Read the summer FSNE newsletter!
Projects
Food System Scenario Tool
Home Grown: The Impact of Local Food Systems in New Hampshire report
Voices in the Field: Perspectives on the Food System
The Food System Scenario Tool (FSST)
- Click Here: To Learn How to Use the Food System Scenario Tool
- Click Here: To Read the Business As Usual Glossary
- Click Here: To Use the Food System Scenario Tool
The Food System Scenario Tool (FSST) is a transparent, web-based, visual tool to help frame policy discussion around the food system developed by FSNE. The main goals of the FSST are:
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To develop an independent, publicly accessible scenario tool to frame interventions and policy options for regional food security and
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To build a participatory process that will continually refine and expand the tool and increase its use among stakeholders.
The FSST project began during the summer of 2008. The tool utilizes ‘Business as Usual’ and ‘Wedge’ models. Business as Usual models are constructed by taking historical data and projecting what a particular phenomena will look like if the trend persists at its current rate (See Figure Below). Wedges are a series of quantified solutions to this projected trend (For more information regarding BAUs and Wedges see Pacala and Socolow, 2004) . This unique approach provides a quantitative focus on food system trends, but more critically also offers a suite of data based scenarios to drive policy “wedge" solutions designed to help to mitigate the projection of these negative trends.
To date, the Food System Scenario Tool is comprised of, but not limited to, four major foci: agriculture, the food environment, social justice, and nutritional and health status. Each of these areas is composed of indicators, which identify trends within the food system. For example, within the agriculture theme, trends such as farmland loss, the increasing age of the farming population, and the decreasing revenue from New England farms have been quantified. In concert with the trends, possible “wedges” (solutions) have been identified. Both the foci and their related indicators have been developed from an open, ongoing dialogue with various stakeholders.
[1] Pacala, S. and R. Socolow. 2004. “Stabilization Wedges: Solving the Climate Problem for the Next 50 yrs. with current Technologies.” Science: 35: 968-972.
Home Grown: The Economic Impact of Local Food Systems in New Hampshire Report from FSNE
This research looks at how the local food system impacts New Hampshire’s economy, including local agricultural employment (including the direct and indirect employment/economic impacts), the potential for local food growth, changes in economic activity resulting from new levels of local food consumption, and policies that may change agricultural activity.
According to the report, “There is potential for expansion of local food production in New Hampshire and with that expansion comes economic opportunity.” Some activities identified by the researchers that could serve to increase local food production include the following:
- Extend both the season for Farmers’ Markets and their geographic scope
- Expand grass-fed “specialty” beef and dairy
- Develop apprenticeship programs to train the next generation of farmers
Voices in the Field: Perspectives on the Food System
Voices in the Field: Perspectives on the Food System is a new qualitative research project of FSNE designed to “make more visible the invisible” the too often hidden problem of food insecurity. Through personal interviews and documentary film, the project will capture the perspectives of those who are unable to consistently access fair, affordable and nutritious food. The major product of the project will be a professional video, which will be accessible online, that will help give a voice to those who are suffering from food insecurity and provide insights into ways that we can build a strong regional food system. Interviews and filming will be conducted this fall, and the anticipated release of the video is March 2011.
