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More Than a Niche - Transforming the Sustainable Ag Movement
The following article appeared in the June 2003 FAS Update newsletter of the Kellogg Food and Society Initiative.
One of Iowa's traditional commodities - pigs - is the inspiration for a new idea that promises to transform the sustainable agriculture movement throughout Iowa and across the United States. Building on an innovative value chain model involving pork producers in Iowa, Value Chains Partnerships for a Sustainable Agriculture (VCPSA) is opening markets to small and mid-size sustainable farms by reshaping existing food production and distribution systems. Following is a question and answer interview with Richard Pirog, marketing and food systems research program leader for the Leopold Center at Iowa State University and project director for VCPSA.
- What is VCPSA? Lots of farmers, particularly those operating mid-size farms, are not big enough to compete as the lowest cost producers, but they also cannot rely solely on direct marketing to consumers for the majority of their farm income. With the VCPSA project, we try to make the entire food production, processing, and distribution network — the value chain — more collaborative to reward mid-size farmers who use more sustainable production practices.
- What are the priorities of VCPSA? Our main priority is to implement strategies that encourage value chains to reward small and mid-size farmers for sustainable agriculture practices. We want the way food is grown or raised to be part of the quality equation. Once all members in a value chain place real value on how food is produced, sustainable practices might become the norm, rather than the exception. Another important goal is to further develop Iowa State University's capacity to help address the needs of value chains that already reward sustainable practices or those that want to.
- How do you plan to reach those goals? We've developed a model of value chain collaboration called the Pork Niche Market Working Group (PNMWG). The PNMWG has participants from more than 20 different organizations plus several groups, colleges, departments and centers at Iowa State University. Through financial support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Leopold Center and several other key partners, the PNMWG is addressing the significant challenges faced by pork producer networks.
- How are the benefits of VCPSA being seen? Working with Iowa State University's Colleges of Business and Agriculture, with support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the SYSCO Corporation and others, the university now offers an MBA with a minor in sustainable agriculture — the first of its kind at a land-grant institution. As students, these MBA candidates will work with professors and VCPSA working groups to address real-world challenges. As graduates, they'll help shape sustainable agriculture business models across the nation.
- What do you foresee in VCPSA's future? Using what we've learned from PNMWG, we're developing two new working groups. The first, launching this summer, examines business structures that help farmers have more say and influence across all segments of the value chain. The other group, to launch this fall, will examine the economic, community and environmental impact of local/regional food value chains to help farmers craft more effective market messages and increase economic development dollars to flow toward local/regional food value chain enterprises.
The Food and Society is an initiative of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation's Food Systems and Rural Development programming area. To subscribe to the initiative's monthly e-newsletter, FAS Update, e-mail your request to ndebeaufort@vancomm.com.
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