Panels

Three focus panels were formed by project evaluators to help assess the impact of the project. One is a consumer panel in Mid-Missouri and two are producer panels--one in the St. Louis area and another in the Kansas City area. The panels will help draw out major themes and inform case studies. Each panel will be followed throughout the life of the project.

Kansas City
Three major themes emerged from the producer panels: land, labor and, infrastructure issues. These will be followed up by the evaluators. This panel was convened by local project staff. There were six members, and they were very diverse One member is attempting to establish a year-round CSA. This CSA would be comprised of multiple producers from the area. One case study is planned based on the founding producer. Another young couple were farming a parent's land and were actively involved in a CSA. They stressed the organic nature of production. A case study is planned around them. Two members had been involved in conventional agriculture and had changed their operations primarily for economic reasons. Members stressed the taste and quality of locally-grown food as factors in their production and marketing.

St. Louis
Three major themes emerged from the producer panels: land, labor and, infrastructure issues. These will be followed up by the evaluators. This producer panel was convened by local project staff and consists of nine producers. Members varied in age - both young and old - and were both male and female. Themes that arose included that, while demand for locally-grown foods was extensive, members felt that expansion would threaten their production limitations - primarily labor as their farms were very labor intensive. Members noted the difference in customers varied greatly with age. Distribution also was a concern as it required travel either by consumers or by they themselves traveling to the city to deliver their wares. Several case studies are planned: one couple were 7th generation farmers being threatened by urban sprawl; one immigrant that had learned how to grow figs for which there was a lucrative restaurant market; one producer that had experimented with many different forms of distribution in order to continue living in a farm environment; one very young producer who had a very diverse operation that included produce as well as wine; and, one producer who raised primarily lamb and chickens for high-end restaurants.

Mid-Missouri
The Missouri Rural Crisis Center (MRCC) convened the consumer panel. The panel was comprised of eleven people, primarily rural cooperative chapter leaders. Members shared information with the evaluators about what they did, how they did these things and what they hoped to achieve by doing them. Themes that arose centered around the fact that they supported locally-grown foods because "it was the right thing to do" and "they knew the difference" - in reference to the taste. Members spoke nostalgically about "growing up on a farm" and the connections they recall to food production and consumption. Evaluators plan to follow-up with observations of two cooperative chapters on food distribution day. These observations will be documented in a case study. Observations will focus on who the customers are, what food products are distributed and, where the products come from.