Publications

ABSTRACT 

The Farmers Market and Local Foods Promotion Program (FMLFPP) funds projects across the United States, the U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia to increase access to and consumption of local foods. As part of this overarching goal, the program also supports training and technical assistance for direct-to-consumer outlets and local food businesses with the intent of developing or expanding market opportunities and intermediary functions such as aggregation, storage and distribution in the local food supply chain. Administered by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), the program awarded 376 projects totaling more than $27 million in 2014. AMS established a cooperative agreement with the Office of Educational Innovation and Evaluation at Kansas State University (KSU) to conduct a program evaluation of the 2014 grant projects. The evaluation had 3 primary objectives: 1) Describe successful outcomes and evidence supporting this attribution; 2) Illustrate the impact on the local food industry’s capacity regionally and nationally; and 3) Identify barriers that prevent the Program from addressing its primary purpose. The program evaluation incorporates quantitative and qualitative data gathered from the final performance reports (100 randomly selected reports manually reviewed, 355 reports5 reviewed by qualitative data software) and survey responses from 245 project managers (69% response rate). Final performance reports identified project impact immediately after grant project completion. A follow-up survey conducted by KSU in February, 2018, to project managers compiled projects’ long-term impacts. This report provides comprehensive findings from the review of the 2014 projects’ Final performance reports as well as the survey responses. The findings summarize the impact of projects’ challenges, and lessons learned by program managers and AMS staff. Supporting data and documentation are available in the appendices as noted.

ABSTRACT 

The U.S. Congress authorized the FMPP and LFPP in the 2018 Farm Bill under the Local Agriculture Marketing Program. Through the grant program, USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) funds projects supporting direct-to-consumer marketing (FMPP) and local and regional food system intermediaries (LFPP). Grant recipients include agricultural businesses or cooperatives, producer networks or associations, nonprofits, institutions of higher education, and other private or public organizations. In 2014, AMS invested $27 million of funds in nearly all 50 states and 4 territories for 376 projects.1 In order to better understand the successful outcomes and impact of the program, AMS partnered with Kansas State University to analyze qualitative and quantitative data from the 2014 grant recipient final performance reports, interviews, and surveys. Altogether, the evaluators determined that for every dollar invested through grant funding, $2.67 was generated into local and regional economies. The evaluators found that grant recipients enhanced direct and intermediate agricultural marketing through several ways.

ABSTRACT 

In 2022, the first Registered Teacher Apprenticeship Program (RTAP) was implemented. Many states, including Kansas, quickly followed and invested in developing a similar, novel model to address the teacher shortage crisis exacerbated by the pandemic. Similar to Grow Your Own programs, RTAPs are new teacher training frameworks validated by the U.S. Department of Labor to include on-the-job learning, mentorship, and continuing education within a competency-based system. The Kansas pilot RTAP was launched in the fall of 2023 with 15 apprentices and mentors from six school districts. This qualitative study utilized focus groups to understand aspiring teachers’ experiences with this new preparation model. Study results amplify aspiring teachers’ voices to provide insights into policymakers and program developers into important aspects of designing and scaling a sustainable RTAP model.

ABSTRACT

In November 2018, Kansas State University’s (KSU) College of Human Ecology and the 4-H Military Partnerships Project (4-H MPP) Team released a bid to solicit proposals for a Strategic Planning Consultant. From this competitive process, a contract for services was awarded to Kansas State University’s Office of Educational Innovation and Evaluation (OEIE) to provide strategic planning support services. The agreement focused on developing and facilitating vision and mission statements, goals and objectives, and detailed action plans to guide progress towards 4-H MPP goals. Eight Military Work Group (MWG) members, representatives of the Air Force, Army, Army Reserve & National Guard, Navy, and the 4-H MPP KSU team attended the two and a half day Strategic Planning Event on January 28-30, 2019 at the Hyatt Place Kansas City Airport Hotel. The event began with a facilitated group discussion of the 4-H MPP purpose and identification of target audiences, followed by a series of activities across the two days to stimulate discussion. Upon creation of the Strategic Plan, potential barriers to implementation and mitigation strategies were identified. Discussion and brainstorming activities were designed to build relationships between the 4-H MPP MWG members through purposeful rotating group/seat assignments that allowed all participants to contribute to each aspect of the Strategic Plan. MWG members who were not able to attend the event in January were provided with results and given an opportunity for feedback at the MWG’s regularly scheduled monthly conference call. This report shares the results of the 4-H MPP Strategic Planning process, including detailed action plans, timelines and the committees tasked with implementing and monitoring the progress of these plans.