Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development

Improving USDA’s public price and volume data for an equitable organic food value chain

Katie Butterfield — 2026-06-04

Since 1915, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Market News has supported a key element of our agricultural economic system: equity in access to pricing information between buyers and sellers and across operations of various sizes. Today, the privatization of agricultural information and market concentration in the food system make this public data source especially important for supporting a more fair and stable market for the growing organic sector. In this study, we use a mixed-methods approach to explore how AMS Market News organic price and volume data can be improved to better support organic agrifood system actors. Based on 26 interviews and 227 survey responses from organic producers, processors, distributors, and retailers across California, we find consistent interest in increased organic market data presented in visual formats with trend explanations, despite only limited direct reliance on Market News organic data throughout most of the sector. We also identify three main areas where Market News organic price and volume data could be improved: the data interface should be made more accessible and informative, inaccuracies and gaps in the data should be addressed or explained, and efforts to include more organic specialty crops should continue. These improvements will help the development of a more robust public source of organic market data that could especially benefit smaller-scale operations, given the increasing corporate consolidation in the agrifood system.

How gender norms shape opportunities for building resilience to climate change in low- and middle-income countries

Cathy Rozel Farnworth — 2026-06-04

This study examines how gender norms shape opportunities for women to build resilience within agrifood systems in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Amid rising pressures from climate change, population growth, and resource depletion, enhancing resilience among vulnerable populations is critical. In recognition of the gaps in understanding individual-level resilience, particularly related to power and agency, this article presents data from a systematic literature review from 82 articles published between 2016 and 2022. The review analyzes how gender norms and intersectionality influence women’s resilience in LMICs’ agrifood systems and women's placement along absorptive, adaptive, transformative, and inability-to-cope “resilience pathways.”

Findings reveal that gender norms limit women’s agency by restricting decision-making, asset control, voice in community processes, and access to profitable value chain activities. Intersectional factors such as age and disability can compound these constraints. Many women occupy absorptive pathways, meaning they deal reactively to shocks. However, women with greater agency have the potential to develop adaptive or transformative capacities, meaning that they exert a level of control over change processes. Downward movement between pathways can be worsened by factors including interventions, that aim to integrate farmers into agricultural markets, which do not take gender norms and dynamics into account. Collective action, social networks, gender-transformative interventions, and gender-intentional land reforms enable women to climb to higher resilience pathways.

Our study emphasizes the importance of addressing gendered power dynamics and norms to foster inclusive resilience. The study recommends gender-transformative approaches that enhance women’s agency, incorporate intersectionality, and engage men as allies. Our Economic Resilience Pathways framework offers a valuable tool for empirical research and intervention design to support women’s resilience in agrifood systems.

Agri-food entrepreneurs’ perceptions of the infrastructure to support their business

Maria McDonagh — 2026-06-03

Supporting the growth of rural agri-food entrepreneurs requires a clear understanding of the specific supports they need to succeed. The purpose of this study was to gain insight into the infrastructure supporting agri-food entrepreneurs situated rurally in the West of Ireland, and their perception of this infrastructure. Twenty-nine participants (n = 18 women; n = 11 males) took part in five separate focus group discussions. The discussions were guided by a semi-structured interview framework, and the resulting transcripts underwent thematic analysis. Three main themes were identified: (1) Financial Supports: (a) government funding and (b) insufficient and inaccessible funds; (2) Supportive Resources: (a) networking, mentoring, and training, and (b) isolating work environment; and (3) Social Supports: (a) online support groups and (b) perceptions from peers. The findings provide an understanding of the factors influencing entrepreneurial activity and will assist policymakers in the development and adaptation of the necessary supports.

Unlocking Institutional Food Purchasing: Contract Strategies for Values-Based Sourcing

Anaya Hall — 2026-06-03

Introduction:

Hospitals, schools, and other institutions in the U.S. collectively spend over $200 billion on food each year (Campbell, 2023). While many have adopted commitments to local and/or sustainable sourcing, institutional procurement processes are typically structured around cost containment, risk mitigation, and high-volume distribution. As a result, small- and mid-sized farms, food hubs, cooperatives, and other regional suppliers may face barriers participating in and benefiting from this economic activity, even when buyers express interest in their products. Value chain coordination (VCC) can help these suppliers navigate the layered contracts, compliance requirements, and volume-based incentives that govern institutional purchasing by facilitating communication, aligning expectations, and supporting negotiated solutions.

