A QUALITATIVE STUDY USING FOCUS GROUPS A THESIS Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
Master of Science (in Food Science and Human Nutrition)
The Graduate School, The University of Maine
May 2014
Maine has a history and tradition of agriculture in the state. Some growth in the number
of farms in recent years has been due to youth entering agriculture, and in the development of small, diverse farms. There is also public interest in purchasing fresh, local foods. This study was done in conjunction with a University of Maine Cooperative Extension study that assessed Maine farmer’s views of the future of farming in Maine. The farmers (n=189) participated in one of twelve focus groups held across the state and represented a broad sector of Maine agriculture, including vegetable and fruit growers, beef and dairy producers, organic and conventional growers, and farmers with both large and small farming businesses. They were asked a specific series of questions, and their responses were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed for content related to their ability to provide food to feed Maine people. Farmers identified numerous barriers preventing them from providing food to feed the Maine population, yet their optimism for farming and the future was evident. Barriers to providing food for the population were summarized in the difficulty making a profit considering farmland costs and maintenance, and adhering to regulations. Lack of processing and distribution infrastructure was identified as a major barrier as well. In response to whether they had the ability to grow enough food to feed Maine people, the response was affirmative, but farmers expressed the need for support in order to do so. They named the need for infrastructure, ways to overcome the short growing season, and the population’s willingness to eat regionally as barriers to overcome in order to feed the Maine population. Beyond the ability to provide fresh, nutritious food, farmers provide the potential for economic development in a variety of sectors, such as research, education, tourism, infrastructure, retail, and marketing. When considering the future of providing food for Maine people, the farmers in this study optimistically voiced simple, but profound statements, such as, “Farmers make life possible,” and “We all have to eat.” They envision Maine farmers working in unity to feed others and to grow the economy: “Maine can be the breadbasket of New England …by working together, whether we’re conventional, organic, permaculture … we all wanna’ grow food.” Policy makers should take notice of what may be Maine’s greatest natural resources – farmers, and the food that can be produced from our land.
DEDICATION
This study is dedicated to all Maine farmers who love working the soil, who continue to
farm despite the many hurdles they encounter, and who constantly adapt to inevitable
change in order to share good food with others. This study is also dedicated to the many
Mainers who experience hunger and who cannot afford to purchase fresh, nutritious
foods grown in the state of Maine.
(Note to reader: This 5-chapter thesis will be published as a series of blog posts, as the document is too large for the blog platform format. For Chapters 3-4, see post #2 and for Chapters 5-6, see post #3.)
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Most food is shipped an average of 1,500 miles from the farm where it was grown
before it reaches its destination (your plate), and changes hands an average of six times in the process (Blatt, 2008). Due to the increasing distances food travels and the
industrialized conditions under which food is often produced, agriculture has taken center
stage in the cultural conversation about nutritious food. This conversation is changing
how food is grown, prepared, and eaten, and how it is studied and discussed.
While much nutrition and food access research has been designed to evaluate the
behavior and perspectives of consumers and health care professionals, little is known
about farmers’ (particularly Maine farmers’) perspectives on the issues of nutrition, food
provision, and food access (Berlin, Lockeretz, & Bell, 2009). However, some researchers
have investigated the positive aspects of farming, as well as the barriers, for farmers in
Maine (Ross, 2005; Berlin, Lockeretz, & Bell 2009). Farmers’ opinions are important to
consider because they influence how food is grown, and the pressures they face and
decisions they make ultimately affect food quality.
The goal of this study was describe the data collected through an Assessing
Maine’s Agricultural Future (AMAF) study through the lens of Maine farmers’
perspectives on food provision and nutrition in order to better understand the optimism
and barriers farmers experience in distributing their food to Maine people, as well as their views regarding Maine farmers’ capacity to produce enough food to feed Maine people.
CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Research Involving Farming in New England
The history and evolution of farming in Maine has been outlined in books,
lectures, and publications (Beal and Jemison, 2011; Felder, 2011; Smith, 2004a; Smith,
2004b; Ahn et al., 2002; Day, 1963; Black, 1950). There are also small, but rich, subsets of research literature related to agriculture in Maine, and to food provision and access in Maine (Berlin, Lockeretz, & Bell 2009; Ross, 2005). Authors revealed farmers’ optimism to growing and selling food to Maine people, and some of the hurdles farmers have historically faced (Felder, 2011; Berlin, Lockeretz, & Bell, 2009; Smith, 2004a).
Additional topics identified in the literature include the growth of farming in Maine,
influential food policy (Concannon, 2011; Pingree, 2013).
