IMPLEMENTING “PLANS” FOR SERVICE LEARNING

ALFONSO MORALES, Associate Professor Urban and Regional Planning

Affiliate of: The Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems, The Center for Freight Infrastructure and Research, The School of Public Health, The Nelson Institute, The Center for Non-Profits, The Collaborative Center for Health Equity, Global Studies, The Center for Transportation Management and Policy, Agroecology, and the Chican@/o Latin@/o Studies Program.

Currently PI or CoPI of grants on: Farm2School, Community and Regional Food Systems, Food Distribution and Logistics,

An Integrated Approach - IService and Learning Imply Systems of Ideas and Behaviors. Campus Research Partners include:

UW-Madison Community & Regional Food Systems Project

A 5-year USDA-funded research project working to identify the characteristics and functions of a healthy community and regional food system and how they contribute to increased community food security

Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems (CIAS)

Conducts applied participatory research how integrated agri-food systems can contribute to environmental, economic, social, and intergenerational sustainability.

Center for Freight Infrastructure Research & Education (CFIRE)

Conducts research, education, and outreach to advance technology and expertise in the planning, design, construction & operation of sustainable freight transport systems.

An Integrated Approach - IISystems imply conflict and cooperation; goals and habits. Community and Professional Partners Include:

Migrant Workers;

Cultivate Kansas City; City of Freeport, IL; Vandewalle and Associates (professional planning firm, based in Madison, with a national footprint)

The Street Vendor Project of New York City, and etc.

Presentation overviewMultiple Projects…and Organizational Locations

• Professor as researcher. University Grant - Capacitating Migrant Workers – Promoting Individual and Public Health:Economic development, Sustainability, Healthy food access

• Morales, Alfonso. 2009. “A Social Currency Approach to Improving the Health Related Quality of Life for Migrant Workers.” Journal of Southern Rural Sociology. 24(1): 92-112.

• Professor as teacher. URPL 711 Class Projects, (1) regional food distribution system development and (2), teaching food systemsEconomic development, Sustainability, Pedagogy of Service Learning

• Day Farnsworth, Lindsay and Alfonso Morales. 2011. Scaling up for Regional Food Distribution. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems and Community Development. 2(1): 1-21.

• Greenstein, Jacobson, Morales, and Coulson. R+R. Teaching Food Systems: Content and Pedagogy. Journal of Planning Education and Research.

• Professor as consultant. URPL 912 work with Cultivate Kansas City, NYC Street Vendor Project and preliminary work City of Freeport Community economic development, Entrepreneurship,

• Covert, Mathew and Alfonso Morales, 2014. “Successful Social Movement Organizing and the Formalization of Food Production.” In The Informal City: Settings, Strategies, Responses edited by Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris and Vinit Mukhija, Cambridge, MIT Press.

• Davis, John and Alfonso Morales. 2012. Fining the Hand that Feeds You: Street Vendor Fines and Increasing Revenues to New York City. University of Wisconsin – Urban and Regional Planning, Working Paper 2012-1.

P as R -- Migrant workers…key to agricultural productivity, yet exploited sector of workforce

Poorest health outcomes of any occupational category, disconnected from social support, problematic access

Mobilization and Interventions• Partnered with Promotora Program, 15 previously

unrelated migrant households created Club Nuevos Amigos

• Produced a variety of health-related benefits• Increased access• Improved mental health and • Enhanced self-efficacy

P as T -- URPL 711 Regional Food Distribution: Challenges & Opportunities

Aggregation• Sourcing from small-mid size farms requires new aggregation strategies to:

• Supply high-volume regional markets• Diversify product lines

Transportation & logistics• Inefficiencies associated with the “first and last mile”• Transaction cost of product changing hands multiple times• Variability of load size due to seasonality, production volume• Strategic location decisions for food hubs and distribution centers

Transparency across the food supply chain• Food safety• Marketing value

• Consumers want to know where there food comes from• Source-identified foods can capture premiums for farmers

SolutionsAggregation Food hubs Food Innovation Districts

Transportation & Logistics Physical infrastructure

• Research to identify hauling needs, capacity & economics• Research to inform location decisions for food hubs & DCs

Building relationships

• Develop regional marketing organization• Engage regional planning and intergovernmental organizations

Transparency across the supply chain New approaches to supply chain governance Technologies (e.g. RFID, QR Codes) Telling the story of product – “food with a face”

Networking Across the Supply Chain

February 20-21, 2013

La Crosse, Wisconsin

Transportation Services Division Agricultural Marketing ServiceU.S. Department of Agriculture

This Project is supported by Cooperative Agreement No. 12-25-A-5639 between the Agricultural Marketing Service/USDA and the Center for Integrated Agriculture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

P as T – IICommunity and Regional Food Systems – Teaching Service Learning

Jerry Kaufman – Mentor, Partner, Teacher

P as Consultant – applications generating opportunities – for research and service

• Grant reviewer for USDA led to relationship with CKC…• Which led to consulting on new urban agriculture ordinances in KC• Which led to mobilization and counter mobilization

• Which led to changes in ordinances• Which led to book chapter

• Which led to pilot test new data collection• Which led to NEW USDA proposal

• Which will lead to….

Reminding us of the tight fit between society and state…

…and the idea that state serves society

P as C – II…sometimes service extends to state to support society

Tickets to Changes…

Thank You -- What We Have Learned

1. Desire to partner is only the first step

2. Intersection of desire to serve (capacity, etc), and

3. Compatibility with capacity (research),

4. Understanding of circumstances from perspective of served,

5. Interaction, not action

6. Builds mutually adjusting relationships that identify and achieve goals