NC1001: Systems Analyses of the Relationships of Agriculture and Food Systems to Community Health

(Multistate Research Project)

Status: Inactive/Terminating

Project Menu

SAES-422 Reports

Annual/Termination Reports:

[01/29/2003] [12/13/2003] [08/30/2005] [12/01/2005]

Date of Annual Report: 01/29/2003

Report Information

Annual Meeting Dates: 10/11/2002 - 10/13/2002
Period the Report Covers: 11/01/2002 - 10/01/2003

Participants

Smith, Cherry-University of Minnesota;
Wright Morton, Lois-Iowa State University;
McIntosh, William-Texas A&M University;
Lyson, Thomas-Cornell University;
Blanchard, Troy-Mississippi State University;
Ten Eyck, Toby-Michigan State University;
Gillespie, Ardyth-Cornell University;
Moore, Richard-The Ohio State University;
McCullum, Christine-University of Texas at Houton, Medical Center;

Brief Summary of Minutes

During October of 2002, NC1001 held an annual meeting in Washington D.C. to continue work on the project objectives. Project members participated in discussions regarding one or more of the following research objectives:

Objective 1. Determine the consequences of agriculture and food systems on the health of distinct populations.

Objective 2. Determine the impact community problem solving around food issues has on population health.

Objective 3. Determine the relationships among collective action, the structure of agriculture and food systems, and population health.

Objective 4. Determine the relationships between the scale of the agri-food system and population and landscape health.

NC1001 members also met with representatives from the National Institutes of Health, the National Research Initiative, USDA, and the Economic Research Service, USDA. These meetings provided an opportunity to discuss research ideas and funding opportunities.

Accomplishments

Report on Objective 1-Determine the consequences of agriculture and food systems on the health of distinct populations Lois Wright Morton (Iowa) and Chery Smith (Minnesota) have moved forward to work on similar projects in their respective states by securing funding from their Food Stamp Programs. Each state selected four communities that met similar criteria. The communities were selected based on the following criteria, including limited access to grocery stores (as identified using NAICS codes), higher than state-average poverty levels, and urban or rural ERS codes of 2 (urban) or 7/8/9 (rural). Additionally, civic engagement was the fourth criteria used to identify the sites. One urban and one rural area was identified to be civically engaged around food issues, while the other was less engaged. Civic engagement was assessed by having professionals in counties/neighborhoods (those meeting the first 3 criteria) rank their county on civic engagement based on a series of questions. Each state then conducted focus groups with professionals and consumers as described below. Furthermore, Minnesota and Iowa independently developed and administered surveys in their state and this is also described below. 1. Professional Focus Groups: Conducted focus groups in each of the four selected communities in each state. Topics included client access to commercial food sources and food assistance programs, healthy eating, client food choice behavior, types and extent of community food problems, and community engagement in solving food problems. Refreshments were served. Focus group questions (for professionals and consumers) were developed by team members in each of the two states. Focus group participants included people who work within the food system, primarily food assistance programs. The types of employment varied, including extension, food shelf employees, educators, elected officials, managers, public health workers, and program directors. Focus groups were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim. Text was then coded using the NVIVO software and themes were identified. Participants also completed a questionnaire that assessed the quality, variety, and pricing of food stores, restaurants, and food programs in their community. 2. Consumer Focus Groups: Conducted focus groups in the same selected communities in each state. Topics included access to commercial food sources and food assistance programs, healthy eating, food choice behavior, types and extent of community food problems, and community engagement in solving food problems. Participants were reimbursed for their time and refreshments were served. Focus groups were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim. Text was then coded using the NVIVO software and themes were identified. Participants also completed a questionnaire that assessed the quality, variety, and pricing of food stores, restaurants, and food programs in their community. 3. Development of Survey: Themes from the focus group analysis were used to develop a six-page Food Survey for Minnesota. The guiding theoretical framework used was the Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura) that says behavior (food choice) is determined by interactions of environment, personal factors, and behavior. Prior to use the survey was appraised by a panel of expert reviewers for content and face validity. Iowa decided to develop a survey to focus on food security and civic structure. Components of that survey were also included on the Minnesota survey. 4. Surveys: Individuals were surveyed in the Minnesotas urban areas in a number of sites in order to capture ethnic diversity and various levels of income (n=396). Presently, the data is being entered into SPSS for further analyses. Iowa has selected to mail out surveys. Report on Objective 2-Determine the impact community problem solving around food issues has on population health Development of both research and funding opportunities for studying the role of problem-solving strategies as these relate to linkages between agricultural systems and community health was moved forward in discussions at the annual meeting of the NC1001 group in Washington D.C. One of the more important contributions to these developments was the acknowledgment that various individuals and organizations may chose between public and private strategies in overcoming barriers to food access issues. In the former, resources are cultivated within a community to solve problems, while in the latter resources are pooled and used within and by a much smaller collective (or even individual). While both may be successful in constructing new possibilities for alternatives to various foodstuffs, the former is thought to have the advantage of offering the potential for a much wider array of new linkages and prospects. This insight will help to complete a grant application, which will be submitted to the United States Department of Agriculture in either Spring or Summer of 2002. The study being proposed will continue to investigate the role public discourse - such as news articles and public meetings - plays in generating or impeding access to alternative food systems, as well as how the political processes of a locality are tied to such efforts. The addition of seeking out public and private alternatives to gaining access to alternative food sources will compliment this effort. Report on Objective 3-Determine the relationships among collective action, the structure of agriculture and food systems, and population health One important justification for this objective is the need to understand the role and effectiveness of local actors in promoting change in local food and agricultural production systems and the health of local residents. The increased concentration of Agribusiness firms in the United States encourages scholars to focus on the actions of national and global actors, particularly multinational firms and national governments. However, to understand how systemic change occurs, it is also important to analyze the activities of local actors, including groups and organizations active at the community level. This is the goal of objective #3. If the increasing democratization of the agri-food system is an important societal goal, then it is imperative to discern the expectations everyday people have in terms of the agricultural and retail food sectors. By investigating the activities of local collective actors, this objective will provide a foundation for ensuring that policies proposed by our research team truly reflect the interests of local people. In addition, by documenting forms of collective action that exist at the local level, it may be possible to identify some local initiatives that are working to promote democratic change and imporved public health at the local level. Identifying such initiatives would enable policy makers to identify policies that would work to support those initiatives. In other words, objective #3 is based on the notion that public policy needs to work with and reflect the actions of people, including those who are active in formal and informal groups and organizations. Objective #3 also assumes that it will be difficult to rally local people around the notion of pre-emptive health care through better food buying and eating habits without understanding the interests of local people and the social groups they participate in. Methodology To achieve these goals, we are proposing a two part methodology. Initially, two communities will be identified in each participating state for intensive study. One of the communities in each state will be urban based, while the other will be a non-urban community in an agricultural region of the same state. In both cases, communities that have an organizational density of collective actors will be selected. By this we mean that both communities should have a number of local groups and collective actors that are engaged in promoting social change, although not all of these collective actors need to be engaged directly in promoting changes in the agri-food system or local population health. This methodology assumes that these collective actors are connected to one another through various formal and informal links. In-depth, face-to-face interviews will be conducted with key informants from those groups and collective actors that can be identified. Through the use of a snowball technique, other actors both inside and outside of the community will be identified, and interviews will be conducted with representatives of those groups as well. Among other issues to be covered during the interviews, informants will be asked to discuss their organizations orientation toward agri-food Systems and agri-food policy, population health, and other forms of civic engagement. In this manner, we will discover how these groups organize themselves and cooperate with other groups to promote positive change in local agri-food Systems and population health. Having done this, one collective actor in each community that is actively engaged in promoting change in the local agri-food system will be approached for participation in the second phase of the study. In this phase, a sample of that groups members will be selected for participation and in a mail survey. A comparable sample of non-group members living in the same communities will also be selected. The survey will ask questions about the food eating and health habits of members and non-members and will ascertain whether membership in the group is correlated with healthier eating and living habits. Report on Objective 4-Determine the relationships between the scale of the agri-food system and population and landscape health During the 2002 annual meeting of the NC1001 group in Washington D.C. participants in objective 4 outlined two research projects that will be submitted to funding agencies during the end of 2002 and early 2003. The central premise underlying both studies is that the structure of food retailing and agriculture condition individual health outcomes. This approach makes a substantial contribution to studies of nutrition and community health because prior research has focused exclusively on the impact of individual characteristics on individual health outcomes. Primarily, prior studies have overlooked changes in food retailing that and the impact of the structure of food retailing on consumers. Over the past 20 years food retailing has shifted away from small grocers to supermarkets, supercenters, and wholesale clubs that are not evenly distributed across suburban, urban, and rural markets. Thus, consumers in rural and inner city areas without access to large retailers are at a disadvantage. This issue is especially important for disadvantaged groups, such as the elderly, single parent families, and the poor, who may lack the resources needed to travel to retail centers. To address this emerging issue, objective 4 participants will develop proposals for submission to the USDA National Research Initiative Rural Development Program (December 1, 2002) and the National Institutes of Health (February 1, 2003). The goal of these projects is to identify the manner in which changes in food retailing impact nutrition related outcomes, such as obesity, diabetes, and dietary intake. Because these issues cannot be addressed with publicly available data sources, objective 4 participants identified internal versions of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data available at the National Center for Health Statistics Research Data Center. These data provide an opportunity to link high quality measurement of individual level nutrition outcomes with contextual information on food retailing.

