About the Study

This research forms the basis of Nicole's dissertation study, entitled "Alternative Food Networks as Development: Investigating the socioeconomic and ecological impacts of regional food hubs in Rural America." Her research is currently supported by the National Science Foundation's Graduate Research Fellowship.

Study Background
Despite ample policy and research designed to reduce poverty in the U.S., rural regions are home to the most persistently poor individuals. Some scholars link the overall deterioration of rural well–being to agricultural restructuring and the disappearance of small and mid–sized family farms over the last century. Stemming from this theoretical perspective, the sustainable agriculture movement has positioned itself as a tool for community revitalization, with alternative food networks (AFNs) promoted as socially just and environmentally friendly market opportunities for rural communities in economic decline. Recent discussions highlighting the uncertainty of such claims have led to debates regarding the potential of AFNs to positively shape development outcomes for disadvantaged groups.

Local, organic produce from Swallowtail Farm in Gainesville, FL

Study Purpose

The purpose of this research is to engage with the claims in the literature and ultimately test whether or not AFNs, specifically regional food hubs (RFHs), can act as viable strategies for community revitalization and rural development. 

RFHs represent an emerging type of AFN that aims to fill distribution, infrastructure and processing gaps for local and regional producers. By filling these gaps, RFHs create growth in both the distribution and consumption of local food. 

The study will: (1) explore the dynamics of RFH location across the US and the drivers behind their spatial distribution; (2) empirically ground social, economic and environmental impacts of RFHs in a rural, high poverty context using a case study approach and drawing from the Community Capitals Framework; (3) assess key ways in which contextual factors shape local development processes and outcomes for various stakeholders, with particular attention paid to independent women farmers as a historically underserved group; and (4) connect primary data collected at the micro–scale to large–scale trends and past research in order to engage with the ongoing debate and build upon theorizations regarding the rural development capacity of RFHs specifically and AFNs broadly.

The Case Studies
Two RFHs have agreed to participate in various aspects of Nicole's research project:
(1) Growing Washington - Whatcom County, Washington (pilot study)
(2) Western Montana Growers Cooperative - Lake County, Montana (main study)

About the Researcher

Nicole Motzer is a Doctoral Candidate in the Department of Geographical Sciences at the University of Maryland, College Park. She received her bachelor's degree in geography and sustainability studies in 2011 from the University of Florida in Gainesville.

Nicole became interested in developing local food systems while working on organic farms in Gainesville, Florida and Taylorstown, Virginia. Throughout the summer of 2012, she interned with USDA's Farmers Market and Local Food Marketing Research Division where she first studied regional food hubs and their community impacts. In August 2013, she attended Boston College's 2013 Summer Institute in New Economics in Racine, Wisconsin. There she further explored ideas of agricultural cooperatives and alternative markets and how they can contribute to the health of rural communities.

Exploring The Johnson Foundation's Wingspread property in Racine

Nicole is a fellow with the National Science Foundation. Her research is currently supported by the National Science Foundation's Graduate Research Fellowship. She also works for Dr. Julie Silva's Nature Tourism project as a qualitative content analyst. In her free time, Nicole enjoys hiking, birding, gardening, reading, traveling and yoga.

This blog is intended as a free and public medium with which to keep in contact with individuals who participate in the study, as well as inform them about its progress and outcomes. The blog is also, of course, open to anyone else who wishes to read about Nicole's adventures in social science, or to learn about AFNs, like RFHs, as tools for community development.