Item No. 1 of 1

INVESTIGATOR: Welborn, R. C.

PERFORMING INSTITUTION:
MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIV
MISSISSIPPI STATE, MISSISSIPPI 39762

SOUTHERN REGION FOOD SYSTEMS COLLABORATIVE

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: Recently, significant interest in local/regional food strategies has risen in response to efforts to grow and/or stabilize rural economies, address food access gaps, and enhance farm sustainability. The Southern Rural Development Center and its partners. including both research and Extension Land Grant faculty along with a number of other organizations, seek to establish integrated working groups that span disciplines, state lines, and research/Extension/teaching appointments in order to holistically address high priority issues related to local/regional food systems in the South. Large information gaps are currently present while the South is particularly plagued by "food deserts". An initial meeting resulted in several action steps including formal requests to the South's 29 Land Grant Universities for a list of professionals currently involved, establishing a list serve, and reaching out to partners. We intend to survey and convene these partners, establish working groups, and to submit an AFRI proposal. Expected outcomes from this work are (I) Prioritized needs for the South related to local/ regional foods; (2) 1-5 multi-state, multi-discipline working groups that have formed around specific aspects of the priorities yet are clearly networked together to generate a seamless connection to address prioritized needs; (3) system for sharing of identified resources in order to reduce duplication, and (4) robust plan for addressing the priorities, part of which will be writing for focused funding through the AFRI program in 2016. With the collective expertise across disciplines, the knowledge for meeting the food needs of the nation can be greatly expanded in the South.

OBJECTIVES: The Southern Rural Development Center (SRDC) and its partners, including both research and Extension Land Grant faculty along with a number of other organizations, seek to establish integrated working groups that span disciplines, state lines, and research/Extension/teaching appointments in order to holistically address high priority issues related to local/regional food systems in the South. To accomplish this goal, the initiative will:1. Survey research/Extension/teaching professionals across the Southern region to determine (a) their current work and interests in the area of local/regional foods; and (b) available resources (research and Extension) already developed for use in the region.2. Convene these professionals to analyze current work and resource data and to identify opportunities to fill gaps in research/Extension/teaching work around local/regional foods and strengthen capacity to address gaps. 3. Establish working groups to formulate plans around specific needs. 4. Facilitate forward moving of working groups. 5. Submit an AFRI proposal to carry out identified plans where resources are needed.