Award for Applied Research in Food-Supply Chain Goes to UO
A new “local food coordinator” job, start-up expenses for a grain mill and a 90-acre demonstration farm are just a few innovations already implemented from a UO student project honored with a national award. The American Institute of Certified Planners named the “Lane County Local Food Market Analysis” the winner in applied research for its analysis of how food grown, processed, distributed and sold in the county can boost the local economy.
The UO entry garnered one of only three awards given in the AICP Student Project Awards.
“We will all look back in 10 years and point to (this) study as one of the major factors that greatly improved the local food economy, making Lane County one of the national leaders in food relocalization,” said Mike McKenzie-Bahr, coordinator of the Lane County Community & Economic Development, a project partner.
The students produced the report during the Community Planning Workshop (CPW), a required two-term course that gives students real-world experience assisting communities in planning and public policy issues.
“I know of no other program that combines service to local communities at an affordable price tag, (that uses) student time and energy to do real work – work that would be done regardless of who did it,” team member Hannah Bryant said.
Their analysis notes that some of a projected $12 million annual increase in fruit and vegetable spending could be kept within Lane County if measures such as those identified in the research are implemented.
No other study has addressed this set of metrics or offered such detailed implementation strategies, McKenzie-Bahr noted. Students interviewed agricultural and marketing experts, local processors, distributors and institutions. The analysis focused on six food crops as case studies for the local food-supply chain.
An Economic Development Agency grant, the City of Eugene, Lane County, and the Eugene Water and Electric Board (EWEB) funded the project.
Since the study was completed in August 2010, Lane County has distributed $400,000 to local food projects to expand distribution facilities, hire a part-time local food coordinator, and for start-up expenses for a grain mill, among other projects. EWEB secured land for a 90-acre demonstration farm and has pursued grants to assist farmers in protecting water quality while increasing revenue.
The team comprised students from the Community and Regional Planning (CRP) program, some of whom are double majors. CRP majors included Brie Becker, Nick Garcia, Kate McFarland (project manager) and Sarah Mizejewski (subsequently hired as County local food coordinator). Other students were Hannah Bryant (CRP and architecture) and Schuyler Warren (CRP and landscape architecture).
“This (award) is the highest achievement students in our discipline can receive,” said Robert Parker, CPW director.
The AICP awards recognize outstanding class projects or papers in accredited planning programs that contribute to advances in the field of planning. The other award winners were from Tufts University for planning application and from University of Washington for contemporary issues.
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