Publications

Lyson, Thomas A. 2002. "Advanced agricultural biotechnologies and sustainable agriculture." Trends in Biotechnology 20:193-196. Lyson, Thomas A. 2001. "The promise of a more civic agriculture." Catholic Rural Life 43(2):40-43. McCullum, C. D. Pelletier, D. Barr, and J. Wilkins. 2002. Use of a participatory planning process as a way to build community food security. Journal of the American Dietetic Association 102:962-967. McIntosh, Alex, Dianne Sykes, and Karen S. Kubena. "Religion and Community among the Elderly: The Relationship between Religious and Secular Characteristics of the Elderly‘s Social Networks." Review of Religious Research. Forthcoming. McIntosh, Alex and Jeff Sobal. "Rural Diet, Nutrition, and Body Weight." In Critical Issues for Rural Health edited by N. Glasgow, L.W. Morton, N. Johnson. Ames: Iowa State Press. McIntosh, Alex. "Problems in Communicating Food Safety Risk to the Public." In Research Directions in Food Safety. Edited by R.C. Beier, R.L. Ziprin, and T.D. Phillips. Ames: Iowa State Press. McIntosh, Alex and John K. Thomas. 2002 "Economic and Other Determinants of the Prevalence of HIV: A Test of Competing Hypotheses." Sociological Quarterly. Revise and resubmit. (Resubmitted) McIntosh, Alex, Letitia Alston, Dianne Sykes, and Clasina Segura. 2002. "Determinants of Multiple Use of Telemedicine." Health Services Research. Under review. Morton, L.W. 2003. Rural Health Policy in Rural Challenges for the 21st Century Edited by L. Swanson and D. Brown. Morton, L. W. (forthcoming). Patterns of Spatial Inequality in Critical Issues for Rural Health. Edited by N. Glasgow, L.W. Morton, N. Johnson. Ames: Iowa State Press, Division of Blackwell. Morton, L. W., D. Worthen, L. Weatherspoon. (forthcoming). Rural Food Security and Health in Critical Issues for Rural Health. Edited by N. Glasgow, L.W. Morton, and N. Johnson. Ames: Iowa State Press, Division of Blackwell. Muqoz, Ed A., Catherine Lillehoj Goldberg, and Delfino Vargas-Chanes. 2002. Iowa Latino Im/migrant Families: Negotiating an Optimal Level of Cultural Assimilation. In Illusions of Borders: The National Presence of Mexicanos in the U.S. Gilberto Garcma and Jerry Garcma, (Eds.). Pp. 59-79. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company. Muqoz, Ed A, Catherine Lillehoj Goldberg, and Martha Dettman. (in press). Substance Use Prevention: An Iowa Mexican Im/migrant Family Perspective. In Cocktails and Dreams: An Interpretive Perspective on Drug Abuse. Wilson R. Palacios and Paul F. Comwell, (Eds.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Pelletier, D., C. McCullum, V. Kraak, and K. Asher. Participation, power, and beliefs shape local food and nutrition policy. Journal of Nutrition (in press). Wilkins, J. V. Kraak, D. Pelletier, C. McCullum, and U. Uusitalo. 2001. Moving from debate to dialogue about genetically engineered foods and crops: Insights from a land-grant university. Journal of Sustainable Agriculture 18(2/3):167-201. Young, Frank W. and Thomas A. Lyson 2001. "Structural pluralism and all-cause mortality." American Journal of Public Health 91:136-138. Technical Reports Greder, K, S. Garasky, H. Jensen, L.W. Morton. 2002. Iowa Food Security Report Card Project. Iowa State University. Hanson, M. M. and L.W. Morton. 2002. Age-adjusted Mortality Rates by Selected Causes for U.S. Counties Based on Urban Influence by Four U.S. Regions 1968-97. Iowa State University. Morton, L.W., M. J. Oakland, E.A. Bitto, M. Sand, and B. Michaels. 2002. Iowa Community Food Assessment Project Report 2001-02. Iowa State University. Department of Sociology. Presentations/Posters/Conferences Bitto, A. and L.W. Morton. 2002. Food Deserts and Civic Structure. Poster presentation at the Rural Sociological Society Annual Meeting. Chicago, IL. August. Blanchard, Troy C. 2002. Does the Effect of Inequality Vary? A Race Disaggregated Analysis of Mortality in Non-Metropolitan Counties. Paper presented at the Rural Sociological Society Annual Meeting. Chicago, IL. August. Blanchard, Troy C. 2002. Civic Community and All Cause Mortality in U.S. Counties, 1990. Paper presented at the Southern Sociological Society Meetings, Baltimore, MD. McIntosh, Alex. 2002. "Parental Time Constraints, Role Strains, Coping, and Children‘s Diet and Nutrition." Presented at the Food Assistance Research: Recent Findings and Emerging Issues Conference. Washington, DC. May. McIntosh, Alex and Karen S. Kubena. 2002. "Time Constraints, Role Strains, and Adolescent Nutrition: Preliminary Results." Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association for the Study of Food and Society. Chicago, IL. June. Morton, L.W. 2002. Does Food Insecurity Exist in Iowa? Nutrition Policy in Action, Iowa Dietetic Association, Des Moines, IA. March. Morton, L.W. 2002. Food Security Assessment for Iowa. First Iowa Food Policy Conference. Drake University, Des Moines, IA. April. Morton, L.W. 2002. Civic Engagement to Solve Food Access Problems. The Food System as an Instrument of Public Health, satellite videoconference originating from Iowa State University, Ames, IA. April. Webber, Caroline and Thomas A. Lyson 2001. "American food deserts: a case study in rural New York." Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Agriculture, Food and Human Values Society, Minneapolis, MN. June. Welsh, Rick and Thomas A. Lyson. 2001. "Anti-corporate farming laws‘ impact on rural community welfare." Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Rural Sociological Society. Albuquerque, NM. August.

