Ohio MarketMaker
Making connections that work in Ohio's food chain
The number of producers and farmers who have registered for Ohio MarketMaker has increased nearly 35 percent since the free web-based service came online last year. Its success rests, in part, with the application of new innovations and technologies that make the resource easy to use to buy and sell food products and network with fellow food industry professionals.
"Due to demand for local foods, Ohio has the opportunity to gain more from the food economy by improving efficiencies in connections between food producers, buyers, and others in the food chain," said Julie Fox, an Ohio State University Extension direct marketing specialist at OSU South Centers at Piketon. "Ohio MarketMaker makes that happen. The electronic infrastructure combines easy-to- use information that food businesses need, including demographic, food consumption, and business profile data that can be mapped to show concentrated markets and strategic business partners."
Ohio MarketMaker (http://www.ohiomarketmaker.com) is for all businesses in the food supply chain and customers looking to buy locally grown foods. The program is part of a national network of state web sites that connect farmers with food retailers, grocery stores, processors, caterers, chefs, and other food supply chain contacts.
"MarketMaker works because of the good collaboration with instate organizations and the effort from the national network to focus on technologies so that producers and buyers can connect more efficiently," said Fox.
New initiatives recently launched include improved food consumption content, census data, a buyer/seller forum, a blog, and a national newsletter. But the real success lies in food buyer/seller connections.
"Ohio MarketMaker is for the buyers and sellers and it's your site. Tell us what's most beneficial for you. Get involved, get registered, and search the site," said Fox. "That's the best way this service will be the most successful." Ohio MarketMaker is supported through the collaboration of Ohio State University Extension, the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, the Ohio Department of Agriculture, the Ohio Farm Bureau, and the Center for Innovative Food Technology.
-- Candace Pollock
Annie's Project expands in Ohio in 2010
Anyone who has ever managed a farm operation knows it's all about risk management. And this winter, Annie's Project is taking that message to more Ohio farm women than ever before.
Named for the mother of an Illinois Extension educator who founded the program in 2000, Annie's Project is focused on helping women to be an involved business partner in family farm operations. The six-week course helps participants increase their ability to manage and organize critical information, network with other women in their community, and improve communication skills within their family and business. Annie's Project was first offered in Ohio in 2007, in only Delaware and Wood counties. In 2010, it will be offered in 13 counties in all corners of the Buckeye State.
"For women who are involved in farm operations, there's a real desire to obtain information either to be better partners or to run the operation themselves," said Doris Herringshaw, OSU Extension educator in family and consumer sciences. "Our hope is that for everyone who would like to attend, we'll have a session offered in their county or a contiguous county."
Each program will be set up a bit differently, covering topics relevant to local farming operations.
"In northwest Ohio, we will focus on grain markets, but in another part of the state, they might focus on livestock or produce operations," Herringshaw said. All programs will start with the "Real Colors" personality inventory, which is focused on communications skills.
Julia Woodruff, co-organizer of the program and OSU Extension educator in agriculture and natural resources, said Annie's Project is first and foremost a risk management program. "Anyone who has ever taken this program has glowing things to say about it, whether they're aged 18 or 89," Woodruff said. "We've had young women who have married into a farm family, and other women who, because of an illness, death, or other situation, all of a sudden find themselves in charge of the land. I'm a farm wife myself, and it's very helpful to know others who are going through the same types of things that you are."
For more information on Ohio's 2010 Annie's Project sites, contact Herringshaw at herringshaw.1@cfaes.osu.edu or 419-354-9050 or Woodruff at woodruff.94@osu.edu or 419-627-7631. For more information on Annie's Project, see http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Annie/.
-- Martha Filipic
Food Safety Hotline gets a boost
Consumers with food safety questions often don't know where to turn for reliable answers. Now, thanks to The Kroger Co. and the Center for Innovative Food Technology (CIFT), consumers are being encouraged to contact Ohio State University Extension's Food Safety Hotline by e-mail at foodsafety@osu.edu or 1-800-752-2751 (toll-free in Ohio), available between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The phone hotline has been operated since 1985 by the college's Food Industries Center. Now, a grant from CIFT, with support from Kroger, has allowed the university to hire a team of students to respond to consumer questions. The funding and hotline publicity from Kroger is part of the company's Food Safety Awareness Campaign.
The students, all of whom have received food safety training, are backed up by personnel from Ohio State's Food Industries Center and faculty experts from the Department of Food Science and Technology, the Department of Human Nutrition, and OSU Extension. After hours, consumers who call can leave a message and phone number to get a response.
The e-mail address, foodsafety@osu.edu, was recently added to the hotline as a service to people who prefer to use e-mail instead of the phone, said Stephanie Smith, food scientist with CIFT who is coordinating the effort. The hotline operation is housed in the Food Industries Center in Howlett Hall.
Lydia Medeiros, food safety specialist for OSU Extension, said the effort is helping food safety researchers from across the university work even more closely together than they have in the past. "We have people working the entire spectrum, from pre-harvest to retail to consumer food safety issues," she said. "We're all putting something on the table."
Contact Ohio State University Extension's Food Safety Hotline at 1-800-752-2751 (toll-free in Ohio) between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, or by e-mail at foodsafety@osu.edu.
-- Martha Filipic
Gardening in the city
Study looks into ecology of urban farms, ways to help gardeners
Urban farming's time, it seems, has finally come.
As families in the United States try to stretch their food budgets during the current economic downturn, many have turned to their backyards or community gardens as alternatives to pricey--or sometimes unavailable--fresh produce at the store.
Seed companies reported a 25 percent to 30 percent increase in vegetable seed and plant sales last spring. A study by the National Gardening Association conducted in early 2009 expected 43 million American households to grow their own fruits, vegetables, herbs, and berries this year--up 19 percent from 2008, with one-fifth of gardeners reporting to be new to this activity. The same study found that 5 million households were "very interested" in joining a community garden--a five-fold increase in 2009.
In Ohio and other heartland states seriously affected by the recession and ongoing job losses, the rise of urban gardening also has a lot to do with land availability.
"Midwestern cities have undergone a population and economic decline that has resulted in a significant amount of vacant land within city centers," said Mary Gardiner, an OSU Extension entomology specialist based on OARDC's Wooster campus. "Within many cities, local citizen groups are redesigning these lots to construct urban farms. But we understand very little about the ecology of vacant lot sites and the many ecological, economic, and social effects that converting these sites to production will have."
Gardiner is working with entomologist Parwinder Grewal, head of Ohio State's Urban Landscape Ecology Program, to learn more about these effects. The researchers have partnered with the Akron Grows and Cleveland City Fresh programs--which promote community gardening and local food networks--to study both the ecological properties of urban farms and their socioeconomic impacts.
The initiative will also help city gardeners implement sustainable practices, such as reduced tillage or including plants that attract beneficial insects. Such practices are expected to enhance production and provide important environmental services to garden sites and surrounding areas.
-- Mauricio Espinoza