2.1.1. A brief history of farming in Maine. The number of working Maine farms
reached its pinnacle in 1880, with 64,309 farms covering over 6.5 million acres, equal to about 33% of the Maine land base (Ahn et al., 2002). Prior to the Civil War, subsistence farming formed the basis of agriculture in the United States (Beal and Jemison, 2011). Most Mainers’ meals came from the family farm, with each farm about 100 acres in size (Beck et al., 2011). The number and size of farms in Maine, as well as percentage of land in agriculture, declined with the advent of industrialization and railroads between 1880 and 1945 (Ahn et al., 2002). During the 1970’s, there was an increase in the number of smaller, more diversified farms, but not in the amount of land used for agriculture (Smith, 2004a). By 1997 only 13% of Maine’s land remained in agricultural production (Ahn et al., 2002), with 5,788 farms each averaging 214 acres (Smith, 2004a).
2.1.2. Recent growth in Maine farming, decline of dairies. Although Maine
steadily lost farms, farmers, and farmland over the past century, the state has been
gaining all three of these assets in recent years. From 2001 to 2011, the number of farms in Maine increased from about 7,000 (Piotti, 2011) to 8,100 farms covering 1,350,000 acres of land, with an average farm size of 167 acres (USDA, 2012). This upward trend was in part due to Land for Maine’s Future, which helped preserve farmland and get it into farmers’ hands (Piotti, 2011).
Maine had only one farmers’ market in 1975 (MOFGA, 2013a) compared to 112
farmers’ markets in 2013 operating during the spring, summer, and fall (See Table A.1.)
(MOFGA, 2013b). The year 1989 marks Maine’s first community supported agriculture
(CSA) initiative, ventures that allows patrons to purchase a share of crops in the spring
and agree to receive food weekly throughout the season that the farm is able to produce;
by 2010 there were 145 CSA’s in Maine (MOFGA, 2013a). In 2011, there were 635
organic farms in Maine, along with thousands of conventional farms, and 1,873 licensed, home-based food processors (Beck et al., 2011).
The state of Maine has historically had an abundance of dairies, though that number is shrinking (Libby, 2011) from 381 in 2004 to 306 in 2010 (Drake, 2011). Monetary support for New England dairies has decreased with lack of reauthorization from the Northeast Dairy Compact (Hayes, 2011), although dairy farmers still received close to $1 million in governmental Farm Service Agency price supports in fiscal year 2010 (Hayes, 2011). However, some small local dairies have thrived during the past decade in Maine, such as White Orchard Farms and Grassland Farms, among many others. Moo Milk is a good example of the collective efforts of some of these smaller dairies to make their businesses profitable and sustainable into the future. The number of artisan cheese makers has also greatly expanded, with businesses such as Monroe Cheese Studio, Fuzzy Udder Creamery, and Olde Oak Farm.
2.1.3. The evolution and adaptation of farming in Maine. Stewart Smith (2004a, 2004b) was a Professor of Sustainable Agriculture Policy at the University of Maine for over twenty years. In addition to operating his family potato farm, he was a member of the Maine Legislature, served as an administrator within the USDA, and led the Maine Department of Agriculture as Commissioner. He was co-founder, long-time Executive Director, and is a current Board member of the Maine Sustainable Agriculture Society (University of Maine, 2014). He wrote a report (Smith, 2004a) and presented a lecture (Smith, 2004b) on the changing face of agriculture in the state of Maine at the University of Southern Maine’s Changing Maine Lecture Series that provided important insight into the barriers farmers have historically faced, and adaptation that has kept them alive.
Smith (2004b) highlighted a Maine agriculture “challenged to change with the
times.” He presented numerous stories of farmers reverting their farming operations from
large, commodity-based farms to smaller, more diversified farms. He used the term “local
agriculture,” and described it as agriculture “built around local food systems where
farmers produce food for consumers rather than commodities for market.” Smith (2004a)
felt that Maine farmers’ ability to adapt to new ways of thinking about the way they farm,
and to move their farms in the direction of local, sustainable, multifunctional (diverse)
farms with a shared vision were keys to their future success, as long as the state remained
supportive through its policies and Maine consumers continued to value Maine farms.
2.1.4. Barriers to Maine farming. A small amount of research exists about farming in Maine and the barriers farmers have faced. Ross (2005) interviewed 31 locally
focused, successful Maine farmers who described some of their challenges, including
farmland preservation, farmland affordability, training and financing for new farmers,
working capital, business planning assistance, and the need for more infrastructure such
as slaughterhouses and gristmills. Poultry farmers said they were affected when
slaughterhouses went out of business; apple farmers said they lost processing plants for
products with cosmetic blemishes, and potato growers mentioned they were not able to
store their cosmetically imperfect product year-round for industry processing needs.
