Greetings,
This is a revision, in response to the very helpful comments on the proposal in the blog entitled, "Providing Infrastructure for Farmers in Appalachian Ohio to Meet the Demand for Locally Procured Staple Foods".
Once again, comments are welcome.
Our 2007 NCR-SARE farmer grant to test various staple crops in Appalachian Ohio, has garnered considerable interest in locally procured staple foods among food outlets and consumers, and several new and seasoned farmers are eager to form a staple growers’ cooperative.
There are barriers to local staple procurement in infrastructure. Harvesting, threshing, cleaning, and drying equipment is capital intensive, particularly for a small-scale, startup venture in a relatively new niche. In Asia and Europe, there is small-scale harvesting equipment, but US manufacturers have not caught up with the small-scale industry. We are working with Steve Faivre, John Deere, to bring these models over. Meanwhile, we need to rely on old US equipment predating large-scale agriculture, such as pull-behind and early self-propelled combines.
In this proposal, you will see that we are applying for a broad range of projects that would tie into and be supported by the equipment secured by Stinner Endowment support. However, Stinner Endowment support can stand alone in the event that we are awarded no other funding. To this end, we have added some staff time and fuel and removed the lease of the mill in the budget, to be supplanted with two mills that have been offered for use by members of the community, which would be smaller and less ideal for these purposes, but which will do if necessary. Other funding that we are applying for would include budget to lease the larger, more appropriate mill.
Thank you,
Michelle Ajamian and Brandon Jaeger
Comments
Explanation for two messages on Stinner Endowment Proposal
hello,
I think everyone who received the Stinner Endowment Proposal message about staple foods infrastructure in Appalachian Ohio, actually received two messages.
The attachment in the second one to arrive is actually the one to look at (attachment entitled "StinnerinfraFinalFinal-3-1.doc", as opposed to
"StinnerInfraFinalFinal-3.doc"). I apologize for the duplicity; I am not totally accustomed to the organizational habits of this computer.
Thanks again,
Brandon
Proposal
Hi Michelle and Brandon,
First I apologize for not participating to date in the dialog about your proposal. I hope this is not too late to comment.
Second, it appears to me that you have a pretty comprehensive and inter-connected vision for local foods in your region bolstered by a set of key players and a focused and reasonable crop portfolio. I would very much like to visit and meet key players. Exciting project.
My one comment from a grantwriting perspective refers to the objective statement: "The objective of this project is to secure necessary infrastructure to support a broad-based initiative to assess feasibility, obstacles, and best practices in creating a model for local procurement of staple foods in Appalachian Ohio. "
I am not clear whether you are promising an infrastructure, an initiative, an assessment or a model. I think your outcome is a MODEL, which would be based on a comprehensive assessment. If so, then your statement of objective is also trying to overview the PROCESS by which the objective is met and therein lies the confusion I experience. I would recommend that your objective statement nail down what your model is and then in an immediately following but separate sentence (which might begin, "our approach is to . . ." ) identify the process by which the model will be developed. Another option would be to put a summary sentence about how the model is developed in your approach section. I do get that the identifying the process for developing the model contributes to its validity and thus to reviewer confidence.
I do think your ideas and thinking are sound and this sentence is right behind.
Warmly,
Ross MacDonald