WASHINGTON, D.C. APRIL 3-4, 2017 1 LOCAL FOODS BY THE NUMBERS From USDA NASS 2015 Local Food Marketing Practices Survey https://www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/2012/Online_Resources/Local_Food/index.php $8.7 BILLION Local Food Sales in 2015 167,009 114,801 Farmers sold foods Farm operations sold locally or regionally directly to consumers $5.7 BILLION $3 BILLION in sales through retailers in direct sales and intermediaries to consumers Farm operators of local or regional foods 14% VETERANS, 9% UNDER 35, 38% WOMEN, 23% FARMING LESS THAN TEN YEARS #LOCALFOODS 2 Dear Conference Participants, Thank you for agreeing to be a part of this unique dialogue to help the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) develop shared performance measures and metrics for evaluating the impacts of investments made to support U.S. farmers, ranchers, and agricultural businesses. USDA strives to improve and maintain farm incomes, as well as develop and expand markets for U.S. agricultural products. One way to support this goal is by facilitating local and regional marketing opportunities for our nation’s farms and ranches. In 2015, an estimated 167,000 farming operations made $9 billion marketing products through a variety of direct marketing and local food intermediary marketing channels (e.g., distributors and wholesalers). This conference brings together Federal and State agencies, agricultural businesses, universities, and philanthropic organizations that make investments in local food systems. Our purpose is to gain insight into how performance measures and metrics are established, and how data and impacts are collected and reported to principals and stakeholders. Such insight will assist USDA in its efforts to improve its processes for capturing and communicating the impact of its programs on farmers, ranchers, agribusinesses, and communities across the country. Through your contributions during this conference, we (George Washington University and USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service) plan to publish findings that will serve as a basis for engaging all USDA agencies (and other federal agencies) around the need to develop shared performance measures and metrics for grant and loan programs that support the development of local food systems. We hope that you find this conference engaging and rewarding over the next two days. Your participation is valued and greatly appreciated. Sincerely, Kathleen A. Merrigan Arthur Neal Director, Food Institute Deputy Administrator Executive Director of Sustainability USDA Agricultural Marketing Service George Washington University Transportation and Marketing Program 3 AGENDA April 3, 2017 8:30-9:00 Registration and Continental Breakfast at Jack Morton Auditorim 9:00-9:10 Welcome and Introduction of Keynote Kathleen Merrigan, Executive Director of Sustainability, George Washington University 9:10-9:40 Keynote Address: Georgia Grown and the Impact of Local Foods Gary Black, Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture 9:40-9:50 From Battle to Cattle Joshua Eilers, Founder, Ranger Cattle, LLC Interviewed by J. Latrice Hill, Assistant to Deputy Administrator for Field Operations, USDA FSA 9:50-11:00 How is USDA Measuring Impact of Local Food Investments? Claudette Fernandez, Deputy Administrator for Business Programs, USDA RD Erin Healy, Director, Office of Community Food Systems, USDA FNS Jane Clary Loveless, National Program Leader for Nutrition/Extension, USDA NIFA Arthur Neal, Deputy Administrator, Transportation and Marketing, USDA AMS Barbara Rater, Director, Census and Survey Division, USDA NASS Moderated by Tricia Kovacs, Local and Regional Food Systems Policy Advisor, USDA AMS 11:00-11:25 From Dairy to Pizza: The Evolution of the Family Farm Tony and Doreen Schultz, Stoney Acres Farm, WI Moderated by Dana Coale, Deputy Administrator, Dairy Program, USDA AMS 11:25-12:00 Funders Forum: What’s the Return on Investment? Donald Hinkle-Brown, President and CEO, Reinvestment Fund Christine James, Director of Programs, John Merck Fund A-Dae Romero-Briones, Associate Director of Research, First Nationas Development Institute Moderated by Jim Barham, Agricultural Economist, USDA RD 12:00-1:00 Luncheon, Marvin Center 4th Floor, Room 403 1:15-2:45 Workshop Session I Track A: National-level local food surveys and data collection efforts. Room 407. Track B: Measuring local food supply chains and enterprise cost/returns. Room 402/04. Track C: Stories from health, economic development, and foundation sectors. Room 405. 2:45-3:00 Networking Break 3:00-4:15 Workshop Session II Track A: Community-level local food surveys and data collection efforts Room 407. Track B: The role of technology in measuring state-level program and business impacts. Room 402/04. Track C: Other Federal agencies efforts to communicate program impacts. Room 405. 