Impact Statements

The key outcome of 2002 activities was to identify and apply for funding to support research activities.
Members of all four objective teams have either identified and designed studies suitable for funding or will finalize research plans by early 2003.

Date of Annual Report: 12/13/2003

Report Information

Annual Meeting Dates: 10/17/2003 - 10/19/2003
Period the Report Covers: 11/01/2003 - 10/01/2004

Participants

Anni Bellows, Rutgers University;

Annette Bitto, Iowa State University;

Troy Blanchard, Mississippi State University;

Eric Hoiberg, Iowa State University;

Ray Jussaume, Washington State University;

Thomas Lyson, Cornell University;

Alex McIntosh, Texas A&M University;

Lois Wright Morton, Iowa State University;

Richard Moore, Ohio State University;

Chery Smith, University of Minnesota;

Toby Teneyck, Michigan State University;

Brief Summary of Minutes

BRIEF SUMMARY OF MINUTES OF ANNUAL MEETING

On October 18, 2003, NC1001 Regional Project members gathered in Seattle, Washington to discuss current progress and future research plans. Following a general meeting of all participants, project members met in small groups organized around the research objectives of the project. These objective include: 1) Determine the consequences of agriculture and food systems on the health of distinct populations, 2) Determine the impact community problem solving around food issues has on population health, 3) Determine the relationships among collective action, the structure of agriculture and food systems, and population health, and 4) Determine the relationships between the scale of the agri-food system and population and landscape health. Progress reports for each of the research objective groups are listed below.

OBJECTIVE 1 REPORT

Lois Wright Morton (Iowa) and Chery Smith (Minnesota) have continued to work on similar projects in their respective states. They secured funding from their Food Stamp Programs to conduct research that examined how low-income people living in rural and urban communities, identified as food deserts, made food choices and accessed foods in areas with limited availability. Each state selected four communities that met similar criteria. The communities were selected based on the following criteria, including limited access to grocery stores (as identified using NAICS codes), higher than state-average poverty levels, and urban or rural ERS codes of 2 (urban) or 7/8/9 (rural). Additionally, civic engagement was the fourth criteria used to identify the sites. Two communities (one urban and one rural) were identified to be civically engaged around food issues, while the other two (one urban and one rural) were identified as less engaged. Civic engagement was assessed by having professionals in counties/neighborhoods (those meeting the first 3 criteria) rank their county on civic engagement based on a series of questions. Each state then conducted focus groups with professionals and consumers during 2002. During the latter part of 2002 and the early part of 2003, Minnesota and Iowa independently developed and administered surveys in their state This is also described below.

1. Development of Survey: Themes from the focus group analysis were used to develop a six-page Food Survey for Minnesota. The guiding theoretical framework used was the Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura) that says behavior (food choice) is determined by interactions of environment, personal factors, and behavior. Prior to use, the survey was appraised by a panel of expert reviewers for content and face validity. Iowa decided to develop a survey to focus on food security and civic structure. Components of that survey were also included on the Minnesota survey.

2. Minnesota surveys: Individuals were surveyed in the Minnesotas urban areas in a number of sites in order to capture ethnic diversity and various levels of income (n=396). In 2003, 400 rural Minnesotan were measured and surveyed. The data was entered into SPSS for analyses. Four manuscripts have been submitted for publication and one Masters thesis has been completed using this data. These include:

Eikenberry N, Smith C. (In press). Attitudes, beliefs and prevalence of dumpster diving as a means to obtain food by Midwestern, low-income, urban dwellers. Ag and Hum Values.

Eikenberry N, Smith C (accepted, revised) Healthy eating: Perceptions, motivations, barriers, and promoters in low-income Minnesota communities. J Am Diet Assoc.

Eikenberry N, Smith C (reviewed and asked to revise into two manuscripts). Civic engagement and urban and rural influence on food access and fruit and vegetable intake. J Nutr Ed Behav

Henderson D, Smith C, and Eikenberry N (under review). Low-income individuals face limited fruit and vegetable access in four Minnesotan communities designated as food deserts. Ag and Human Values

3. Iowa surveys: In Iowa, 720 random sample surveys were mailed to residents in two high poverty rural counties and 528 purposeful surveys were given to low income individuals utilizing safety net services (food pantries, senior meal sites, WIC, Head Start) in two high poverty low income neighborhoods and two high poverty rural counties. Data analyses are currently underway. Findings include:

Transportation and food access. We find that households in two rural Iowa counties regularly shop two grocery stores weekly and travel about 18 minutes each way. While most residents of these counties use their own vehicle to obtain food, older persons and those with limited incomes are more likely to be dependent on family, friends, neighbors and others. Sixteen percent of open country compared to 11 percent of rural town residents regularly shop for food out-of-county at supercenters, discount and wholesale food stores. An increasingly rural aging population suggests lower mobility, isolation, and future access to food store concerns as retail food consolidation continues. Policy makers need to examine rural transportation systems and develop an infrastructure that links elderly and low income individuals to retail food sources on a regular basis.

Civic structure. random sample survey of residents living in two high poverty rural Iowa counties with two local grocery stores in each county reveals that perceptions of living in a high civic structure rural area significantly decreases the odds of being food insecure. While a great deal of food giving (74 percent give to family and 68 percent to friends) and receiving (30 percent received food from family and friends) is reported, these personal connections do not decrease the odds of being food insecure. Lower incomes and being younger increase the odds of being food insecure. Our findings suggest that investments in strengthening the social structure of rural communities in concert with strategies that increase incomes can help households solve the problem of food insecurity.

Diet and Food Patterns. Analyses are currently underway.

Publications in process from this data set

Bitto, E. A., L.W. Morton, M.J. Oakland, M. Sand. (forthcoming). Grocery Store Access patterns in Rural Food Deserts. The Journal for the Study of Food and Society.

Morton, L.W., E. A. Bitto, M.J. Oakland, and M. Sand. 2003. Solving the Problems of Iowa Food Deserts: Food Insecurity and Civic Structure revise and resubmit Rural Sociology.

Morton, L.W., E. A. Bitto, M.J. Oakland, and M. Sand (in process) Accessing Food in Iowa Food Deserts: Rural and Urban patterns of Giving and Getting Food. Will be submitted to Ag and Human Values.

Another major accomplishment for this section was to write and submit a grant proposal to the National Institute of Health. Data collected thus far from the Iowa/Minnesota focus groups and surveys would be included in the preliminary data section of the grant proposal. Chery Smith submitted the proposal through the University of Minnesota, with subcontracts to Lois Wright Morton at Iowa State University and Alex McIntosh at Texas A & M. The following is the grant proposal title and part of the specific aims portion of the proposal.

The group working on Objective #1 also reported to the larger group about progress made to date. The group working on Objective 1 discussed grant options. We still had not heard from NIH, but agreed that the group had submitted a nice proposal and that it would be reworked and resubmitted should the grant not be funded with this submittal.

