Document Type

Book

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Publication Date

Fall 9-17-2024

Description

In the fall of 2022, the FSRC launched the ASPIRES project (Alternative System Pathways for Interconnected Resilience, Equity, and Sustainability) to explore alternative pathways that promote resilience, equity, and sustainability within current food systems with an emphasis and research. ASPIRES is co-led by UVM’s Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) and Center for Rural Studies (CRA) and engaged directly with community partners to contemplate various food system futures, leverage these discussions for research pilot projects, and assess the potential implementation of alternative food system futures. This report summarizes findings from the first year of the ASPIRES project. This listening tour was designed to capture the voices and perspectives from diverse food systems professionals, including stakeholders in agriculture, food processing, food distribution, food retail, food waste and circular economies, the food industry, indigenous and underserved communities, food and nutritional security, food and agriculture advocacy, as well as food policy and governance. The primary goals of this listening tour were threefold: to introduce the FSRC to the region and its stakeholders; to understand food system concerns and challenges from the perspective of community members and organizations; and to discover potential solutions and alternative systems that community members and organizations are eager to explore for the region. This session debriefed the findings from the first year of the ASPIRES project, exploring a range of challenges and potential solutions identified within regional food systems. Survey respondents emphasized the need for increased funding, improved educational outreach, increased efficiency in food waste reduction, reduced barriers to charitable food systems, increased farmland access for new and marginalized farmers, reduced economic barriers to operating a farm business, and improved working conditions for farmers. In future years, the ASPIRES project will pursue some of the potential solutions identified in the listening tour through providing pilot funding to test, measure, and model impacts on resilience, equity, and sustainability outcomes. The results of these pilot projects will inform the implementation of new technologies, ideas, and system changes for the region.

City

Burlington, Vermont

Keywords

Food Systems Research Center (FSRC), ASPIRES project, regional listening tour, food systems, community-based research, food production industry, system changes, food security

Building a Community Informed Research Agenda for the FSRC: Results of the ASPIRES Regional Listening Tour

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