Framework for the USDA-SCRI Grant Proposal

Steve Bosserman's picture

In his December 8th post, Preliminary Statement on Specialty Crops Research Proposal Objectives, Parwinder Grewal stated that

As indicated by this quote, local self-reliance refers to the availability of basic needs such as food, water, energy, housing, clothing, etc. from sources in very close proximity to where one resides. The First Law of Ecology states that "everything is connected to everything else". This suggests that the processes for delivery of these essentials are interrelated through a "holistic (ecosystem) approach", as Parwinder terms it.

Given this is a specialty crops grant, food and landscaping are central to the proposal. However, that makes pursuit of a sustainable system exhibiting a holistic approach to local self-reliance out of scope. All else that is generated or produced from closing the loops within the larger ecosystem, while important in the overall strategy for local self-reliance, is a secondary level of focus for this proposal.

What can differentiate this proposal compared to the many submitted?

Inclusion of some combination of the five areas below in the proposal narrative offers a distinctive edge:

Asset Mapping: Online mapping applications can be utilized to designate the locations of assets such as land, facilities, and equipment that produce, process, prepare, distribute, and market specialty crops to residents. The resulting geo-referenced maps are formatted such that they can be scaled to fit large or small areas, linked from one locality to another, marked with a selection of common key characteristics, and layered to show a variable range of data density. In addition, they can be analyzed to assess "capacity for self-sufficiency" or, in other words, find and quantify areas of opportunity for business and economic development in local agriculture systems. Furthermore, they can be accessed by the public for update and revision, scenario planning, community development strategies, and revisions to land use policies, rules, and regulations.

Currently, there are several publicly accessible asset mapping schemes in play in OH, MI, and PA. On such approach is the urban food desert data and mapping tool developed by Trevor Havelka for the Ohio Food Policy Advisory Council - Food System Assessment Task Force. Unfortunately, many are incompatible with one another which leads to inefficiency, lack of leverage, and duplication of effort. The adoption of common standards is critical. What asset mapping standards should be adopted to assure interoperability among multiple mapping projects?

Value Chain Integration: Any local agriculture system that is focused on specialty crops targets a fixed population group, say 1,000 people in a given geographic area, as the market "ecosystem". Subsequent design of the system starts with the consumers / customers in that market ecosystem and works backward through preparation, processing, and production of specialty crops to meet the basic needs of the consumer / customer. Such an approach to design reduces disparity of who is and is not served by the system, improves distribution of revenue across the integrated value chain so that all participants are fairly compensated for performance, and provides a foundation for scalability in response to higher demand and adoption of new practices that increase efficiency and promote flexibility. What is the basic design of a local agriculture system?

Crop and Value-Added Portfolio: A local agriculture system based on specialty crops is comprised of one or more businesses tasked with the dual objectives to deliver affordable products or healthy calories to customers / consumers and sustain profitable operations with minimal subsidy. In many instances, this portfolio is comprised of both food and landscaping crops coupled with downstream value-added operations in order to make a profitable mix. In addition, consideration of seasonality, calorie count, nutrition, and affordability influences the mix. The challenge is to create a favorable balance among competing possibilities. What is the appropriate portfolio for a given locality?

Education, Training, Certification, and Licensure: People who participate in a local agriculture system need practical skills and useful, timely information to be successful across the value chain. Skills require education and training supported by a steady flow of accurate, timely, and relevant information about value chain operations and complemented by a clear pathway to certification and licensure. This combination enables people to start, staff, and expand businesses with confidence about safety, quality, and investment realization. It also informs the revision of guidelines and criteria for certification and licensure to assure that the flow from the point of consumption through the value chain to the point of production is fluid, adaptive, and uninterrupted. What information sources, curricula, and course delivery methods are required?

Learning, Leverage, Replication: Local agriculture systems can originate and be sustained almost anywhere. There is a wide variety of locations and population densities represented in OH, MI, and PA. They range from the rural town of far less than 1,000 people to the urban center comprised of hundreds of 1,000-person blocks. Obviously, not all these locations can be included directly in the grant proposal. But if communication / collaboration platforms, processes, and tools are added to the basic functionality of LocalFoodSystems, the learning and leverage can be significantly extended, which, in turn, precipitates rampant replication.

In other words, dozens of communities in OH, MI, and PA, such as those Parwinder listed as potential areas for projects, can be included as collaborative learning areas. Through their parallel participation with the "home community" formally identified in the proposal, satellite communities can leverage experience gained. And the more these satellite communities are willing to post their experiences and learning, the deeper and more extensive the knowledge base about local agriculture systems. The richer the knowledge base and the wider the network of participants the more that other communities, groups, and individuals will want to get involved; hence, rampant replication. Building this massive capability for learning, leverage, and replication is at the heart of the systems proposal by Sam Rose for the Forward Foundation in partnership with Suresh Fernando of Radical Inclusion.

Due to the LocalFoodSystems foundation, learning, leverage, and replication is the one area this grant proposal brings to the forefront that no other applicant can claim. It is a key differentiator among equals and it is highly regarded for its expansive capacity by the USDA !

Bring a match, start a fire: In this case, the match refers to funding and the fire is a project centered around whatever burning research objective / question one may have regarding local agriculture systems. Many times there are compelling projects, but few matches to be found. However, numerous communities in MI, OH, PA have secured title to vacant and abandoned properties, often through a land bank structure. The current lease or sale value of these properties may be applied as a match across the five-year period of this grant provided the properties are not already committed in some way to another federally-funded program. The use of such properties in this way permits significant experimentation in the development of local agriculture systems under varied conditions.

Currently, the City of Columbus Department of Development is considering the commitment of several properties in three distinctly different neighborhoods in order to do the following:

  • Test multiple local agriculture systems designs with specialty crops

  • Introduce methods for repurposing existing structures and materials through renovation or deconstruction to fit local agriculture systems applications

  • Gain further insight into appropriate changes in zoning codes and ordinances and contracting policies and procedures that facilitate local agriculture systems

  • Develop continuing education coursework that provides opportunities for city employees and others to learn how to support local agriculture systems in a municipal context

Get healthy, stay healthy: One of the noted benefits of local agriculture systems, especially related to food, is improved health through a better diet of sufficient, nutritious calories. This benefit dividend is experienced in terms of disease prevention and as a low-cost prescription to reverse conditions of poor health. Combined with fitness, nutritious dietary choices yield a sharp reduction in incidents and costs associated with health care. This improves the bottom line performance of employer operations and it reduces the financial burden on public agencies caring for those who are ill and in need of assistance. Public health agencies and departments at the municipal and county levels as well as major area employers are potential partners on this grant because they have data about health care costs and conditions that can be used as benchmarks, metrics, performance, and projections. There's nothing like quantified results to confirm or deny anecdotal evidence.

As an example, Columbus Public Health (CPH) is collaborating with the City of Columbus Department of Development in the same neighborhoods targeted for Land Bank participation. A CPH goal is to develop complementary initiatives that give more insight into the impact of local agriculture systems on the health and well-being of residents in those neighborhoods. These initiatives strike at both ends of the public engagement spectrum. On the one hand, they provide consumer education programs that speak to the importance of fresh, high quality foods and fitness. On the other hand, they promote licensing of mobile food carts in these neighborhoods in order to provide nutritious, tasty, quick, convenient, and affordable food direct to consumers. Again, the notion is to start with the consumer and work backwards through the value chain to the closest local supplier--the one right across the street!

Looking forward to hearing your ideas. Let's make this grant proposal a winner!

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