OBJECTIVE 2 REPORT

Toby Ten Eyck and Ray Jussaume continue to work on a grant proposal which

will be submitted to USDA by the end of 2003. The grant is focused on

local/alternative food systems and community health. The proposal will be

submitted to the USDA-NRI section on food and human nutrition. The

following is an abstract of the current proposal:

The United States‘ agri-food system, by which we mean the totality of how

food is produced, transformed, transported, distributed and consumed, has

many paradoxical elements. For example, U.S. agricultural production has

continually become more efficient as a result of structural and technical

changes, yet commodity prices paid to farmers have steadily decreased in

real terms. Also, although the cost to consumers for food in the United

States is the lowest in the world, the federal government has been spending

billions yearly in food stamps and other programs to help the poorest

members of society gain access to food. At the same time, overabundance of

food appears to have become a social problem, as cheap access to fast foods

has created the conditions for a deterioration in food habits among certain

segments of the population, leading to higher rates of eating disorders such

as obesity and diabetes. Our proposal will investigate the relationship

between the structure of a community‘s agrifood system and that community‘s

health. Specifically, we aim to test the general hypothesis that the more

dynamic the local food system is, i.e. the greater the number of options

there are for accessing locally produced food via CSAs, farmers‘ markets,

community gardens, etc., the more likely community residents are to make

informed dietary choices and view their community as "healthy" and livable.

Data will be collected from the community through general opinions surveys,

interviews with community leaders in the areas of politics, agriculture, and

medicine, and content analyses of local media and other public arenas.

Toby Ten Eyck and Joan Thompson are working independently on consumer

perceptions of food biotechnology, and the role of the media in shaping this

debate.

OBJECTIVE 4 REPORT

The task of Group 4 is to develop the means for the achievement of Objective 4:Determine the relationships between the scale of agri-food system and population and landscape health.

Group 4 discussed the recent proposal review it had received from its submittal of Obesity etc. to NIH-NIDDK in February 1, 2003. The review panel suggested a number of changes that would have to be made to the proposals conceptual model, measurement models, and statistical analysis plan. The group discussed each of these needed changes and then created a division of labor for making these changes to our proposal. Tom Lyson (Cornell) and Troy Blanchard (Mississippi State) will refine the conceptual model; Alex McIntosh (Texas A&M) and Lois Wright Morton (Iowa State) will develop further justification for the food insecurity measures we will be using. Troy Blanchard will expand the data analysis plan.

The NIH panel manager for the review group that reviewed our proposal also suggested that we submit our revised proposal to the Secondary Data Analysis Review Group, as the data we propose using in our analysis are secondary (i.e., the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and Census data regarding the availability of various retail food and fast food outlets in the Zip Code areas of the NHANES respondents).

A discussion with Richard Moore, Ohio State then took place regarding the links between agriculture, pollution from agricultural production, and human health. Group 4 will begin to develop ideas for a proposal for submission to NSF or EPA that would attempt to link human health with pollution from agricultural pollution.

Finally the group discussed Annette Bittos (Iowa State) proposed dissertation. Several of Group 4s members have access to the Compressed Mortality Files by rural-urban location. Annette will study changes in diabetes mortality over time, attempting to explain the dip in this mortality from 1960 to 1980 and subsequence rise in diabetes mortality from 1980 to present. Among the factors that Annette plans to account in her study is the increase in the fructose content of many processed foods.

Accomplishments

During years 1-3, the milestones of NC1001 included: Year 1. Research committee organized and proposals for funding objectives developed Year 2. Begin research on each objective, use in-house resources to carry out low cost portions, and await funding support from proposals Years 2-4. Carry out research including secondary data analysis and interpretation; primary data collection, analysis, and interpretation NC1001 participants have been successful in acheiving these milestones. Research committee groups organized around the four project objectives have been developed. The groups hold in-person meetings at the NC1001 annual meeting and have also engaged in conference call and online meetings (via email) to coordinate research activities. Participants in the research objective groups have been successful in developing research proposals submitted to federal and state funding organizations and disseminating initial research findings through peer-reviewed publication outlets and technical reports. A list of the publications and proposals completed by NC1001 participants are detailed in the publicaitons section of this report.

