Public-Private Partnerships Opportunities and Lessons Learned Partnerships

Public-Private Partnerships: Opportunities and Lessons Learned

Partnerships: Opportunities and Lessons Learned • CEFS evolution with partnership • The concentric rings of partnership and what each allowed us to accomplish • Lessons learned, challenges and opportunities as we moved through them, both internal and external

Of Note…. • • • USDA has been with us every step of the way: Southern Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program National Research Initiative for Future Agricultural and Food Systems Higher Education Challenge grants NRCS: Conservation Innovation Grants Organic Research and Extension Initiative (OREI) Integrated Organics Program (IOP) NIFA: Beginning Farmers and Ranchers

Concentric Ring 1 Fundamental Partnership 1994 • • NC State, NC A&T State University, NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Influenced and inspired by partner groups

Structure of CEFS • NCDA&CS owns and operates the 2000 acre field facility with approximately 23 staff. • New programming is brought primarily by NCSU and NCA&T SU and its partners through grants, or internal allocation of resources • 35 research, extension, and teaching faculty represent 12 disciplines

Fundamental Partnership • Challenges: Varying approaches to agriculture, resource flow and allocation, different organizational cultures • Opportunities: Stronger program; able to integrate research, academics, and extension; additional resources for the work; broader audiences; more expertise • Lessons Learned: Details about what we are doing and why can go a long way in facilitating buy-in and support through all levels of staffing

Concentric Ring 2 Fundamental Partnership 1994 Agriculture stakeholder groups 1990 s • Agriculture Stakeholder Groups: Carolina Farm Stewardship Association, Rural Advancement Foundation International, American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, North Carolina Farm Bureau

Program Elements at Field Facility • • • Farming Systems Research Unit Organic Research Unit Small Farm Unit Animal Units: Alternative swine, pasture-based dairy, pasturebased beef New: Compost and Goat Units

Integrated Research 81 hectare long-term study Comparison of 5 systems Organic Forestry Crop/animal BMP Old Field

Opportunities: Could Address Complex and Interdisciplinary Problems • • • A model for long-term, large-scale systems research directed toward agricultural sustainability. USDA SARE. 1997. $256, 694. 00. (Mueller et al) Strategies for Transition to Organic Systems: Ecological and Economic Indices. USDA NRI. 1999. $380, 000. (Creamer et al) Developing an Intensive Summer Internship Program in Sustainable Agricultural Systems. USDA Higher Education Challenge Grant. 1999. $96, 605. 00. (Creamer et al) CEFS Long-Term Systems Research: Providing the Building Blocks for Resilient Food Production Systems. USDA SARE. 2012. $286, 000 (Reberg-Horton, et al) Assessing the greenhouse gas mitigation potential of organic systems in the Southeast. USDA-NIFA. 2012. $734, 802. (Hu, et al)

Agriculture Stakeholders • Internal Challenges o Tenure and Reward System (administrative vs department) o Money Flow, Tracking, and Credit o Publication Credit (impact and authorship order) • External Challenges: o o o • Definitions Shared vision Talking through the nuts and bolts of planning scientific experiments Trust Keeping stakeholders engaged as transition to operations Lessons Learned: o Keep it positive o Hear all of the voices

Concentric Ring 3 Fundamental Partnership 1994 Agriculture stakeholder groups 1990 s Environmental groups, 2002 • • University-Community Partnerships (WKKF) Agriculture stakeholders and environmental groups Development of NC Choices Premise: Put your Money where your Mouth is

Background: NC Choices Partners: American Livestock Breeds Conservancy Carolina Farm Stewardship Association Environmental Defense Heifer International Neuse River Foundation North Carolina Coastal Federation Rural Advancement Foundation International – USA Sierra Club – North Carolina Chapter Southern Environmental Law Center Sustainable North Carolina

Processing: Local Meat Bottleneck Markets Processors (cutting, packaging, value added) Bottleneck Farmers Marketing Transportation Aggregation

Significant Hurdles in the State • Local food system was broken…. No matter how good the production systems were that we were developing, we had to address these issues so that our growers could take advantage of the growing opportunities. • Additional Partners were needed to expand our work

Agriculture and Environmental Stakeholders • Broad Partnerships • Creating Trust all Around

Concentric Ring 4 Fundamental Partnership 1994 Agriculture stakeholder groups 1990 s Environmental groups, 2002 Broader interests, organizations, agencies, governments, community, businesses, 2009 • Local Food Systems: CEFS led collaboration between agriculture stakeholders, environmental groups, local government officials, nutritionists, health professionals and organizations, anti-hunger groups, faith based organizations, youth-based organizations, economic developers, funding partners, entrepreneurs, retailers, consumers, academic institutions and other agencies

The Perfect Storm Transformative Change • Traditional Land Grant University focus (research, extension, academic) are very important components but not enough • Arguments based on “sustainability” or “environment” are not enough • The time is right, right now -the “perfect storm”- to make transformative change in the food system • Partnerships are key

Local Foods • • Rural Revitalization Economic Development Job Creation Addressing Food Related Disease Farmland Preservation FARMER Preservation Environmental Sustainability Food Security

Across the State We Saw: Community Leadership, Business Entrepreneurship, Regional Planning Southeastern NC Food Southeastern NC Systems Project Food Systems Project

But…. • • Lack of Coordination Piecemeal Approach Lack of Momentum No Strategic Plan to move the state’s Local Food Economy forward • Funders wanted to know where to put their money- what would be successful?

