Abstract
This analysis applies principles and methods from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Local Foods Toolkit to demonstrate the moderating influence of countervailing effects on the economic impacts of local food purchases through farm-to-school programs in Southern Arizona using USDA Farm to School Census data. The analysis applies and expands upon recommendations in the Toolkit, introducing the concept of export substitution and exploring how water resource constraints create tradeoffs for farms through crop-shifting and cropping rotations. The analysis reveals that for fruit and vegetable exporting regions, export substitution can be a major countervailing effect. Furthermore, the analysis examines the usefulness of the Farm to School Census as a secondary data source for estimating the economic impacts of local food activities, allowing us to make recommendations for how the Census could be expanded and supplemented for regional economic applications.
Highlights
The Agricultural Marketing Service of the U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA, AMS) supported the development and publication of an economic impact assessment “Toolkit” (Thilmany McFadden et al, 2016) to assist researchers and community groups in evaluating the economic outcomes of local food initiatives
This analysis draws on scenarios developed using data from the FTS Census presented in the previous sections, the 2013 NASS Annual Statistics Bulletin for Arizona (USDA NASS, 2013), and recommendations presented by Thilmany McFadden et al (2016) in the Local Foods Toolkit
6 “The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is the standard used by Federal statistical agencies in classifying business establishments for the purpose of collecting, analyzing, and publishing statistical data related to the U.S business economy” (U.S Census Bureau, n.d., para. 1)
Summary
The Agricultural Marketing Service of the U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA, AMS) supported the development and publication of an economic impact assessment “Toolkit” (Thilmany McFadden et al, 2016) to assist researchers and community groups in evaluating the economic outcomes of local food initiatives. The Toolkit provides a review of key economic concepts, guidance on conducting analyses, and empirical examples from previous studies. The Toolkit is organized into seven modules that cover engagement with community partners and project planning, the use of secondary data, and the collection and use of primary data, as well as both basic and more sophisticated applications of economic inputoutput models relying on IMPLAN modeling software and data
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