Publications

Summary of Research and Dissemination, October 2001- 2003 The grants, contracts, publications, and conferences listed below are part of the AES NC1001 multi-state research team cumulative efforts to link health to agriculture, food systems, and communities. Grants/Contracts received Bellows, AC, Project Director, Co-Principal Investigator and Schilling, B, Co-Principal Investigator. 2002-2004. Improving Food Security for New Jerseys Families: Food Source, Need and Tools for Connecting. New Jersey Department of Human Services. $250,000. Blanchard, Troy C. and Thomas A. Lyson. 2002. Retail Globalization and Food Access in the South. Project funded by Southern Rural Development Center/USDA, Food Assistance Research Small-Grants Program: Exploring Food Assistance Issues among the South‘s Vulnerable Populations. $30,000. Coolman, R, Bellows, AC, Homitzky, C. 2003-2004. New Brunswick, NJ: Community Health and Environment Johnson and Johnson Foundation. $6,000. Greder, K., S. Garasky, H. Jensen, and L. W. Morton. 2001-03. Food Security Report Card. Iowa Department of Public Health. 2 years. $80,000. Hoy, Casey, Richard Moore, Fredrick Hitzhusen, John Cardina Landscape Pattern Indicators for Agroecosystem Health (2001-2) OARDC RECGP $75,695. Lyson, Thomas. Community Agriculture and Food Systems Certification Program, 2002-2004 (Northeast Sustainable Agriculture, Research, and Education Program). (This proposal was submitted and approved during 2001-2002.) $120,197. McIntosh, Alex. Principal Investigator. "Parental Time Constraints, Role Strain, Coping and Children‘s Diet and Nutrition." USDA-FANRP. Start date: October 1, 2000. $251,000. McIntosh, Alex. Co-Project Director. "The Moral Economy of Antimicrobials in Animal Agriculture: Advancing Policy and Practice." USDA-CSREES. 2 1/2 years. Start date: October 1, 2002. $236,000. Moore, Richard and Ben Stinner. Improving Stream Quality in the Headwaters of Sugar Creek Watershed through Dairy Farmer Learning Communities 2 year project (2001-2003) USDA SARE $49,000. Moore, Richard, Benjamin Stinner, P.Charles Goebel, Larry Brown Improving Water Quality and fostering a Community Vision and Action through Participatory Farmer Groups in the Sugar Creek Headwaters (2002-05) Ohio EPA 319 $474,978. Moore, Richard, Benjamin Stinner. Improving Livestock and Grain Farms‘ Contribution to Environmental Quality through Headwaters Learning Communities (2001-03) OARDC RECGP $49,000. Morton, L. W., M. J. Oakland, S. Garasky, K. Greder, and P. Flakoll. 2003-4. Impact of the food environment on the dietary choices, intake, and health of rural elderly who live in Iowa food deserts. USDA Special Research grant to ISU Center for Designing Foods to Improve Nutrition. $29,851. Morton, L. W. and M. J. Oakland. Community Food Assessment. 2001-03. Iowa Department of Public Health. 2 year $63,000. Morton, L. W. NC1001 Project. 2001-05. Agricultural Experiment Station at Iowa State University. Funds a graduate student in support of the project. 4 years. $65,000 Smith, Chery. 2001-03. The Influence of Food Systems and Community Infrastructures on the Dietary and Health Behaviors of Low Income Populations. Minnesota Food Stamp Program. 2 years. Stinner, Benjamin, Sally Miller, Deborah Stinner, Richard Moore, John Cardina, Casey Hoy, Parwinder Grewal, Matt Kleinhenz, Doug Doohan, Frederick Michel, Joe Kovach . Revitalizing Small And Midsize Farms: Organic Research, Education and Extension (2000-04) USDA IFAFS $1,800,000. Benjamin Stinner, Richard Moore, Patrick Goebel, Deborah Stinner, Robin Taylor Impact of Economics-driven Land Use Decisions on Watershed Health (2003-04) NSF Biocomplexity Planning Grant Program $99,900. Teneyck, Toby. Co-Principal Investigator (with Peter Cowen, Lee-Ann Jaykus, and Roberta Morales). "Designing Effective Risk Communication Messages Based on Microbial Risk Assessment Outcomes." United States Department of Agriculture, November 2001-September 2003. $590,980. Thomson, J. S. Biotechnology Media Coverage sub-contract through Consumer Acceptance of Food Biotechnology in the United States, Food Policy Institute, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, 2001-2005. Funded by USDA IFAFS. $167,118. Grants Submitted or in Process Blanchard, T., T. Lyson, A. McIntosh, L. W. Morton, and C. McCullum. The Effect of Access to Food on Rural Population Health. Submitted to USDA NRI Dec. 2002. $180,000. Not funded. McIntosh, A., T. Blanchard, T. Lyson, L. W. Morton, and C. McCullum. NIH proposal on Food Systems in process January. 2003. Revise and resubmit. McIntosh, W. A., Letitia T. Alston, and M. Peck. Mental Models and Peer Influences on Childrens Nutrition. NIH proposal; revise and resubmit 2003. $650,000. Smith, C., L. W. Morton, and W. A. McIntosh. Work site food environment impacts obesity and Diabetes submitted to National Institutes of Health. May, 2003. $1,844,731. Ten Eyck, T. A., and J. Thomson. Proposal in process Agricultural Systems and Choices: Public and Private Strategies. January 2003. Ten Eyck, T. A., P. Allen, R. Jussuame and A. Gillespie. "Access to Alternative Food Systems: Public and private strategies." Submitted to the USDA December 1, 2003. $300,000. Publications Bellows, AC and M.W. Hamm. 2003. International Origins of Community Food Security Policies and Practices in the U.S. Critical Public Health, Special Issue: Food Policy. 13(2):107-123. Bellows, A.C. 2003 Exposing Violences: Using Women‘s Human Rights Theory to Reconceptualize Food Rights. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics. 16(3): 249-279. Bellows, AC and Hamm, MW. 2003. International Origins of Practice and Controversy in U.S.-based Community Food Security. Journal of the Association for the Study of Food and Society, Special Issue: Geography of Food Studies. 6(1):31-44. Bellows, AC. 2001. The Praxis of Food Work in Marianne DeKoven (ed.) Feminist Locations: Global and Local, Theory and Practice. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. pp. 229-256. Eikenberry, N. and C. Smith. (In press). Attitudes, beliefs and prevalence of dumpster diving as a means to obtain food by Midwestern, low-income, urban dwellers. Ag and Hum Values. Hamm, MW and Bellows, AC. 2003. Community Food Security and Nutrition Educators. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior. 35(1):37-43. Hodne, C. J. (forthcoming 2004). Rural environmental health and industrial agriculture: A case example of concentrated animal feeding operations. In Critical Issues in Rural Health edited by N. Glasgow, L. W. Morton, and N. Johnson. Ames, IA: Iowa State Press. Lyson, Thomas A. 2002. "Agricultural biotechnologies, the structure of agriculture, and the future of the food system." Pp. 83-88 in Perspectives on Agricultural Biotechnology. Ithaca, NY: Natural Resource, Agriculture, and Engineering Service (NRAES). Lyson, Thomas A. (2003). "Civic agriculture." In Encyclopedia of Community edited by G. Chanan et al. Great Barrington, MA: Berkshire Publishing Group. Lyson, Thomas A. (2003) "Agricultural scale and community quality." In Encyclopedia of Community. Great Barrington, MA: Berkshire Publishing Group. Lyson, Thomas A. 2002. "Advanced agricultural biotechnologies and sustainable agriculture." Trends in Biotechnology 20:193-196. Lyson, Thomas A. 2001. "The promise of a more civic agriculture." Catholic Rural Life 43(2):40-43. McCullum, C., D. Pelletier, D. Barr, and J. Wilkins. 2002. Use of a participatory planning process as a way to build community food security. Journal of the American Dietetic Association 102:962-967. McIntosh, Alex, Dianne Sykes, and Karen S. Kubena. 2002. "Religion and community among the elderly: The relationship between religious and secular characteristics of the elderly‘s social networks." Review of Religious Research. Vol. x . McIntosh, Alex and Jeff Sobal. (forthcoming 2004) "Rural diet, nutrition, and body weight." In Critical Issues for Rural Health edited by N. Glasgow, L. W. Morton, and N. Johnson. Ames: Iowa State Press. McIntosh, Alex. "Problems in communicating food safety risk to the public." In Research Directions in Food Safety edited by R. C. Beier, R. L. Ziprin, and T. D. Phillips. Ames: Iowa State Press. McIntosh, Alex and John K. Thomas. 2002 "Economic and other determinants of the prevalence of HIV: A test of competing hypotheses." Sociological Quarterly. Forthcoming. McIntosh, Wm. Alex and Nazrul Hoque. 2003. Predictors of female and male smoking prevalence and the male-female differential in smoking. Journal of Health and Social Behavior. Morton, L. W. (2003) Rural Health Policy Chapter 22, pages 330-344 in Challenges for Rural America in the 21st Century (ed) David Brown and Louis Swanson. The Rural Studies Series. Penn State Press. Morton, L.W., B.L. Allen, and T. Li. (forthcoming) Rural Housing Adequacy and Civic Structure Sociological Inquiry. Morton, L. W. (forthcoming 2004). Patterns of spatial inequality in Critical Issues for Rural Health edited by N. Glasgow, L. W. Morton, and N. Johnson. Ames: Iowa State Press, Division of Blackwell. Morton, L. W., D. Worthen, and L. Weatherspoon. (forthcoming 2004). Rural food security and health in Critical Issues for Rural Health edited by N. Glasgow, L. W. Morton, and N. Johnson. Ames: Iowa State Press, Division of Blackwell. Muqoz, Ed A., Catherine Lillehoj Goldberg, and Delfino Vargas-Chanes. 2002. Iowa Latino Im/migrant Families: Negotiating an Optimal Level of Cultural Assimilation. Pp. 59-79 In Illusions of Borders: The National Presence of Mexicanos in the U.S. edited by Gilberto Garcma and Jerry Garcma. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company. Muqoz, Ed A, Catherine Lillehoj Goldberg, and Martha Dettman. (in press). Substance use prevention: An Iowa Mexican immigrant family perspective. In Cocktails and Dreams: An Interpretive Perspective on Drug Abuse. Edited by Wilson R. Palacios and Paul F. Comwell. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Pelletier, D., C. McCullum, V. Kraak, and K. Asher. Participation, power, and beliefs shape local food and nutrition policy. Journal of Nutrition (in press). Peters C. J., N. Bills, J. L. Wilkins, and R. D. Smith. 2003. Fruit Consumption, Dietary Guidelines and Agricultural Production in New York State Implications for Local Food Economies. Research Bulletin 2003-02, Department of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University. <http://aem.cornell.edu/research/researchpdf/rb0302.pdf>http://aem.cornell.edu/research/researchpdf/rb0302.pdf. Peters C. J., N. Bills, J. L. Wilkins, and R. D. Smith. 