IN THIS ISSUE: What Is a ‘Multiplier’ Anyway? Assessing the Economics of Local Food Systems Toolkit

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2019.08C.013

Keywords:

Local Food Systems Toolkit, Impact, Evaluation, Editorial

Abstract

First paragraph:

This special issue examines the effectiveness of organizing and conducting formal impact assess­ments in measuring the economic impacts and opportunity costs associated with local food system policies, programming, and investment. It features 11 articles by a diverse range of academic research­ers and community stakeholders who have used the publication, the Economics of Local Food Systems: A Toolkit to Guide Community Discussions, Assessments and Choices[1] (which we refer to as “the Toolkit” hereafter) to initialize, frame, and carry out eco­nomic impact assessments of local and regional food system activity. Many of the case studies fea­tured in this special issue are directly connected to the over 30 technical assis­tance workshops pro­vided by the Toolkit’s authors and other partners between 2015 and 2018 follow­ing the Toolkit’s release. Our intention in compil­ing these papers is to gauge whether practitioners and researchers find the Toolkit useful in demon­strating compelling evidence of the economic impacts of food system development strategies, and when they do, to demonstrate its utility and share best practices.

[1] See the Toolkit online at https://www.ams.usda.gov/publications/content/economics-local-food-systems-toolkit-guide-community-discussions-assessments

See the press release for this article. 

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Author Biographies

Becca B. R. Jablonski, Colorado State University

Assistant Professor and Food Systems Extension Economist, Depart­ment of Agricultural and Resource Economics

Dawn Thilmany McFadden, Colorado State University

Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Colorado State University

Published

2019-01-30

How to Cite

Jablonski, B. B. R., & Thilmany McFadden, D. (2019). IN THIS ISSUE: What Is a ‘Multiplier’ Anyway? Assessing the Economics of Local Food Systems Toolkit. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 8(C), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2019.08C.013