Additional problems farmers outlined included loss of farm supply businesses, inability
to capture the value of development rights on farm property, and traditional farm credit
programs that favored commodity growers and failed to meet the needs of smaller scale
Maine farmers.
Community shared agriculture (CSA) ventures are partnerships where consumers
purchase a share of the farm, paying a larger sum of cash up front to fund seasonal
farming operations, and agree to receive a portion of the produce the farm is able to
produce throughout the season. Though CSA’s have been shown to be viable and
sustainable models for farmers to reach customers, consumers in this study found them
difficult in a number of ways: extra travel, inconvenient hours and locations,
overabundance of vegetables, non-availability of certain products, and lack of advance
information about what products will be available (Ross, 2005). In addition, the cost of
participating in CSA’s was a barrier to buying local food products, especially for low-income consumers, though many farmers made conscious efforts to reduce prices in
lower income markets. Ross (2005) stated, “The markets in which most of the farmers
operate do not assure lower income people equal access to high-quality locally grown
food.” Rather than solely relying on farmers to make their food financially accessible for
everyone, “local food access is a policy issue that involves wider civic responsibility”
(Ross, 2005), which means that as a nation, and as a state, and as a community, people should share the responsibility with farmers of making sure everyone has good food to eat; that burden should not fall upon food producers alone.
In his report Smith (2004a) outlined challenges facing the Maine farming system,
which included a diverse land base lacking vast stretches of contiguous fields. Stony,
shallow, acidic soils in some areas of the state meant increased input costs to ameliorate
the soil to produce good quality crops (Smith, 2004a). Smith mentioned the pressures of
urban sprawl and development; Blatt (2008) called urban development the “land’s last
crop” (Blatt, 2008), indicating that after pavement covers agricultural land, that land will
probably never again produce food. According to Smith (2004a) the market value for
land exceeded its perceived agricultural value at the time his report was written, a
concern seen in the research Ross (2005) presented. Other burdens Smith (2004a) cited
were a short growing season, lack of accessible aquifers, high labor and input costs, and outside competition from other farmers. In addition, farm production near consumers
meant that they might deem some agricultural practices “disruptive,” such as the smell of
manure, the sound of tractors, or the application of pesticides that run into local
waterways.
In a recent issue of the Maine Policy Review, Felder (2011) presented a narrative
in which she raised a number of questions regarding the barriers Maine farmers have
faced, such as whether supply will meet demands, whether wholesale prices properly
support farmers, and whether most Maine farmers have health insurance. She raised
concerns regarding loss of shoreline acreage and processing facilities, lack of
distribution, high fuel prices, and genetically modified seeds and foods. Additionally, she
along with Beck and colleagues (2011), mentioned increased use of food stamps and food pantries and highlighted issues of food insecurity and hunger in Maine, and the need for farmers to help overcome these barriers by providing food. Beck and colleagues (2011) also reported that most consumers purchase food at grocery stores, disconnected from their food source. A need for consumer education was cited by both authors (Beck et al, 2011; Felder, 2011).
2.1.5. Optimism in Maine farming. In her research on farming in Maine, Ross
(2005) interviewed 31 locally focused, successful Maine farmers who offered several
explanations for their success. Customer connections and relationships were given as the
primary reasons for success by 84% of the farmers. These relationships were described as
a source of pride and of information exchange. Farmers in this study saw their customers
as important to product and service development, evaluation, and marketing (Ross,
2005). Due to direct sales, such as through the Maine Senior Farm Share Program,
farmers were more aware of the socio-economic classes of their customers as well, and
that awareness was seen as positive (Ross, 2005). Other major reasons for success noted by these farmers included offering quality products, and investment in the future vision for their farms. The farmers also indicated that Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) shares were viable ways for small and medium farms to sell food. These worked because farmers used the money paid for shares in the spring for their farms to operate throughout the season and were able to make strong community connections with patrons who supported their business and liked the idea of buying into the farms’ production success or hardship in a given season.
In his report on farming in Maine, Smith (2004a) identified “local agriculture
farming [as] one of the few growing components of the Maine farming industry.” This
growth was in part due to Maine’s agricultural diversity, characterized by the presence of
competitive commodity farms and diversified farming systems. The benefits of diversity
included protection from production gaps, such as low yields, and more flexibility to
adapt to consumer demands and market niches. Livestock-crop integration on smaller
farms reduced input costs, increased soil quality and long term yields, as well as
increased farm diversity, all positive measures towards increasing food production. Other
benefits to farming in Maine included natural rainfall, good quality soils, and limited pest
problems.