2002. Vegetable Consumption, Dietary Guidelines and Agricultural Production in New York State Implications for Local Food Economies. Research Bulletin 2002-07, Department of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University. <http://aem.cornell.edu/research/researchpdf/rb0207.pdf>http://aem.cornell.edu/research/researchpdf/rb0207.pdf Robinson R. and C. Smith. (2003). Integrating issues of sustainably produced foods into nutrition practice: A survey of Minnesota Dietetic Association Members. J Am Diet Assoc, 103 (5):608-611. Robinson R. and C. Smith. (2003). Associations between consumer health consciousness and attitudes about sustainably produced foods. Ag and Human Values, 20(2):177-187. Ten Eyck, Toby A. and Melissa Williment. (Forthcoming 2004). "The more things change . . . : Milk pasteurization, food irradiation, and biotechnology in the New York Times." The Social Science Journal 41. Ten Eyck, Toby A. and Melissa Williment. 2003. "The national media and things genetic: Coverage in The New York Times (1971 - 2000) and Washington Post, (1977-2000)." Science Communication Wilkins J. L., E. Bowdish, and J. Sobal. 2002. Consumer perceptions of seasonal and local foods: A study in a US community. Ecology of Food and Nutrition 41:415-439. Wilkins, J., V. Kraak, D. Pelletier, C. McCullum, and U. Uusitalo. 2001. Moving from debate to dialogue about genetically engineered foods and crops: Insights from a land-grant university. Journal of Sustainable Agriculture 18(2/3):167-201. Young, Frank W. and Thomas A. Lyson 2001. "Structural pluralism and all-cause mortality." American Journal of Public Health 91:136-138. Publications submitted/under review Bitto, E. A., L. W. Morton, M. J. Oakland, and M. Sand. 2003. Grocery store access patterns in rural food deserts. Submitted to The Journal for the Study of Food and Society. Eikenberry N., and C. Smith. (Under review) Healthy eating: Perceptions, motivations, barriers, and promoters in low-income Minnesota communities. J Am Diet Assoc. Eikenberry N., and C. Smith. (Under review). Civic engagement and urban and rural influence on food access and fruit and vegetable intake. J Nutr Ed Behav McIntosh, Alex, Letitia Alston, Dianne Sykes, and Clasina Segura. 2002. "Determinants of multiple use of telemedicine." Health Services Research. Under review. McIntosh, Wm. Alex, R. John Booher, Letitia T. Alston, Dianne Sykes, and Classina Segura. 2003. Time spent with patients and cost to patients experiencing telemedicine. Journal of Telemedicine and Telehealth. Under review. Morton, L. W., E. A. Bitto, M.J. Oakland, and M. Sand. 2003. Solving the problems of Iowa food deserts: Food insecurity and civic structure revise and resubmit Rural Sociology. Technical Reports/Websites/CD/Educational-Outreach Products Blanchard, T. and T. Lyson. 2003. Access to Low Cost Groceries in Nonmetropolitan Counties: Large Retailers and the Creation of Food Deserts Southern Rural Development Center Measuring Rural Diversity Conference Proceedings. Available at: http://srdc.msstate.edu/measuring/ruraldiversity.htm Greder, K, S. Garasky, H. Jensen, and L. W. Morton. 2002. Iowa Food Security Report Card Project. Iowa State University. Hanson, M. M. and L. W. Morton. 2002. Age-adjusted Mortality Rates by Selected Causes for U.S. Counties Based on Urban Influence by Four U.S. Regions 1968-97. Iowa State University. Melvin S., J. Mabry, W. Powers, J. Kliebenstein, K. Donham, and C. Hodne. Industry structure and trends in Iowa. In Iowa State University and The University of Iowa Study Group. Iowa concentrated animal feeding operations air quality study, 18-34, February 2002. Morton, L.W., B.L. Allen, and T. Li. 2003. Housing, Health, and Community: Selected Case Studies in Iowa. Technical report. Rural Development Initiative RDI 124. Morton, L.W., K. Greder, N. Paxton, S. Garasky, H. Jensen. 2003. Iowa Food Security, Insecurity, and Hunger website www.extension.iastate.edu/hunger Morton, L.W., M.J. Oakland, E.A. Bitto, M. Sand, and Susan Klein. 2003. Food in My Community: A Case Study of a Des Moines Neighborhood. Iowa State University Extension. Department of Sociology and Extension Family Nutrition Program. Technical Report number 001 Morton, L.W., M.J. Oakland, E.A. Bitto, M. Sand, and Vera Stokes. 2003. Food in My Community: A Case Study of a Davenport Neighborhood. Iowa State University Extension. Department of Sociology and Extension Family Nutrition Program. Technical Report number 002 Morton, L.W., M.J. Oakland, E.A. Bitto, and M. Sand. 2003. Food in My Community: A Case Study of Decatur County. Iowa State University Extension. Department of Sociology and Extension Family Nutrition Program. Technical Report number 003. Morton, L.W., M.J. Oakland, E.A. Bitto, and M. Sand. 2003. Food in My Community: A Case Study of Monroe County. Iowa State University Extension. Department of Sociology and Extension Family Nutrition Program. Technical Report number 004. Morton, L. W., M. J. Oakland, E. A. Bitto, M. Sand, and B. Michaels. 2002. Iowa Community Food Assessment Project Report 2001-02. Iowa State University. Department of Sociology. Presentations/Posters/Conferences Bellows, A. 2003, Paper presenter and panel co-organizer, Labors of Nutrition: Negotiating Food Systems with the (Un)Common Skills and Everyday Praxis of Food Work on panel, From soil to food: contradictions, inequalities, and in/efficiencies in agro-food systems. Association for American Geography, Annual Conference. New Orleans, LA, 4-8 Mar 2003. Bellows, A. 2002. Paper presenter and panel co-organizer, Labors of Nutrition: Negotiating Food Systems with the (Un)Common Skills and Everyday Praxis of Food Work on panel, Transformative Commodities and Political Food: Skills, Consumption and Geographic Knowledge. Middle States Regional Geography Conference. Upper Montclair, NJ, 11-13 October 2002. Bellows, A. 2002. Paper presenter, with MW Hamm. Cooking in the Local Food System: Nutritional Behaviors of Undergraduate Students and Low Income Community Residents; 2 Parts: A) Food Preparation Practices; B) Local Food Systems Engagements Annual Joint Meeting of the Agriculture, Food and Human Values Society (AFHVS) and the Association for the Study of Food and Society (ASFS), Chicago. 12-16 June 2002. Bellows, A. 2002. Poster presenter, with EV Bandera, MW Hamm, P Schoenfeld. Assessing Food Skills Knowledge Associated with Vegetable, Fruit, and Whole Grain Consumption for Cancer Prevention in a Low-Income Population: Results from Two Focus Groups. New Jersey Cancer Commission; Annual Cancer Retreat. Princeton. 24 April 2002. Bellows, A. 2002. Poster presenter, with EV Bandera, MW Hamm, P Schoenfeld. Assessing Public Health Nutrition Needs in a Low-Income Population: Results rom Two Focus Groups. New Jersey Cancer Commission; Annual Cancer Retreat. Princeton. 24 April 2002. Bellows, A. 2001. Paper presenter. The Impact of Cooking Skills on Nutritional Health and Local Food Systems. Annual Joint Meeting of the Agriculture, Food and Human Values Society (AFHVS) and the Association for the Study of Food and Society (ASFS), Minneapolis. 7-10 June 2001. Bellows, A. 2001. Paper presenter. Knowledge, Survival, Reminders: Urban Livestock Agriculture in New Jersey. In session, Gardens as Cultural Survival/Gardens as Resistance. Association for American Geography, Annual Conference. New York. 27 Feb.-3 Mar. 2001. Bitto, E. A. and L. W. Morton. 2003. Local Transportation and the Food Environment. Paper presented at the Rural Sociological Society annual meeting, Montreal, Canada, July 29. Blanchard, Troy C. 2002. Does the Effect of Inequality Vary? A Race Disaggregated Analysis of Mortality in Non-Metropolitan Counties. Paper presented at the Rural Sociological Society Annual Meeting. Chicago, IL. August. Blanchard, Troy C. 2002. Civic Community and All Cause Mortality in U.S. Counties, 1990. Paper presented at the Southern Sociological Society Meetings, Baltimore, MD. McIntosh, Alex. 2002. "Parental Time Constraints, Role Strains, Coping, and Children‘s Diet and Nutrition." Presented at the Food Assistance Research: Recent Findings and Emerging Issues Conference. Washington, DC. May. McIntosh, Alex and Karen S. Kubena. 2002. "Time Constraints, Role Strains, and Adolescent Nutrition: Preliminary Results." Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association for the Study of Food and Society. Chicago, IL. June. Morton, L. W. and E. A. Bitto, M. J. Oakland, and M. Sand. 2003 poster Civic Structure and Food Deserts Rural Sociological Society annual meeting in Montreal. First place. Morton, L. W. September 5, 2003. Creating a Local Community Food Security Profile: Data. Iowa Food Policy Conference. Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa. Morton, L. W., E. A. Bitto, M. J. Oakland, and M. Sand. 2003. Solving the Problems of Food Deserts: Personal Networks and Civic Structure. Paper presented at the Rural Sociological Society Annual Meeting. Chicago, IL. August 27. Morton, L. W. , E. A. Bitto, M. J. Oakland, M. Sand, and B. Michaels. 2003. Food Deserts and Civic Structure. Poster presentation at the Rural Sociological Society Annual Meeting. Montreal, Canada. July. Best Poster Award. Morton, L. W. March 25, 2003. Food Deserts and Civic Structure. Iowa Public Health Conference. Ames, Iowa. Morton, L. W. 2002. Does Food Insecurity Exist in Iowa? Nutrition Policy in Action, Iowa Dietetic Association, Des Moines, IA. March. Morton, L. W. 2002. Food Security Assessment for Iowa. First Iowa Food Policy Conference. Drake University, Des Moines, IA. April. Morton, L. W. 2002. Civic Engagement to Solve Food Access Problems. The Food System as an Instrument of Public Health, satellite videoconference originating from Iowa State University, Ames, IA. April. Oakland, M. J., L. W. Morton, E. A. Bitto, M. Sand, and B. Michaels. 2003. Community Food Assessment: Food choice Challenges in Rural and Urban Areas with Few Grocery Stores. Society for Nutrition Education Conference, August. Smith, C. and N. Eikenberry. Associations among fruit and vegetable consumption and body mass index in urban and rural community members. NAASO, Fall 2003. Thomson, J. S. and L. M. Dininni. 2003. What National Media Coverage of Food Biotechnology Tells Us. Paper presented at the Agriculture, Food, and Human Values Society and Association for the Study of Food and Society joint annual meeting, Austin, TX, June 13. Webber, Caroline and Thomas A. Lyson 2001. "American food deserts: A case study in rural New York." Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Agriculture, Food and Human Values Society, Minneapolis, MN. June. Welsh, Rick and Thomas A. Lyson. 2001. "Anti-corporate farming laws‘ impact on rural community welfare." Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Rural Sociological Society. Albuquerque, NM. August.

