were able to start offering tours in the summer of 2023 as of July 31, 2023, we have served 124 students. Changes/Problems:Our challenges have been a great source of learning for MSU Mankato as an institution that seeks to increasingly partner with BIPOC-led organizations for service learning. Our original partner Model Citizen which is run by a restauranteur and farmer in Stearns County was forced to focus on his businesses in the post-Covid environment beginning in fall 2022 we were unable to contact Model Citizen's leadership and get him to participate in project meetings which necessitated an increase in our partnership with Minnesota Venture Farms (MVF). They are facilitatingthe farm tours and have been insttrumental in helpingus achieve our participation goals. In addition, Minnesota Venture Farms had an organizational fallout with their fiscal sponsor GMCC. GMCC contacted us in January 2023 and notified us they would no longer participate and that MVF would spin off as an independent non profit organization. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The planning and delivery of the Ag in Action events provided service learning for undergraduate students. The students were trained in how to partner with the community, how to develop a presentation for target aged youth, and how to work professionally in teams, espectially remote teams. The graduate students organized leaders within the undergraduate group and then we held monthly and then weekly meetings to plan and deliver two successful events. This additional opportunity for student development has been much more impactful than we anticipated when we proposed the project. 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 have requested a no cost contract extension for 3 months to finalize the project during the fall semester of 2023. There are two key activites left to complete as well as the project evaluation analysis. The first is to complete the additional 175 farm tours for youth during harvest. The second is to deliver the Genius Labs youth camp as an afterschool program in partnership with an Indigenous serving charter school called Bdote Learning Center. This is a new partnership and the fall delivery of the programming is anticipated to serve up to 75 BIPOC youth which will exceed the goal of 60 youth served over the two year period.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
For Year 2- Graduate Students- 2 students provided leadership and mentorship for the undergraduate students and assisted the faculty leaders of the project with community outreach, event planning, and communication with volunteers and K-12 participating schools. In the summer of 2023 we engaged an additional graduate assistant to support our partners in their summer program planning and recruitment of participants. We anticipated having 1 graduate and exceed that goal. Undergraduate Students- Students took the Agriculture and Leadership course in fall semester 2022 and spring semester 2023. Enrollment in this course was 29 and we projected that we would enroll 30 in the second year. Due to a faculty sabbatical, the course was not offered in fall semester 2023. Seventy-six additional students were enrolled in other Agribusiness courses fall and spring semester and partcipated in the Ag in Action events held. In total, 81 undergraduate students participated in the service learning project (Ag in Action events). Youth- Middle School Students- Farm Tours- We were unable to provide farm tours in 2022 and our partner Model Citizen were unable to staff the tours so we collaborated with another farm in Lake City, MN who has strong partnerships with K-12 schools, especially charter schools who support a high percentage of BIPOC students. As a result we were able to provide 124 participants with a one-day farm field trip with kinesthetic learning opportunities. We have the remaining 175 student booked for tourn from August through early October so we can meet the 300 participant estimate.Because we changed location for the farm tours we didn't engage undergraduate interns to assist with the tours as the partner is fully staffing those tour days. Ag in Action Events- We held two events in year two and served 213 youth. We do not anticipate offering any additional events under this grant. The undergraduate students organized and delivered the programming with mentorship by the faculty and graduate students. In addition, our grant partners, MyPlace and Minnesota Venture Farms provided information and helped us recruit a broad cross-section of kids from schools in the region. Our goal was to serve 250 students in year two and that was not achieved by 37 youth. Gardening & Summer Programming- Our partnerMyPlace was able to serve the projected 50 youth with 40 of those participating beyond the summer programs. Minnesota Venture Farms split from their fiscal sponsor GMCC in 2023 and paused their summer programming to recruit a new school partner to conduct their Genius Labs program. They will be partnering with the Bdote Charter School in the fall of 2023 and plan to exceed the goal of 30 participants through an afterschool program rather than a summer camp.
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Progress 09/01/21 to 08/31/22
Outputs
Target Audience:The project will target two populations: University students at MSU Mankato- both undergraduate and graduate students. Note that approximately 1/3of the college students are non-traditional and are professionals who are completing a degree so they have work experience and professional networks that contribute to the project. The other student population istraditional-age college students with an interest in agriculture, community service, social justice, and/or leadership. Youth, especially socially disadvantaged and low-income from Mankato, Minneapolis, and surrounding communities in Stearns County. These students (referred to hereafter as youth) are predominately middle school aged (grades 6-9) where we anticipate the greatest opportunity to introduce agri-careers and impact the farm to table connection. Changes/Problems:Most of the goals were achieved in the first year of the grant. However, Model Citizen Farm tours and Minneapolis bus transportationwerecanceled because of COVID restrictions and the lack of bus drivers in the urban areas.In response to this challenged we reached out to the rural schools in the region and forgednew relationships for future events. We also learned that there are more BIPOC youth in our rural schools around Mankato than we had anticipated when we submitted the grant. Our follow up interviews with our participating schools from the April event indicate that we will have increased participation this year. We anticipate asking for a no cost contract extension to offer the program for an additional year of events. Our partnership with MY Place has increased our awareness thatAg education needs to reach younger students sooner. As a result, the fall mini Ag in Action event wiill be for MY Place youth participants who are of elementary and middle school age. MY Place has also asked to utilize their supplies funds to establish a aeroponic garden at their site where youth participants can grown food all winter and learn about alternative production science in a hands-on manner. We also anticipate that the collaboration of Minnesota Venture Farms and Model Citizen will result in some revision to the Genius Lab for summer of 2023. The focus of the summer event may move from South Minneapolis to Stearns County (St. Cloud) where there is a large Somali population that could be served. We will propose any changes in goals and/or budget revision in a separate document submitted to USDA prior to the next report submitted. We anticipate a separation of MVF from their parent organization GMCC and we are meeting with their leadership in wait for the legal process to transpire and will include this in our request for budget or grant modification. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?In addition to the course on agriculture and leadership that was designed to increase college student's knowledge of contemporary agricultural issues, these university students and their collaborators from the agribusiness course gained first-hand experience in ideating, planing, and executing alargeeducational event. They learned through this service-learning opportunity, not only the event development side but how to teach youth about agriculture and food. It is critical to note that the students were empowered to lead their peers and collaborate remotely as one course was delivered online while the other course was a face to face course on campus. University students that participated lived in Mankato, as well as the Minneapolis metro area, and one student joined remotely from Portland Oregon. Students who could not attend in person the event in Mankato, were delegated administrative tasks that could be completed fully online. We believe this is an important in a post Covid environment where more remote team work is expected in the workforce. Recognition of the efforts from this project resulted in an invitation from the Engineering Department on campus to have Ag in Action represented at their summer youth STEM camps. One graduate student and one undergraduate student collaborated with the project leaders (Drs. Bowyer & Pigsley) to develop an informational and interactive presentation on industrial hemp and it's role in environmental stewardship and climate change. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The event/activities of Ag in Action were reported in the local media viatelevision and newspaper stories. In addition, we are now in the process of doing outreach to schools in the region to promote the event for next spring. The results are in the materials we are assembling for recruiting next April's event. In addition, we posted on social media outlets about last spring's event. The results of the project were shared with our partners Minnesota Venture Farms and Model Citizen during the Summer of 2022 at their strategic planning retreat. There was information sharing and ideation on future activities. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?1. We quickly realized that the fall offering of the Agriculture & Leadership course and the Agribusiness course needed different activities since our big Ag in Action even is held in spring. In November 2023 asmaller indoor Ag in Action will be added for MY Place youth participants. For the Ag & Leadership students, we empowered them to get hands on experience in project evaluation of the previous April's event. Students are doing both quantitative and qualitative research under the supervision of one of the project directors. We plan to continue offering the courses and having them collaborate remotely to execute the April 2023 event. One element of the Covid crisis that has generated something that we will be continuing as a result. 2. As a result of the summer strategic planning with MSU Mankato, Minnesota Venture Farms, and Model Citizen resulted in a new vision for their efforts in Stearns County and Minneapolis. MVF and MC will be working together to revamp the farm tours since schools have been reticent to bring large groups on field trips so they will change focus to working with youth serving organizations and churches instead. MVF also recognized there is some mission drift for GMCC and so they plan to partner with Model Citizen to form a new 501c3 organization called Minnesota Youth Farms to execute the farm tours and Genius Labs in collaboration. MSU Mankato will be supporting them with interns for the summer of 2023.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Goals achieved in year one: 1. Offer a new course for upper division undergraduate students called Agriculture & Leadership. The 3 credit course was offered in spring semester 2022 as a select topics course. Eleven students participated in the course and as part of the course the students worked through remote collaborate with the Agribusiness course (36 students) and other ag students and volunteers (18) to research, plan, and execute the Ag in Action event. 2. The Ag in Action event was held on April 27, 2022 that served 210 youth from Mankato area middle schools as well as a small group of elementary aged youth from our partner MY Place (formerly the Boys & Girls Club of Mankato). The one day event was completely student driven and the faculty only served as facilitators and helped with budgeting. We learned that the non-traditional college students with work experience had amazing connections to agribusinesses and ag support organizationsin the region (e.g., CHS Cooperative) where we were able to leverage their support either financially or in terms of volunteers. For example, the neighboring community college participated by bringing their ag equipment simulator so youth participants could experience the high tech advances in farm equipment. Another local organization donated the use of a double-decker bus that transported students around the park to view former indigenous farm lands along the Minnesota River and the graduate assistants (one is an Anthropology major and the other is a Native Alaskan) led the tours explaining the role indigenous wisdom plays in agriculture and land stewardship. The park where the event was held has live animals on display so youth participants got to interact with some livestock. And the undergraduate students created info booths for a agri-trade show that offered tasting of different ag products, informed participants about GMO's, and conducted a short science experiment on chemical reactions that impact ethanol production. Other students were charged with roles in evaluation where they collected participant surveys and led youth participants in participatory evaluation with a grafitti wall to provide feedback about the event through art. 3. Genius Labs- GMCC's Minnesota Venture Farms developed and delivered its summer program over 2 weeks in South Minneapolis (the neighborhood where the George Floyd murder occurred and civil unrest happened). The 15 youth, all BIPOC and/or socially disadvantaged participated in a full day of activites including hands on experiences on urban farm plots and interacted with livestock such as chickens. This applied learning also connected the where our food comes from with the concept of balanced nutrition and personal health. These ag activities were intersperced with STEM projects in architecture, photography, engineering, as well as personal empowerment and financial management learning. The youth were all of middle school age. 4. MY Place Summer Garden Club- Mankato Youth Place served58 youth whoparticipated in 12 sessions of Garden Club. Garden Club takes place at the Living Earth Center where are members are able to plan, plant and tend to vegetables and flowers. Additionally, they receive a lesson each week that includes hands on activities such as creating a bouquet or canning pickles.MY Place serves a very diverse group of kids. The majority of MY Place members are experiencing poverty, 58.6% of those who participated in Garden Club fall below federal poverty guidelines. Approximately 75% are BIPOC. The Garden Club meets once a week (it meets year around) and is specialized by age, second and third grade, fourth and fifth grade and middle school. This approach allows age appropriate activities and allows all of our members to grow and learn each week.
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