Outside Experience #1: Science Cafe

This Tuesday, I completed my first "outside experience" by attending a series called Science Cafe at Finch's Brasserie on Kirkwood. Science Cafe is a monthly event addressing various science topics. You can scope out that link to see if any of the upcoming talks appeal to you!

This week's topic was especially applicable to discussions we've had in Sustainable Communities. James Farmer from the IU School of Public Health presented on the "Human Dynamics of Engaging in Local Food Systems: A Perspective on Farmers' Markets and CSAs." 

(I quickly read Professor Farmer's faculty profile on the SPH faculty site, and just as Patty mentioned in class, there certainly is some overlap in the sustainability and health fields. Professor Farmer works under the Recreation, Park and Tourism heading at the SPH. His research interests include: motivations & barriers to sustainable behavior, private land conservation and land trusts, participation in  local food systems and the human aspects of sustainable agriculture and rural living.) 

Professor Farmer's interest in farmers' markets (FMs) and community supported agriculture (CSAs) all began with listening to "The Omnivore's Dilemma" on a road trip several years ago. Since that time, these topics have received even more media attention.  In the last 3 or 4 decades, FMs have exploded. In 1979, California had 6 and now they number greater than 700. CSAs have also grown quite a bit nationally. With less historical information, in 2012, the US had 6500 CSAs, and today, there are approximately 7800.

Farmer decided to research the differences (or similarities) in people who participated in FMs, people who participated in CSAs, and people who did not participate in either. They randomly selected 12 FMs and 17 CSAs in Indiana. The sample size was 321 participants in FMs, 117 participants in CSAs and 117 non-participants (filled out the survey and sent it back). 

Some interesting findings:
Between FMs and non-participants:
- More people without children frequented the FM
- Less people from rural areas attended FM
- More people attending the FM had a Bachelor's degree
- People attending FM were mostly white

Additionally, only 7% of people who go to the FM also subscribe to a CSA. Everyone who attended the FM also had a friend or family member who attended. Word of mouth was the most effective advertising for the FMs. And, there were no statistical differences between people who attend FMs in Indiana and people who attend FMs in North Carolina.

Barriers to attending the FM included:
- 25% did not know where one was located
- Proximity
- Saturday morning time was not always ideal
- A need for WIC, EBT or other electronic transaction options for low-income voucher programs
- Lack of public transit to the FM
- Product cost
- Lack of variety of products
- Feeling out of place, not fitting in culturally, ethnically, or socioeconomically

The 5 most important drivers (per regression analysis) of going to the FM were:
- Organic options   (+72.1%)
- Food coming from within a 100 mile radius   (+78.5%)
- Education level of attainment   (-82.9%)
- Social connection/social norm   (+65.5%)
- Proximity to FM   (-6.7%)

When comparing CSAs to FMs, there were very similar motives between the two groups.

Compared to FM participants, CSA participants were likely to cook more, have more children, live in more suburban areas, have a graduate degree, make ~$90,000 annually, and again, they were generally white. 

One of the odd things about CSAs is the lack of commitment over the years. After year one of using a CSA, participation drops markedly. Also, farmers unfamiliar with the idea of a CSA can be hesitant to try it. However, Professor Farmer gave antecdotal stories about his time living in Huntington, West Virginia while working at Marshall University and about former students farming in Vermont. According to Farmer, when he pitched the idea of CSAs in Huntington, only one farmer stuck around to get more details about starting such a program. The farmer gave it a try and via social networking and social institutions (in this case, a church community), they managed to get 50 people signed up in a weekend! As for the students in Vermont...these students hailed from Earlham College in Richmond, IN. They decided to make a go of farming in Vermont and established a CSA program. Sadly, when Hurricane Sandy hit a couple years ago, their crops were destroyed and a river bedrock was shifted making much of their land unusable. BUT, with the support of their CSA community, they were able to stay the course and rebuild their farm! 

Overall, the data collected and analyzed by Farmer showed that compared to non-participants, people utilizing FMs and CSAs tend to be from a privileged, professional class. 

Professor Farmer also speculated a bit as to why these people are flocking to the idea of local food. He mentioned a distrust of the industrial food system. And, he hypothesized the educated professional class often migrates away from families and relatives. So, this group is often searching for a sense of community and familial relations of some sort. Thus, he proposes it's become a network of rebuilding community and makes a "big city small." 

I really enjoyed this talk!  Professor Farmer was engaging and informative. Additionally, he grew up in Richmond, IN a town about 35 miles from my hometown (which we frequented because they had amenities Connersville was lacking). So, after the talk, I introduced myself and told him a bit about our class! If any of you have a chance to see him present, I would highly recommend it.