Critical Reflections on the USDA Local Food Economics Toolkit

Abstract

In this paper we report the results of a field test of an economic impact toolkit recently commissioned by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The toolkit was created as a guide for food systems organizations to frame issues and collect and analyze data in order to credibly measure economic and other benefits of their initiatives. To test the toolkit, we applied it to an economic contribution study of a local food-buying program in a large regional hospital in Vermont. Our findings indicate that by working with a dedicated and motivated community partner, we were able to agree on the scope and objectives of the project, obtain highquality data, and enter these data into an inputoutput model to measure broader economic contributions (Modules 1 though 6 of the toolkit). We experienced difficulty, however, in obtaining data from a sufficient number of the hospital's vendors to modify the model from its default settings to better reflect local food system actors' purchase patterns (the subject of Module 7). Our experience suggests that practitioners need to work with community partners and consider which stages of the analysis meet their project objectives; in particular, they should focus on the difficulty and expense of incorporating Module 7. Our implications focus on strategies for decreasing the cost and effort of data collection for Module 7.

What is a ‘Multiplier’ Anyway? Assessing the Economics of Local Foods Systems Toolkit

“…Of the 144 individuals who responded to the survey, 80% agreed that the webinars and/or trainings improved their understanding of how to evaluate economic impacts, and 45% reported that they used information from the Toolkit to support their ongoing work. These observations are similar to feedback obtained from a similar study undertaken by Conner, Becot, and Imrie (2017), which revealed the widespread application of Toolkit principles in community-level food system planning efforts around the country.…”

Evaluating the Economic Impacts of Farm-to-school Procurement: An Approach for Primary and Secondary Financial Data Collection of Producers Selling to Schools

“…Those using the tools presented in this paper should, as Deller et al (2017) suggest, proceed with caution. Collecting sufficient data to conduct credible modification of IMPLAN and adequately account for potential opportunity costs are difficult (Conner et al, 2016;Deller et al, 2017).…”

Can a shift in the purchase of local foods by Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients impact the local economy?

“…While recently published best practices call for adjusting patterns of agricultural producers selling directly to consumers (Jablonski and Schmit, 2016 a ), we did not adjust the production function nor the local purchases percentages of the vegetable and melon farm sector in IMPLAN due to lack of data. This lack of data is a common barrier in economic impact studies of local food initiatives because it is difficult and costly to collect detailed data on the expenditure patterns of farmers (O'hara and Pirog, 2013; Hardesty et al ., 2016; Jablonski et al ., 2016 b ; Conner et al ., 2017).…”