from the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development |
|
|
JAFSCD is the world’s only community-supported journal. JAFSCD content is open access (free) thanks to the generous support of our shareholders: the JAFSCD Shareholder Consortium, Library Shareholders, a growing number of Individual Shareholders, and our six JAFSCD Partners: |
|
|
Family and consumer sciences (FCS) Extension educators in the U.S. face challenges connecting with audiences in a changing society. Workplace wellness programs are an emerging opportunity for FCS educators to engage new audiences and be at the forefront of an innovative and rapidly expanding approach to facilitating health and wellness benefits for communities.
In a new JAFSCD article, Bringing local food education to workplaces: Assessing needs for a health and wellness program, authors Gusto, Campbell, Wallau, and Wood share their findings from surveys of prospective participants in a local food, health, and wellness education program designed to complement growing workplace community supported agriculture (CSA) initiatives. The study assessed participants’ knowledge, attitudes, and barriers regarding local food, and identified preferred educational content and delivery formats. The authors present targeted recommendations for those interested in developing or delivering a local food, health, and wellness program in workplace settings.
KEY FINDINGS - Participants had positive attitudes toward local foods, but had limited knowledge about purchasing and preparing them.
-
Educational programs should focus on ways consumers can purchase food from local farms, and provide information about local farms and ways to use local and seasonal fruits and vegetables.
- Respondents preferred online program offerings during weekday lunchtimes.
- Approximately half of respondents expressed a willingness to join an educational program coupled with a CSA membership, but 70% of respondents indicated that price was a significant barrier.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POLICY, PRACTICE, AND RESEARCH - Develop local food health and wellness educational programs that are accessible online.
- Focus on practical information about purchasing and preparing local foods.
- Leverage partnerships with workplace wellness programs to increase reach and impact.
-
Discounted CSA memberships can encourage enrollment in combined CSA and educational programs.
- Engage key partners such as human resources departments and wellness coordinators to help implement the program.
SHARE ON YOUR SOCIALS
Are you an FCS educator looking for new ways to make a difference? New research shows a growing need for food and wellness programs in workplaces. By combining community supported agriculture (CSA) with education, we can help people eat healthier, support local farmers, and create thriving communities. Want to learn more? Check out the new article in JAFSCD! #FCS #workplacewellness #localfood #CSA #healthyeating Read the @JAFSCD article for free: https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2024.134.013
|
Photo above: A taste of summer's bounty. Photo provided by the authors.
|
|
|
Targeted social media advertising is widely recognized as an effective way to reach consumers, but it is understudied as a way to reach food producers—and potential food producers. In addition to allowing advertisers to target audiences who have specific interests, Facebook allows advertisers to run experiments comparing the effectiveness of different ad versions. This makes it a good place to study emphasis framing, the strategy of drawing attention to one aspect of a topic while de-emphasizing other aspects.
For example, tapping maple trees to produce maple syrup offers many benefits for producers: it is a way to build community, achieve food self-sufficiency, engage in the lifestyle of working the land, and spend time in nature. In a new JAFSCD article, Promoting small-scale maple syrup production on Facebook: A field experiment testing emphasis message frames, a team from the University of Wisconsin–Madison presents the results of a Facebook ad campaign testing these four emphasis frames as part of a USDA-funded project to support maple syrup producers. The goal was to encourage more people to begin producing maple syrup in Wisconsin, the fourth-leading state for maple syrup production.
The results can inform future outreach to potential maple syrup producers, and the methods can serve as a blueprint for other food systems professionals seeking to conduct evidence-based social media outreach. KEY FINDINGS The ads reached more than 300,000 people in Wisconsin, spurring more than 5,000 of them to visit an instructional website about how to produce maple syrup.
Overall, the frame of working the land was the most effective in terms of link clicks and post reactions, receiving 22% more clicks than the nature frame and 42% more reactions than the food self-sufficiency frame.
Among people ages 55+, who were more likely than younger Facebook users to engage with the ads, the food self-sufficiency frame received the most clicks (more than 20% more clicks than both nature and working the land). However, the nature frame received the most post reactions in this age group (more than 75% more reactions than both food self-sufficiency and community).
