Location: Food Systems Research Unit
2023 Annual Report
Objectives
Objective 1. Improving Production Systems: Develop data-informed small-farm strategies to improve the economic, environmental, and social sustainability of crop production systems based on research that considers feedback from value-added processors, informed consumers, and potential impact on nutritional/health outcomes. [NP 216 components 1c, 2a, 3b, 3c]
Objective 2. Enhancing Value Added Processing: Develop innovative solutions for specialty value-added processes and products to improve consumer health outcomes as well as economic, environmental, and social sustainability of the food system, while informing consumer choice and diversified production system management. [NP 216 components 2b, 2c]
Objective 3. Optimizing Consumer Outcomes: Production systems and value-added processing will be tied to consumer preferences, product nutrition, food safety and potential impacts on public health, thus enabling consumers to make safe, healthy, and informed food choices and facilitating targeted research for the improvement of production systems, food processing, and development and delivery of new products. [NP 216 component 3c]
Objective 4. Data Integration: Develop appropriate linkages and cooperation within and between the USDA-ARS and the University of Vermont, for the purpose of forming an integrated Food Systems program, including integrated data systems, comprehensive models, and submitting a proposal for becoming part of the Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) network. [NP 216 components 1d, 2b, 3b, 3c]
Objective 5: Develop strategies for agricultural producers and other actors in the food system to improve soil health within the agricultural systems of the Northeast.
Approach
Food systems are interconnected sets of elements that work together to produce, process, distribute, store, sell, and prepare food. They include the upstream activities that support production, such as the creation of farm inputs. They also include downstream activities, such as the disposal or recycling of food waste. This project will contribute towards improving human nutrition, ecological sustainability and economic viability of plant-based food systems in the New England States. To this end, the project scientists will work together with the University of Vermont, and other collaborators, to explore how the region can simultaneously improve diets through delivery of satisfying, culturally-appropriate, plant-based foods that are simultaneously affordable, sustainable, and support viable farms and food businesses. Research activities will focus at a range of scales, from individual actors, such as farmers and consumers, to larger geographic areas, such as watersheds or foodsheds. In addition, the unit will explore how systems change over time. Three overarching questions will guide the Unit’s research on plant-based food systems. First, how can different components across sectors of the food system encourage intake of healthy foods, such as whole grains, pulses, fruits, and vegetables, while also improving the overall quality of the diet and associated health outcomes? Second, how can plant-based food systems increase biological productivity and economic viability while also leveraging opportunities for reduced environmental impact, such as exploiting ecological synergies from integrated crop-livestock systems? And third, how can plant based farming systems interact with animal-production based systems, to improve sustainability and reduce environmental impacts? To create effective collaborations with the University of Vermont and stakeholder partners, the Research Unit will identify on-going efforts to understand and improve the ecological, economic, and social sustainability of New England food systems. This process will help ARS staff to design strategic research that answers key questions or integrates data in new ways that lead to transformative improvements. In addition, the Unit will develop a state-of-the-art facility for computational modeling and data visualization with the ability to link to other data sources and computing resources.
Progress Report
3a. Staffing. The Food Systems Research Unit (FSRU) hired a Program Support Assistant, a Financial and Budget Technician, and a Research Agronomist during the reporting period. Tentative offers were accepted by selectees for a Research Animal Scientist position and a Social Science Technician position. At time of writing, final offers are still pending.
3b. Facilities. At the end of FY 2021, the FSRU has established a lease agreement to pay for renovation of an existing space in Hills Hall on the University of Vermont (UVM) campus. A portion of Hills Hall will eventually serve as the unit’s primary office and lab space. The university developed plans for renovation of the building in consultation with the Research Leader and other ARS staff. The university solicited bids and hired a contractor to perform the work. The project is underway. A certificate of occupancy is expected in late August 2023 and the unit plans to move into the new space in September 2023.
In the interim, the FSRU, the Northeast Area (NEA) Office, and UVM are working together to identify temporary facilities around campus to support scientists, technicians, and administrative staff hired before the permanent location is ready. All permanent and temporary staff currently have office spaces on campus.