Berlin, Lockeretz, & Bell (2009) studied New England consumers’ behavior and
attitudes towards the purchase of organic, small-scale, locally grown or produced food.
Using focus groups, individual interviews, and mailed surveys they found that consumers
tended to associate large agribusiness with negative experiences. Consumers used phrases such as “loss of control over one’s diet” and “loss of options in the supermarket,”
indicating that consumers were concerned about the ingredients processed foods
contained, and felt that the only choices offered to them in supermarkets were heavily
processed foods, or fruits and vegetables not grown locally. The participants in this study
valued purchasing local foods because they enjoyed having farms in the city, the
experience of buying at farmers’ markets, and getting fresh food from these venues.
Shopping for food was seen as a community-based experience where the consumer
supported the farmer, and the farmer provided a diversity of fresh, unprocessed food
products. Smith (2004a) also found that opportunities for huge market growth existed in
Maine, and projected that farmers could increasingly capture part of the local market
share, either through increased local sales with retail stores and institutions such as
schools or hospitals. He was hopeful about the processing capacity in the state, citing one major frozen potato (French fry) processing plant, four milk processing facilities, and six blueberry freezing processors in Washington and Hancock counties. He said that farm production near consumers gave farmers the opportunity to sell food products.
In her narrative, Felder (2011) presented an optimistic view of Maine’s food
system, from tomatoes grown all year in greenhouses located in Madison, Maine, and the availability of Maine grown and milled wheat, local blueberries, lobsters, apples, honey, maple syrup, and potatoes. She reported growth in consumer demand for local food, leading to growth in farmers’ markets, community supported agriculture (CSA) and
community supported fish (CSF) share programs, as well as farm-to-school, farm-totable,
institutional buying, and cooperative ventures in Maine in which farmers directly supplied these venues with locally grown food. With the link between health care and poverty, diet, obesity, heart disease, and diabetes, she mentioned that Maine farmed foods may be seen as preventative health care. Food can also be seen as a link to culture and to
community, and as a way to preserve the health, culture, and community of generations
to come.
2.1.6. Influential food policy. The latest Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010,
“recommend more plant-based foods, less processed food, more whole grains, more leafy greens, more vegetables, more fruits, lean meats, less fat, less sodium, more legumes, more seafood, and smaller portions of food” for most people (Concannon, 2011). These guidelines have potential to influence what consumers choose to buy from farmers and what farmers choose to sell. Concannon (2011) spoke about the resurging interest in“home gardens, organic farming, healthier eating, farmers’ markets, school gardens, native fruits and vegetables, and even the ability for households to purchase fruits and vegetable seeds using food stamp benefits” as beneficial for local farmers.
Pingree (2011) has been a leader in the local agriculture movement through the Local Farms, Food and Jobs Act included in the 2012 Farm Bill. She described Maine farmers’ success with growing numbers of small farms, young people coming into agriculture, and increased sales at farmers’ markets, farm stands, and community supported agriculture (CSA) ventures. The following provisions were part of the bill:
- Diversified farms can now access crop insurance.
- A pilot program allows schools to use more federal funding for local foods.
- Grants and marketing assistance are available for farm stands and farmers’
markets.
- Money is available to help farmers convert conventional farms into organic
farms.
- Additional funding is now available for rural business development (such as
value-added food producers to purchase equipment.)
- More funding is available for research on organic farming.
- he USDA is required to study local food economies, and track the economic
benefits of local food systems (Pingree 2013).
2.2. Focus Groups
Focus groups are composed of people with similar characteristics (such as apple
or vegetable growers). They are conducted as a series of interviews over time, and ideally provide qualitative data in the format of a focused discussion (Kreuger, 1994) though can sometimes look like a question and answer session interspersed with group discussion.
Focus groups, as a form of qualitative research, are inherently interpretive. The
researcher’s job is to interpret the information to create meaning in order to understand
with greater depth the research participants and their answers to discussion questions.
2.2.1. Focus group intent. The intent of focus groups is to gather authentic data
from the discussions of participants interacting with their peers, rather than simply
talking to a researcher one-on-one, removed from the participants’ natural setting and
environment. The structure of these groups consciously attempts to set the researcher and
his or her influences aside, allowing participants the chance to interact with each other
and discuss issues of common concern (Kitzinger and Barbour, 1999). By focusing on a
smaller number of participants within each focus group, the intent is to obtain greater in-depth knowledge about particular cases, whether they are representative of the whole, or
“theoretically anomalous” cases (Seidman, 2006; Ragin, 2004). Focus groups may range in size, but are generally smaller in size than would be used for a quantitative study.
