Innovators in Rural Community Economic Development
Shanna and Jackie were delighted to participate in the NGFN Food Hub Collaboration Spring 2014 Conference from March 26-28 in Raleigh NC. Together they presented two workshops, “Finding Common Measures for the Nation’s Food Hubs” and, along with Kristen Suokko of Local Food Hub, “Measures that Matter.” Slides and audio recordings from these workshops, as well as from all the sessions at the NGFN conference, are now available online.
Yellow Wood has been working with the Wallace Center and the study food hubs around the country in connection with the National Good Food Network, and Shanna was involved in the previous NGFN conference in 2012.
Panelists: Shanna Ratner, Jackie LeBlanc, Yellow Wood Associates
In an effort to develop a common set of metrics for food hubs to track the contributions they are making at the community level, the Wallace Center partnered with Yellow Wood Associates to research four potential common measures: 1) food access; 2) investment in food hubs by federal and private sources; 3) increased economic activity and market access for small- and mid-sized producers; and 4) increased articulation and understanding health-related outcomes. Yellow Wood Associates presented stories about how food hubs make impacts in these areas and attendees had the opportunity to weigh in on whether a common set of metrics was useful and identify other important measures.
Slides: PDF | Audio: MP3
Panelists: Shanna Ratner, Jackie LeBlanc, Yellow Wood Associates; Kristen Suokko, Local Food Hub
Attendees learned how food hubs have used You Get What You Measure®, a systems-based analysis to identify their priority measures that will tell them if they are making progress towards their goals. The first part of the session shared examples of useful measures for making progress toward infrastructure, marketing and food hub viability goals. Participants heard from Kristen Suokko about how the process of measurement is informing their work. In the second part, participants drafted their own internal and external goals and learned how to frame indicators of progress.
Slides: PDF | Audio: MP3