3c. Research. In pursuit of Objective 1, Objective 2, and Objective 3, the Research Leader (ARS PI) and Research Social Scientist and have written a draft outline of possible research activities to be included in the unit’s first project plan. They are working together on the concept note for the project plan and have participated in NP 216 activities related to the project plan.
In pursuit of Objective 1, the Research Social Scientist has initiated research in collaboration with colleagues at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign on the equity dimensions of carbon market programs for U.S. agricultural producers. The Research Social Scientist developed an institutional analysis methodology to identify agricultural carbon market program eligibility, requirements for participation, and payment mechanisms, and assess the equity implications of these program dimensions. Thus far, the methodology has been applied to fourteen agricultural carbon markets operating in the U.S. The Research Social Scientist preliminary results of this analysis at the International Association for Society and Natural Resources annual meeting in June in Portland, Maine.
In pursuit of Objective 1, the Research Social Scientist is key personnel on funded proposal with UVM collaborators for a UVM Food Systems Research Center Sustainability Metrics project titled “Sustainability Starts with Soil.” The project kicked-off in July. The Research Social Scientist is currently analyzing pre-existing survey data on farmer perspectives on soil health as a part of this project.
In pursuit of Objective 1, the Research Social Scientist is establishing a Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement with American Farmland Trust to explore the influence of social and environmental characteristics on soil health on New England farms.
In pursuit of Objective 1, Objective 2, and Objective 3, the ARS PI established a Non-Funded Cooperative Agreement [8090-44000-001-002N] with the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund (VSJF) to conduct collaborative research on New England’s capacity to rely on regionally sourced foods. The VSJF has brought together a team of researchers from across the six-state region. Through this agreement, the ARS PI has collaborated with researchers from six institutions (American Farmland Trust, Brandeis University, Clark University, University of Maine, University of Massachusetts, and University of Vermont) on analyses of current and potential regional self-reliance based on a net-balance of food production and consumption in New England. The following progress has been made this reporting period:
i. Upon finding that New England could not supply 30 percent of regional food consumption on the current area of agricultural land, the ARS PI conducted additional analysis with the regional self-reliance model to estimate the area required to provide additional servings of food in a land efficient manner.
ii. The ARS PI led the preparation of a final report summarizing the findings from the analyses of current and potential self-reliance. This report was submitted to the VSJF for layout and formatting into a finished document. The ARS PI collaborated with VSJF on minor edits to writing style to improve accessibility of the material to a lay audience and to ensure that style formats did not change the content of the original report.
iii. A four-volume final report of the New England Feeding New England project was formally released on June 6, 2023. The ARS PI worked with the Office of Communication to prepare a news feed on the ARS contribution to the report, released on the same day.
In pursuit of Objective 4, the ARS PI and the Director of the Food Systems Research Center (FSRC) at University of Vermont (UVM) collaborated to develop and expand the research plans for the first Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement connected to the Food Systems Research Unit. The FSRC solicited proposals from UVM faculty for projects to estimate the performance of Northeast food systems across five domains: economic environmental, human health, productivity, and social. ARS Scientists are collaborating on two of the five food systems metrics projects selected by the FSRC. An amendment to the NACA will expand the capacity to conduct collaborative research on soil health in the context of food systems.
Accomplishments
Review Publications
Hammond Wagner, C.R., Perrone, D., Rohde, M., Anderson, R., Arthur, S., Atume, N., Brown, M., Esaki-Kua, L., Gonzalez, M., Garvey, K., Heidel, K., Jones, W.D., Khosrowshahi Asl, S., Munill, C., Nelson, R., Ortiz-Partida, J., Remson, E.J. 2023. Stakeholder integration predicts better outcomes from groundwater sustainability policy. Nature Communications. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-39363-y.
McCarthy, A., Srinivasan, S., Griffin, T., Peters, C.J. 2022. A geospatial approach to identifying biophysically suitable areas for fruit and vegetable production in the United States. Agronomy Journal. https://doi.org/10.1002/agj2.21138.
McCarthy, A., Griffin, T., Srinivasan, S., Peters, C.J. 2021. Regional variability in land and water use in fruit and vegetable production in the U.S. Urban Agriculture and Regional Food Systems. https://doi.org/10.1002/uar2.20020.