Impact Statements

The key impact of this project is to increase the knowledge of citizens, community leaders, public health officials, extension agents, and community educators about the inter-relations between food systems and community health. Because our project is still in the data collection and interepretation stage, we have not completed dissemination of our research findings. In years 4 and 5 we will develop strategies to best connect with our stakeholders to maximize the impact of our research efforts.

Date of Annual Report: 08/30/2005

Report Information

Annual Meeting Dates: 11/05/2004 - 11/07/2004
Period the Report Covers: 11/01/2004 - 11/01/2005

Participants

Lois Wright Morton -
Iowa State University
Dept. of Sociology;;
Lorna Michael Butler -
Iowa State University
Anthropology/Rural Soc;;
Tom Lyson -
Cornell University
Dept of Rural Sociology;;
Ardyth Gillespie -
Cornell University
Div. of Nutritional Science;;
Jennifer Wilkins - Cornell University
Div. of Nutritional Science;;
Alex McIntosh -
Texas A&M University
Dept. of Rural Sociology;;
Toby Ten Eyck -
Michigan State University
Dept. of Rural Sociology;;
Joan Thomson -
Penn State University
Ag & Extension Educ.;;
Ray Jussaume -
Washington State Univ.
Dept. of Rural Sociology;;
Patricia Allen -
University of California
Center for Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems;;
Richard Moore -
Ohio State University
Human & Community Resource Development;;
Elizabeth Tuckermanty - USDA, CSREES

Brief Summary of Minutes

On Nov 5th a joint meeting of NC1012 and NC1001
was convened to exchange research activities in progress and to propose to USDA
through E. Tuckermanty a future joint conference funded by CSREES. L.M. Butler
and M. Hamm will work with E. Tuckermanty to develop a rationale and proposal.
NC1001 annual meeting convened on Nov 6 & 7. The four research cluster teams
reported on grants written and submitted. (See publications and impact sections).Research clusters met separately to continue their joint work.
NC1001 leadership for 2004-05 were elected as follows: Lois Wright Morton-chair;
Toby TenEyck-vice chair; Richard Moore-secretary. Annual meeting for 2005 will be held October 14-16 in Denver, Colorado.

