SCC-CIVIC-PG Track B: A Coordinated Food Hub Network and Farm to Institution Program: Building Bridges between Small Local Farmers and Institutions in New York State Capital Region

SCC-CIVIC-PG 轨道 B：协调的食品中心网络和农场到机构计划：在纽约州首府地区当地小农民和机构之间架起桥梁

• 批准号: 2228544
• 负责人: Xiaokun (Cara) Wang
• 金额: $ 5万
• 依托单位: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-10-01 至 2023-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2228544&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SCC; CIVIC; PG; Track; Coordinated

Food access is one of the largest social problems in the United States. The challenge of accessing healthy foods is especially pronounced in communities of disadvantaged populations. Ironically, small local farmers and producers of healthy foods struggle to make a living. In states across the country, the numbers of family own food producers have steadily declined since the 1960s. This project proposes to develop a Local Food Cooperation (LFC) program that integrates (1) a state-level food hub network which enables the coordination of multiple regional food hubs, and (2) regional Farm to Institution programs that address regional food insecurity and inequity. The proposed LFC program would provide a platform for information exchange and, possibly, trading so that food hubs in different regions can collaboratively leverage the surpluses to provide a stable supply. The program will also enable local food processors to process and pack food at a competitive price. The program would be able to engage regional distributors to use their distribution and transportation capabilities and local resources to efficiently connect supply and demand. This program would help small food producers to gain the necessary knowledge and technological skills to use the platform, and to get needed certifications. Finally, by integrating institutional customers into this program, it is possible for suppliers and customers to exchange information about needs for products and availability of healthy foods in a timely manner. In this project, the team will prepare all work for a pilot test that will (1) collect data and update the existing food consumption forecasting models; (2) integrate research-based technical modules into the information exchange and trading platform, which would include demand and supply prediction and matching, as well as distribution and transportation optimizers; (3) assess the effectiveness of different governance structures; (4) test the financial arrangements that will help attract participants to the program and also ensure the program’s financial self-sustainability; (5) evaluate the benefits and costs of the LFC program and its transferability and scalability. The proposed project will significantly improve the state-of practice of food supply chain operations by integrating pioneering research into a community-based program. It will also contribute to the state-of-art of freight demand forecasting, as the project will use newly collected food production and consumption data to enhance existing freight production models, making them more accurate in predicting food production and consumption, and institutional consumer behavior. This project is in response to the Civic Innovation Challenge program—Track B. Bridging the gap between essential resources and services & community needs—and is a collaboration between NSF, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Energy.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

食品获取是美国最大的社会问题之一，在弱势群体社区中，获取健康食品的挑战尤其明显，而全国各州的当地小农和健康食品生产商却难以谋生。自 20 世纪 60 年代以来，家庭拥有的食品生产者数量稳步下降。该项目建议制定一项地方食品合作 (LFC) 计划，该计划整合了 (1) 一个国家级食品中心网络，该网络能够协调多个区域食品中心，和（2）解决区域粮食不安全和不平等问题的区域农场到机构计划 拟议的 LFC 计划将提供一个信息交流平台，并可能提供交易平台，以便不同地区的食品中心能够合作利用盈余来提供稳定的供应。该计划还使当地食品加工商能够以有竞争力的价格加工和包装食品，从而吸引区域分销商利用其分销和运输能力以及当地资源，有效地连接供应和需求。使用该技术所必需的知识和技术技能最后，通过将机构客户纳入该计划，供应商和客户可以及时交换有关产品需求和健康食品供应的信息。在该项目中，团队将做好准备。试点测试的所有工作将（1）收集数据并更新现有的粮食消费预测模型；（2）将基于研究的技术模块集成到信息交换和交易平台中，其中包括需求和供应预测和匹配，例如(3) 评估有效性不同的治理结构；（4）测试有助于吸引参与者参与该计划并确保该计划的财务自我可持续性的财务安排；（5）评估LFC计划的收益和成本及其可转移性和可扩展性。通过将开创性研究整合到基于社区的计划中，它还将有助于最先进的货运需求预测，因为该项目将使用新收集的食品生产和消费数据来预测食品供应链运营的现状。提高现有货运产量模型，使它们能够更准确地预测粮食生产和消费以及机构消费者行为。该项目是为了响应公民创新挑战计划 - 轨道 B。弥合基本资源和服务与社区需求之间的差距 - 并且是双方之间的合作。 NSF、国土安全部和能源部。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。