Promises and pitfalls: Small-scale farmers’ perspectives on market access initiatives in Jozini, South Africa

Andile Nomfundo Samkelisiwe Ngubane — 2026-06-01

Small-scale farmers remain systematically excluded from formal markets due to a combination of structural constraints, such as inadequate infrastructure, poor institutional support, and asset-related vulnerabilities that limit their ability to compete. Despite numerous public and private interventions designed to improve market access, these initiatives often fail to address the complexity of farmers’ challenges and their long-term impact. This study critically examines market access interventions affecting the participation of small-scale producers in the Jozini Local Municipality, a socio-economically marginalized rural area in northern KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), South Africa, to determine whether they effectively reduce systemic barriers or reproduce inequalities. Guided by the asset vulnerability analytical framework (AVAF), this study examines the relevance, implementation, and sustainability of these interventions. We used focus-group discussions and semi-structured interviews to investigate how farmers experience and interpret interventions aimed at improving market participation. The findings reveal widespread dissatisfaction with many programs due to poor implementation, limited reach, lack of coordination, inadequate maintenance, insufficient training, and weak communication. These shortcomings continue to limit farmers’ ability to accumulate and effectively utilize physical, financial, and human assets, thereby reinforcing existing vulnerabilities. While the AVAF has been widely used to analyze livelihood and climate-related vulnerabilities in the region, its explicit use in examining market access interventions targeting small-scale farmers appears limited. This study, therefore, extends the application of the AVAF by examining how market access interventions shape producers’ asset vulnerabilities and market participation from their perspectives. The study concludes that, while multiple market access interventions are present in the Jozini Local Municipality, they have not yielded meaningful improvements in farmers’ participation in formal markets and are therefore unlikely to reduce vulnerability. The study notes that market access interventions in highly marginalized rural contexts are unlikely to reduce vulnerability unless they move beyond fragmented, project-based delivery toward institutionally coordinated, accountable, and context-responsive strategies that support sustained asset accumulation and meaningful integration into formal markets.

Real-time image sharing system

Mitsuhito Hosaka — 2026-05-18

Direct sales of agricultural products account for a significant portion of sales in urban areas; therefore, efficient management contributes to the sustainability of urban farming. Recent innovations in real-time image sharing (RTIS) have emerged as tools for urban farmers to improve their direct sales efforts, allowing both farmers and customers to view real-time images of their farm stands. However, how farmers manage information for direct sales within their business models remains poorly understood. In particular, little is known about how RTIS implementation improves farm stand management and how farmers’ information resources and market orientation influence this process. To investigate this, we conducted qualitative longitudinal data collection using a case study approach, interviewing nine farmers in Tokyo who used RTIS for direct-sales marketing. We assessed their information resources, market orientation, and firm performance before and after adopting RTIS. Our findings indicate that RTIS usage helps farmers gather information resources and subsequently adopt a market-oriented approach. Farmers can improve their shipping efficiency after accumulating information resources and enhancing market orientation, especially if they initially have limited information resources but a certain degree of market orientation at the time of RTIS implementation. Farmers also develop process innovation as a strategy integrated with their information resources and market-oriented approach. Additionally, farmers who optimize their shipping systems can improve their farm stand sales, particularly if they adopt process innovation after RTIS implementation. We conclude by discussing the academic and practical implications of our study, along with agricultural policies that support effective RTIS use, considering regional characteristics.

Potential, precarity and persistence: What British Columbia’s Food Hub Network tells us about resilient food systems

Lindsay Harris — 2026-05-18

Food systems are increasingly complex and face threats from interconnected shocks with cascading effects. There is a need for strategies that increase food system resilience, including food hubs—a type of alternative food network that aims to enhance food system resilience through closer connections between producers and consumers. However, there is a knowledge gap between theory and practice related to the impact of alternative food networks that necessitates further study. In the Canadian province of British Columbia (BC), the emergence of the BC Food Hub Network and its atypical definition of food hubs provided a natural experiment through which to explore the roles food hubs play within regional food systems and their relationships to greater food system resilience. This paper explores how food hubs emerge with both potential and precarity, unpacking the role their aspirational potential plays in food system resilience, how the precarity of the hubs themselves can stand in the way of their success, and how their persistence is itself an expression of resilience. Our findings reveal that the role of food hubs in resilient food systems is partial, precarious, and contingent. Food hubs are not yet powerful actors within the market system, but they persist and hold aspirational potential. There is an irony inherent in this as food hubs emerge to address gaps that result from food systems not being resilient, while the food hubs themselves are not resilient and are highly precarious. This research illustrates the interplay of potential, precarity, and persistence that shapes and embodies the ongoing pursuit of food system resilience.