Accomplishments

Examining the Structure of Place: The structure of agriculture, food resources and social infrastructures that support access, availability, type, and quality of food to individuals and their families vary considerably from community to community and region to region. In this research we examine the intersections of these systems with emphasis on the structure of place. This Land Grant project has assembled a multi-disciplinary team of researchers (sociology, nutrition, food science, anthropology, communications, geography) with research in areas such as food systems, nutrition, media, the environment, water, land use, social organizations, civic structure, and food science to begin to answer the question "How do variations in the structure of agriculture, food systems, and communities affect variations in place based population health?" Impacts: From 2001-2004, members of the research team have received 26 grants valued at over $7 million to examine food, agriculture, community related systems and associations with health. Publications include 37 journal articles, 15 book chapters, three books, 18 technical reports/websites/educational outreach products and over 25 presentations and posters presented. The most significant overall impact of this project is the increased awareness and recognition by policy makers, community leaders, and the public that community organization, the food environment and agricultural practices have significant impacts on human health. A few of the impacts derived from NC1001 research are: <ol><li>Partnerships among public health, community groups, and university researchers in several states (North Dakota, Minnesota, and Iowa) have increased awareness and begun intervention projects that link the community environment and food access research to food insecurity and hunger interventions <ul><li>Iowa Department of Public Health has acknowledged the importance of linking the local food environment to food security over the last 3 years by providing over $160,000 to extend research to local applications. Newly developed educational materials and a hunger website (www.extension.iastate.edu/hunger) in Iowa based on research findings are used by staff and volunteers in the 4 food banks covering the state and their local food pantry partners to assess food insecurity in their communities and have public dialogues about how to solve local food issues. <li>A USDA workshop reaching 160 participants in North Dakota increased awareness of the relationships between food insecurity and the community/local food environment that makes food accessible to rural populations.</ul> <li>The public rely on mass media as their primary source of food safety and biotechnology. Food safety issues are often covered in a way that marginalizes the issue and lead the public to see information only when a problem in the food system occurs. Proceedings from a workshop on concerns surrounding future social research on biotechnology held in Baltimore, MD in 2003 have led to meetings in Canada to discuss directions for the Canadian government to fund social research on biotechnology and nanotechnology. <li>75 educators in New York learned about the impact of food systems on health, and another 22 health professionals have been contacted to think about obesity in New York. In Iowa and New York, 47 community leaders have discussed concerns with food insecurity and are planning next steps to address these issues. <li>At universities which are represented by members of NC1001, curriculum changes have been put in place to help further develop research and teaching agendas around food issues such as obesity, diabetes, and other issues. (e.g. Michigan State University has put together an Obesity Council to think about issues such as childhood obesity and the relationships between obesity and the built environment.) <li>13 cider processors in Michigan have been used to investigate the barriers and opportunities to the implementation of HACCP programs within the industry. Over 20 interviews with individuals around the south-central part of the state have been educated on issues such as foodborne pathogens and food handling in a study of communication and food safety. Various other projects have been developed by members to help communities better understand linkages between food and health. <li>30 families in Houston Texas received feedback about their childrens dietary intake and obesity risks and as a result have the opportunity to change daily family dinner patterns. <li>Biweekly water quality testing of an impaired Ohio stream at 65 sites over three years reveal high nitrate and fecal coliform levels. As a result the county health department is taking action, three farmer teams are changing farm management practices to lower nitrogen and phosphorous levels in the stream, and one industry NPES permit holder created a nutrient trading program. <li>Residents of a small town in Ohio (pop.1000) now believe that they have excessive nitrate problems as a result of research that showed 23% of the residents have excessive N levels in their drinking water. This knowledge has led to health department interventions and citizens who are ready to implement recommended interventions. <li>Urban gardening offers an alternative resource that provides nutritious foods, urban greening, and sense of community. In NJ, the Healthier New Brunswick 2010 Initiative funded a 2003-4 school-community gardening project recognizing how the activity addresses obesity and chronic disease through exercise and nutrition. At the same time, with Rutgers, it co-sponsored the April 2004 New Brunswick Soil Lead Symposium, responding to findings that very high lead levels have been found in many residential lots, requiring increased testing and risk management strategies. </ol>

Publications

Publications Attachment:

Attachment

Impact Statements

refer to Accomplishments section

Date of Annual Report: 12/01/2005

Report Information

Annual Meeting Dates: 10/14/2005 - 10/16/2005
Period the Report Covers: 12/01/2004 - 12/01/2005

Participants

Allen, Paticia email rats@cats.ucsc.edu University of California Santa Cruz
McIntosh, Alex w-mcintosh@neo.tamu.edu Texas A&M University
Moore, Richard moore.11@osu.edu Ohio State University
Morton, Lois Wright lwmorton@iastate.edu Iowa State University
Smith, Chery csmith@umn.edu University of Minnesota
Ten Eyck, Toby teneyck@msu.edu Michigan State University
Thompson, Joan jthompson@psu.edu Penn State University
Wang, CY Administrative Advisor, South Dakota State University

Brief Summary of Minutes

Brief Summary of minutes of annual meeting: The annual meeting was held at the Radisson Hotel in Denver, Colorado. At the meeting current work and future plans were discussed. The meeting began with a brief presentation of the years accomplishments by each participating member. Discussion then turned to the future of the project; namely, should the group seek project renewal or not. The group voted to seek project renewal. This led to a discussion regarding a new project title and of new objectives.

It was decided the new projects overall goal is determine the impact of food systems on population health including place based population with the following objectives:

Objectives:
1. Access and use conditions within the food environment influence food consumption patterns and obesity rates controlling for individual dietary patterns. Alex McIntosh was assigned the task of fleshing out this objective for the new proposal.
2. Retail options within the food environment influence food consumption patterns and obesity rates controlling for individual dietary patterns. Alex McIntosh and Patricia Allen were assigned this task
3. Consumer perceptions of food within the food environment influence food consumption patterns and obesity rates controlling for individual dietary patterns. Toby Ten Eyck took responsibility for this objective.

Each objective was fleshed out so that the responsible parties could develop a narrative for each objective in preparation for submission of a project extension.

New officers were elected: Toby Ten Eyck will serve as chairperson, Chery Smith as vice chairperson, and Alex McIntosh as secretary.

Atlanta, GA was selected as the site of the next annual meeting. The choice of this site was dictated by the desire of project members to meet with obesity experts in the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Accomplishments: These were discussed in terms of the projects objectives. Regarding objective 1, during the past year a proposal to NIH was submitted to study the influence of the food environment surrounding work out side the home and how that work environment contributed to obesity and risk of diabetes. This proposal was not funded. Project members reported on individual research project results that relate to this objective. Ten Eyck reported on a nation-wide telephone survey which measure perceptions of obesity. Seventy-five percent of respondents considered themselves overweight. Smith reported that a paper she had written on the utility of community gardens as a place to teach values about diversity (see Agriculture and Human Values vol. 20:177-183). McIntosh reported on his recent study of 300 families in Houston Texas. The study found, after controlling for parents age, education, income, BMI, and sociodemographic characteristics of the parents children, that the more time mothers spent with children, the lower the percent energy from fat in their childrens diet and the less likely those children were obese. The opposite was found for fathers time with children. A final report containing these and other findings has been submitted to USDA-ERS-FANRP. Objective 2 and 3. Proposals were submitted to both USDA and to NRI for studies of community food systems. Thompson reported that she had done analysis of newspapers using keywords related to biotechnology. Patricia Allan began data collection on fruit and vegetable consumption by low income persons in California as well as projects on CSAs and farmers markets and on school food programs that provide fruits and vegetables. Objective 4. A research proposal to NIH was re-written; however, it was not resubmitted. The proposal called for collaboration between the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) and 4 participating universities (Cornell University, Iowa State University, Mississippi State University and Texas A&M University). The proposal called for the linking of NHANES data with the economic census, using zip codes as the common variable across the two data sets. Because zip code data in NHANES are considered confidential, NCHS would link the data and conduct the analysis team members would request. The group intends to resubmit this proposal, once a closer relationship with NCHS is developed. Morton reported on a paper she recently published in the journal Rural Sociology in which she examined the effect of civic structure on food insecurity. Found that many respondents had problems with transportation in accessing food. She also looked at the effects of the presence of large box stores such as Wal-Mart and supercenters. She also continued her examination of mortality rates by residents finding that residents of rural-isolated counties have mortality rates that differ significantly from those found in other county types. Rural location explains about 15% of the mortality rate in an equation that controls for age, race, poverty, and income inequality. Finally, Morton reported receiving a $2 million grant to study water quality issues.

Impacts. During the past year project members have received over $50,000 in grants; over the life of the project these exceed $7 million. The grants are for research in the areas of food, agriculture, and community related systems and associations with health. Additional grant proposals related to the issues described above are currently under review. During the past year 19 journal articles by project members were published or accepted for publication, with another 15 currently under review. Project members also made over 20 presentations on topics related to this project.

Project members have also continued partnerships with public health, community groups, and university researchers from other states. One such partnership is with the Iowa Department of Health, which has recognized the importance of the link between local food environments and food security. This has led to not only additional funding for research on this issue, but also to the development of educational materials dealing with hunger. At Texas A&M University, an Obesity Research Center has been established. One of its goals is to examine the impact of the national and local food environments on obesity.

Submitted by Alex McIntosh, Secretary