Overall, women were 10% more likely to click on the ads than men. Women in each age group were more likely to click than men in the same age group.
IMPLICATIONS FOR COMMUNICATING ABOUT FOOD SYSTEMS
Facebook advertisements can be a cost-effective way of reaching large audiences and conducting rigorous real-world experiments to test messages related to food systems. By overcoming a methodological limitation of some previous Facebook message-testing experiments, the study’s methods provide a blueprint for other communicators and researchers.
The most effective emphasis frame can vary by age and gender, so communicators should segment their audiences whenever possible. Establishing a clear goal for a social media campaign is necessary step in determining which message frame to use—the frame that garners the most link clicks may not be the frame that garners the most “likes” or other engagement.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR GROWING THE NUMBER OF MAPLE SYRUP PRODUCERS - Future campaigns aimed at older demographics should emphasize creating a healthy sweetener from scratch as a reason to produce maple syrup.
-
Future campaigns aimed at younger demographics should emphasize the physical activity of working the land as a reason to produce maple syrup, and they should consider using social media platforms such as Instagram that are more popular among younger adults than Facebook.
- Future efforts to spur public (rather than private) engagement around beginning maple syrup production should leverage the idea of spending time in nature.
-
Women with maple-adjacent interests are a receptive audience and should not be overlooked in efforts to encourage people to begin maple syrup production.
SHARE ON YOUR SOCIALS
How can food systems professionals use social media to reach food producers—and potential food producers? One promising approach is by running experiments with Facebook ads to test the effectiveness of different messages. A new JAFSCD article reports the results of a Facebook ad campaign encouraging people to begin producing maple syrup and describes how you can use similar methods. Read the @JAFSCD article for free: https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2024.134.012
|
Images above: Screenshots of the ads used in the Facebook campaign. The art was created by Brooke Alexander and Jay Rasgorshek. |
|
|
F2iSummit Call for Proposals Farm to Institution New England (FINE) invites you to help create the 2025 Northeast Farm to Institution Summit!
Submit your proposal(s) to organize a 2-hour strategy session, 1-hour session, or field trip at this extraordinary event in Portland, Maine in April 2025. The theme is Belonging.
FINE also welcomes other suggestions via this proposal (e.g. speakers, side meetings, topics you hope are addressed, and arts to integrate).
Questions to Tania: tania@farmtoinstitution.org
Submissions accepted until November 1, 2024, at Summit Call for Proposals |
|
|
SUPPORT JAFSCD THROUGH YOUR LIBRARY!
|
|
|
|
If you are affiliated with a college or university and want to support JAFSCD, now is the time of year when libraries order new journal subscriptions. |
|
|
How do I know if my library already contributes? Check the list here (scroll down on the page).
Isn't JAFSCD open access and free? It is! But we are a community-supported journal. Libraries contribute to become JAFSCD Library Shareholders instead of buying a subscription — keeping JAFSCD free to all instead of buying access just for their faculty and students. Think of us as the CSA of journals!
Considering submitting a manuscript to JAFSCD? If your institution is a JAFSCD Shareholder, you benefit by having our $750 APC waived automatically.
How do I recommend JAFSCD to my library? Tell your librarian why JAFSCD is important to your work, and send them this link to learn more!
|
|
|
EVENT BY A JAFSCD SHAREHOLDER
|
10th Annual Rich Earth Summit November 12–14, 2024
Hybrid: Virtual (Zoom) & In-Person (Brattleboro, Vermont, USA)
The Rich Earth Summit, hosted by Rich Earth Institute, is a global event dedicated to advancing urine reclamation to create sustainable and just nutrient cycles. This gathering brings together researchers, practitioners, and advocates to share knowledge and foster collaboration.
Join us at the 10th annual Summit, November 12–14, 2024 — a golden opportunity to explore the transformative power of peecycling. Together, we can pee the change! |
|
|
This email is sent to you as a notification of the newest JAFSCD articles and other occasional JAFSCD news. |
|
JAFSCD is an open access, community-supported journal! Your library, program, or organization can become a shareholder to help keep JAFSCD's content available to all, regardless of their resources. We welcome anyone to become an individual shareholder; donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
|
|
|
|
