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Into the Forests (And Fields and Yards): Re-Thinking Rural Development and Local Food Systems with Wild Harvesters in the Ozark Highlands

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Into the Forests (And Fields and Yards): Re-Thinking Rural Development and Local Food Systems with Wild Harvesters in the Ozark Highlands INTO THE FORESTS (AND FIELDS AND YARDS): RE-THINKING RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND LOCAL FOOD SYSTEMS WITH WILD HARVESTERS IN THE OZARK HIGHLANDS _______________________________________ A Dissertation presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School at the University of Missouri-Columbia _______________________________________________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy _____________________________________________________ by SARAH HULTINE MASSENGALE Dr. Mary Hendrickson, Dissertation Supervisor DECEMBER 2018 The undersigned, appointed by the dean of the Graduate School, have examined the dissertation entitled INTO THE FORESTS (AND FIELDS AND YARDS): RE-THINKING RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND LOCAL FOOD SYSTEMS WITH WILD HARVESTERS IN THE OZARK HIGHLANDS presented by Sarah Hultine Massengale, a candidate for the degree of doctor of philosophy, and hereby certify that in their opinion it is worthy of acceptance. ________________________________________________ Professor Mary Hendrickson ________________________________________________ Professor Sandy Rikoon ________________________________________________ Professor Steve Jeanetta _______________________________________________ Professor Thomas Johnson Dedicated in memory of my Grandpa Robert and Grandma Noreen Lautzenhiser For their encouragement and pride in their grandkids, and thoughtful planning to support our education for the long-term. I have been lucky to have a huge support team through this seven-year process. Liz and George Gruendel, thank you for being my local mentors– I am so lucky to have your friendship. All the friends and coworkers who have cheered me along the way kept my feet to the fire as well! Bob, Betty Jo, Deb, Cotton, Quinn and Jacquelyn, thank you for being my rest stop, hotel, babysitters, and so much more. I appreciate all your support! To Mom, Dad, Ellen and Evan, thank you for your never-ending support of all my endeavors. I can’t possibly list all the ways you contributed to helping me get this thing done. Knowing you all have my back has always helped me know I could do this. Orion and Zane, hopefully you won’t remember some of the chaos of this process! I hope you will remember that you can accomplish hard things if you work hard and dream big and build a big circle of friends and family to support you along the way. David, thank you for keeping right with me through this whole project. I love your enthusiasm for learning right along with me, being my sounding board, throwing me ideas and challenges, and not letting me quit when it got hard. It’s been a little extra crazy these past seven years, but hopefully not needing health insurance now will make it worth it! ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, my sincere gratitude to the wild harvesters who participated in this study, for sharing their stories and enthusiasm for wild harvesting, for their time and honesty and eagerness to participate, and encouragement to keep looking into this topic. I have learned so much in this process and am excited for future opportunities to talk and learn more. To my committee members, Mary Hendrickson, Sandy Rikoon, Tom Johnson, and Steve Jeanetta, thank you for your advice, critiques, and support. You have helped me think harder and challenge myself with such positive encouragement. Mary, I am so appreciative of your friendship and mentorship. I am also so grateful for the support I have received from my colleagues and administration with University of Missouri Extension, for the time, tuition assistance, and professional support to take on this process while working full- time. The ability to blend my work and this research made the process so much more significant for me. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................... ii LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES............................................................................................. v ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................. vi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................................... 12 Reviewing Food Systems and Rural Communities ............................................................ 12 More than Economics: Exploring Personal, Place-Based and Social Experiences in Local Food Systems ............................................................................................................... 19 Acknowledging Individual Experience: ....................................................................... 19 Identifying the Impact of Place: ..................................................................................... 20 Creating Social Capital and Embedded Food Experiences: .................................. 22 Connecting Social Capital and Economy with Comprehensive Wealth: ........... 24 Applying Comprehensive Wealth in Rural Food System Development: ............ 25 Wild Harvest as Food System Practice ............................................................................... 30 The Ozark Highlands Study Region ..................................................................................... 35 Public Lands – Beauty and Controversy: ................................................................... 37 Culture and Skills of Past, Present and Future Ozark Highlands Residents: ... 38 Applying Community Development Principles to Engage Wild Harvester Knowledge. 41 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................... 46 The Narrative Inquiry Process ............................................................................................... 46 Narrative Inquiry in Other Food Systems Research .......................................................... 54 The Ozark Highlands Case Study ........................................................................................ 55 Benefits and Limitations of this Methodology ..................................................................... 64 CHAPTER 4: SHARING THE STORIES ................................................................................ 68 Exploring Time ......................................................................................................................... 74 Reflecting on the Past: .................................................................................................... 74 Current Reflections on Time: ......................................................................................... 76 Ages and Stages of Life: ................................................................................................. 77 The Role of Place .................................................................................................................... 79 Recognizing Place in Natural Resources: Availability and Diversity: ................ 82 Importance of Place Knowledge for Harvesting: ...................................................... 84 iii Regulations on Wild Harvesting in the Ozark Highlands: ...................................... 84 Learning through Personal Experience ............................................................................... 86 Knowledge: ......................................................................................................................... 90 Costs, Cost Savings and Valuing Priorities: ............................................................. 92 Health and the Taste of Wild Food: .............................................................................. 95 Wild Harvesting as Social Activity ........................................................................................ 99 Social Networks: ............................................................................................................... 99 Sharing the Harvest through Food, Knowledge and Experience: ..................... 100 The Value of Trust: ......................................................................................................... 103 A Regional Culture? ....................................................................................................... 104 Educational Resources for All: ................................................................................... 107 Opportunities .......................................................................................................................... 109 CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION.................................................................................................... 113 Moving Beyond Traditional versus Contemporary Localism .......................................... 113 Applying Rural Wealth to Wild Harvesting in the Ozark Highlands ............................... 120 Exploring the Context of Decisions in Place: .......................................................... 125 Identifying and Valuing Assets: .................................................................................. 128 Liabilities and Decisions: .............................................................................................. 140 Outcomes and Opportunities: ..................................................................................... 144 Developing Indicators for Wild Harvesting Impacts on Intellectual, Social and Natural
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