Building a Local Food Economy in NC • • More than 1000 participants Broad range of partners “Game Changers” State, County, Community

Partnerships Compass Group…The Pit…John Rex Endowment…Elaine’s on Franklin…Blue Cross Blue Shield…Walking Fish Cooperative…UNC Wilmington…Robeson County Farmers Market…NCSU Dining Services…Ferrington Farmers Market… Cabarrus County…. Ocean Highway Country Store. . . NC Farm Bureau. . . Fuquay Varina Downtown Revitalization…. UNC Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention…Outer Banks Epicurean…. UNC Asheville…Lucky 32. . . Whole Foods Markets…. Girl Scout Troup 734…. Heron’s Restaurant…Cottle Organics…Town of Knightdale…Goat Lady Dairy…. Triangle Land Conservancy… Eastern Carolina Organics…. Eat Smart Move More… Charlotte-Mecklenburg Food Policy Council. . . Carolina Farm Credit…Uwharrie Capital Corp…Vance County Farmers Market…. Lantern Restaurant…Magnolia Grill…NC Sea Grant…Red Hat… NC Cooperative Extension Service…. NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services… Sustainable Sandhills. . BRAC Regional Task Force…. Slow Food Asheville…. NCSU College of Agriculture and Life Sciences……. Cabarrus County Schools…Burt’s Bees…Onslow County Farmers Market…. NCA&TSU School of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences… 18 Seaboard…Freshpoint, Lowes Foods, , and 600+ more…

Game Changers The Importance of Partnership • • Community Garden in Every County (BCBSFNC) Pre-service Teacher Education for Farm to School (ASAP) Recurring Dollars for Farmland Preservation Trust Fund Strengthen Snap-Ed and increased access to local foods in Low-Income Communities • Teen/youth engagement in food systems: Food Corps • Support for Beginning Farmers

Challenges and Lessons Learned • • Different meeting styles Everyone stepping on everyone’s toes Competition for Resources Recognition and understanding within the University structure Good Facilitation and Process is key Find Common Ground Mechanism for Follow up Don’t define everything (!!)

Opportunities • Healthy Foods, Healthy Communities: A proposal for partnership to establish a national model for improved community health and economic development through the development of community-based food systems. Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation of North Carolina. $2. 5 million

Research has been the basis of: • • • New production systems New marketing models New business enterprises More profitability Environmental sustainability Rural development Community Engagement Healthy living New partnerships

Concentric Ring 5 Fundamental Partnership 1994 Agriculture stakeholder groups 1990 s Environmental groups, 2002 Broader interests, organizations, agencies, community, businesses, 2009 Business partnerships, deeper collaborations, 2012 • Cracking the tough nut: A potential national model for Food Systems change. Partners include: Large scale grocery chain, military base, distributors, aggregators, non-profit organizations, agencies, universities, etc. .

Game Changers The Importance of Partnership • Develop a model farm-to-institution program that addresses barriers to procurement for institutional markets: Feed the Forces

Applied for USDA Food Security AFRI • Wonderful partnerships and collaborations that existed • History of cooperation • Expertise in many areas • Interest and enthusiasm among various sectors for systems change • Interest in scaling up (while keeping what is special) • Tremendous demand for local • Capacity for Integration (research, extension, academic)

What we all want to Know…. • Can the current distribution system by itself or in combination with innovative food hubs (or other emerging middle businesses) provide increased access to local foods in large conventional markets across the socio-economic spectrum and still offer adequate returns (monetary and societal) to all in the value chain, from farmer to consumer?

What we all want to know… • Can we develop systems that support small and midsized farmers (in addition to large) and be profitable for all parts of the value chain. • Can we close the loop in the waste stream to optimize profitability? • Can we throw out the box and really innovate around improving access to all consumers, while still maintaining profitability for all in the value chain?

It wont be easy…. …. GAPS certification, food safety, price, uniform quality, standards, aggregation, transportation, specifications, infrastructure, processing capacity, cold storage, consumer education, liability insurance, triple-bottomline, logistics, access to credit, farm size/scale, business analysis, different values, communication, research/assessment, proprietary information, expectations, training needs, production capacity, diversification, personalities….

Stone Soup • Only through partnership will it be possible

CEFS: Our Principles and Values • Participatory Programming: We value stakeholder involvement and input, and partnership development • We believe that economic and rural development, and food security can be achieved through local and sustainable agriculture • We speak to the positive and focus on building bridges and finding common ground • We are committed to educating and training young people • We celebrate complexity (from soils to graduate students) • We seek to support farmers of all sizes and scales

Keys to Transformational Change Internal to Universities • • • Faculty reward structure Academic and degree programs A collaborative place matters Support for faculty working on policy Leveraging the “army” Food Systems not Production Systems

Keys to Transformational Change External to the University • • • Facilitation and Process Broad Collaboration and Partnership Beyond production Inclusiveness Promoting a positive message

CEFS Network and Partnership Analysis