2.2.2. Meaningful lived experiences. Qualitative interpretive research seeks to
uncover the meaning of lived experiences for a particular group of people. These lived
experiences can be relayed to others through words, physical appearances, and body
language. In addition, each experience is unique; though there may be shared elements
and similarities, there can also be various assemblages and interpretations that change
over time (Merriam, 2002). Qualitative researchers believe human experience is valuable, and that each person has a story worth telling (Glesne, 2010; Myerhoff, 1979; Seidman, 2006; Vygotsky, 1987). These stories have value because they say something about the shared nature of human experience, and allow others to share in and to learn from those experiences. Once others’ experiences are shared, the possibility for change exists, and for humans to collectively shift the progression of future events.
2.2.3. Researcher as data collection instrument. The human researcher as
information collector can increase the validity, trustworthiness, credibility, and
dependability of qualitative research (Seidman, 2006). With the help of technology to
record, transcribe, and analyze, qualitative researchers can consider themselves
“marvelously smart, adaptable, flexible instrument[s] who can respond to situations with
skill, tact, and understanding” (Seidman, 2006). It is natural for the researcher to filter the
words and experiences of others through their own intricate network of perceptions.
Therefore, it is important for the researcher to monitor personal biases and pre-existing
beliefs, and to honor the views presented by the research participants (Merriam, 2002).
Qualitative research is inductive, allowing “researchers [to] gather data to build concepts,
hypotheses, or theories rather than deductively deriving postulates ... to be tested”
(Merriam, 2002).
2.3. Summary of Literature Review
Research on farming in Maine presented historical barriers for Maine farmers,
such as farmland acquisition, as well as positive aspects of farming in Maine and in
providing food to feed Mainers, such as local markets. The literature also described the
history of Maine farming as a story of adaptation to change. For example, Maine farms
have undergone an evolution from larger, commodity-based operations, to smaller, more
diversified ventures. Compared to historical numbers and decline in Maine farms over the
past century, the current landscape of Maine agriculture looks promising with growth in
most areas. This qualitative study was an attempt to build on the existing literature and to
provide a framework and a voice for issues important to farmers for feeding Mainers into
the future.
2.4. Justification and Goal of Study
There is little research on farmers’ perspectives related to providing food to
Maine people. The focus of most prior research has been on the behaviors and
perspectives of consumers and health care professionals (Berlin, Lockeretz, & Bell,
2009). In Maine and New England there is a growing trend (Felder, 2011; Berlin,
Lockeretz, & Bell, 2009; Ross, 2005) for people to want to know where their food is
grown and to eat more food that is locally produced. A primary reason for consumer’s
interest in local foods is the freshness and flavor of foods purchased locally and the
community connection and relationship with farmers (Ross, 2005).
We know that Maine has increasing incidence of chronic, preventable diseases (Maine CDC, 2008) and that a great deal of money is spent treating those with chronic conditions (Mills, 2004). We also know that Maine has a food insecure population (Good Shepherd Food Bank, 2013; U.S. Census, 2010-2012) and that socioeconomic status is related to diet quality (Dammann, 2009; Darmon and Drewnowski, 2008; Lallukka et al., 2007). Maine ranks 7th in the nation for low food security, and 2nd in New England for food insecurity, equating to 14.7% of Maine households (Good Shepherd Food Bank, 2013). Maine’s food insecure population cannot consistently and readily access nutritionally adequate, safe foods (Beck, et al, 2011; USDA, 2009). Maine’s ability as a state to increase access to fresh, local foods makes sense for farmers, for those with chronic diseases, for those who are food insecure, and for the network of processors and distributors who hold financial interest in a vital Maine food network. This network of those with vested interest provides even greater incentive to understand Maine farmers’ perspectives regarding food production and provision. Additionally, the uncertainty of how climate change might impact future agricultural production of both plant- and animal-based foods (EPA, 2014), makes it important to consider where Mainers will get their food in the future.
If stakeholders believe it is important to find ways to provide the Maine population with local food and decrease reliance on food shipped thousands of miles into the state, it is critical to understand food provision issues from the unique perspectives and insight of Maine farmers. This study seeks to gain better understanding of the current food production and provision climate from the perspective of farmers and information about the capacity of Maine farmers to produce food for Maine’s population.
See subsequent blog posts for Chapters 3 - 6, including Methodology, Results, Discussion, and Conclusions.
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