Advancing wholesale market access

Pratyoosh Kashyap — 2026-05-14

This pilot study examines the technical assistance (TA) needs of Black, Hispanic, and Tribal agricultural producers seeking to access wholesale markets, and the core competencies required of TA providers working to support these objectives. The study draws upon a literature review, a secondary analysis of TA programs across the U.S., and interviews with 20 TA providers from the Southern, Southeastern, and Midwest/Great Lakes regions. It identifies key challenges that underserved producers face in accessing wholesale markets, factors that determine the adoption of TA resources, and the challenges associated with program delivery by TA providers. To meet these objectives, the study uses reflexive thematic analysis and Latent Dirichlet Allocation. Findings show that regulatory complexity, limited capital, land tenure insecurity, infrastructural deficiencies, and information asymmetry were major barriers for producers in accessing wholesale markets. Skepticism about federal programming, navigating bureaucracy, operational challenges, and cultural factors were reported as barriers preventing producers from accessing available TA. The overarching theme of structural discrimination and historical distrust of federal agencies further exacerbate these barriers, leading to exclusion from both market opportunities and TA resources. Further, limited capacity, insufficient funding, and cultural barriers affect the TA providers’ ability to develop and provide tailored programming to support underserved producers and build long-term relationships. The providers identified cultural competency, technical expertise, and communication skills as critical competencies in working with diverse producers. This research underscores the need for culturally responsive TA models, capacity building of producers, place-based infrastructure and provider investment, greater access to secure land and financial capital, and more inclusive communication channels and grant structures. This study contributes to a growing body of work calling for systemic reforms in agricultural support systems. Future research that is conducted on a larger scale, that includes producer perspectives and examines impacts of policy shifts on TA programming is needed.

Improving nutrition in Massachusetts emergency food systems

Bo Wang — 2026-05-11

Introduction

Massachusetts faces a worsening food insecurity crisis: 37% of households were food insecure in 2024, up from 19% in 2019, with four regional food banks serving 882,000 people (Greater Boston Food Bank, 2025). Yet quantity alone does not ensure health. Food pantry clients consume diets high in processed foods, with Healthy Eating Index scores up to 20 points below national averages (Simmet et al., 2017), and face elevated rates of diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease (Eicher-Miller, 2020). Massachusetts bears over US$41.4 billion in annual chronic disease costs; preventing just 1% of new diabetes cases statewide would save an estimated US$66 million annually (American Diabetes Association, 2025; Massachusetts Department of Public Health, n.d.). . . .

Growing food and radical hope in Glasgow

Rose Jennings — 2026-05-07

First paragraph:

In the Practice of Collective Escape: Politics, Justice and Community in Urban Growing Projects, Helen Traill gives us a personal tour through the social complexities of community growing projects, accompanied by the rich insights of her ethnographic work over six years in Glasgow, Scotland. She follows two community growing sites during the Brexit transition and the COVID-19 pandemic. Her analytical lens weaves the work of authors who have navigated topics of inclusion and exclusion in the Commons, negative and positive freedom, social justice and political activism, and the overall benefits and challenges of urban agriculture projects. The author illustrates her claims with illuminating stories and choice quotes from gardeners and the wider community connected to the case studies. Truly, reading this as a researcher who has spent both a fair amount of time with my hands in the soil in urban growing projects and behind the desk reading about them (studying public health benefits and governance challenges), Traill’s book stands apart as an illuminating examination of an infrastructure feature increasingly accepted as a net positive in cities. Yet, these gardens are rarely critically looked at as Petri dishes for individual and community transformation, which this book does through examining concepts of inclusion, individual escape, and political activism. . . .