4:15-4:30 Return to Jack Morton Auditorium 4:30-5:00 Closing Keynote: What Matters at Retail? Walter Robb, Retail Consultant, Former CEO, Whole Foods Market Introduced by Ken Keck, Director of Marketing Services, USDA AMS 5:00-7:00 Reception at the Arts Club of Washington, 2017 I St NW, Washington, DC 4 April 4, 2017 8:30-9:00 Continental Breakfast on 2nd floor of Jack Morton Auditorium 9:00-9:25 How do Policymakers Know What Works? Congressman Dan Newhouse (WA-04) Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (ME-01) Moderated by Kathleen Merrigan, Executive Director of Sustainability, George Washington University 9:25-9:30 USDA Local Foods Video 9:30-9:45 Bringing Local to the Table: Markets and Farmers Working Together Haile Johnston, Founder and Co-Director, The Common Market Jillian Dy, Mid-Atlantic Deputy Director, The Common Market Moderated by Debra Tropp, Deputy Director, Local Food Research and Development Division, USDA AMS 9:45-10:30 Best Practices in Evaluation Science Kathy Newcomer, Director, Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration, George Washington University Kim Brown, Chief Program Officer, DC Central Kitchen Kate Clancy, Food Systems Consultant Rich Pirog, Director, Center for Regional Food Systems, Michigan State University 10:30-11:15 Rapportuer Read-Out and Next Steps Mark Lipson, Research Associate in Organic Agriculture Policy, University of California Santa Cruz (Track A) Scott Marlow, Executive Director, Rural Advancement Foundation International-USA (Track B) Cris Coffin, Policy Director, Land For Good (Track C) 11:15-12:30 Workshop Sessions III Track A: Workshop on estimating economic impacts of local food system initiatives. Room 407. Track B: Local foods mapping and visualization workshop. Room 413/414. Track C: Storytelling workshop. Room 402/04. 1:30-4:30 Local Foods Fair Square 80, between 21st & 22nd Streets and F & G Streets See page 19 for more information Q&A SESSIONS WITH PIGEONHOLE LIVE Go to www.pigeonhole.at Enter our event passcode: LOCALFOODS Look for the symbol next to sessions using Pigeonhole for Q&A. Use Pigeonhole to submit questions throughout the conference. “Upvote” questions you like. 5 WORKSHOP SESSIONS Track A: Evaluation Efforts and Techniques Rapporteur: Mark Lipson, Research Associate in Organic Agriculture Policy, University of California Santa Cruz Moderator: Carlos Coleman, Agricultural Marketing Specialist, USDA AMS Session A1: National-level local food surveys and data collection efforts (room 407) Numerous surveys of local food market activity have been developed in recent years. This session will feature an overview of such surveys and include a discussion about how data can be accessed and potentially used for local food program evaluation. This session will feature a presentation about USDA farm-level data collection efforts that have ascertained production practices and marketing strategies employed by local food farmers. In addition, the session will feature presentations on a USDA survey to school districts that ascertains data about farm-to- school activities, a food hub survey administered by Michigan State University that assesses their financial performance, and a USDA farmers market manager survey that solicits information on the capacity and marketing strategies that farmers markets employ. By the end of the session, attendees will have a greater understanding of secondary data sources that represent local food activity and what kinds of information they provide. Presenters: Steve Vogel, USDA ERS; Katherine Ralston, USDA ERS; Rich Pirog, Michigan State Center for Regional Food Systems; Ed Ragland, USDA AMS. Session A2: Community-level local food surveys and data collection efforts (room 407) Numerous resources have been developed in recent years that provide technical assistance for local food practitioners in collecting project- level data. This session will feature presentations on how farmers markets can collect metrics on market performance using a tool developed by the Farmers Market Coalition, a guide that has been developed by the National Farm to School Network in assisting school districts with developing standardized reporting metrics for farm-to-school programs, and a database developed by Community Foodworks that assists farmers market managers in tracking various benefit redemptions by vendors across numerous markets. By the end of the session, attendees will be aware of these available resources and understand how they can be accessed and utilized to improve project-level data reporting. Presenters: Jen Cheek, Farmers Market Coalition; Anupama Joshi, National Farm to School Network; Hugo Mogollon, Community Foodworks, Kumar Chandran, FoodCorps. Session A3: Estimating economic impacts of local food