ADVANCING SUSTAINABLE AND ORGANIC HORTICULTURE AND FLORIDA’S FOOD SYSTEM

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: NEW
• Funding Source: HATCH
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 1006062
• Project No.: FLA-HOS-005451
• Project Start Date: Mar 1, 2015
• Project End Date: Feb 28, 2019

Project Director
Treadwell, D.

Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
G022 MCCARTY HALL
GAINESVILLE,FL 32611

Performing Department
Horticultural Science

Non Technical Summary
The food system is defined as the network of farmers, ranchers, processors, distributors, buyers and consumers that produce, trade, manufacture and consume food. Historically, Florida's food system was designed to leverage our seasonal advantage in the fresh produce market nationally and internationally. Florida's food systems operate at different scales: community, state, interstate and international, but this project will focus only on the community and state scales. Florida consumers and buyers are socially and economically diverse. Florida is the third most populous state in the nation, claiming over 19 million permanent residents and 84 million visitors in the state annually. However, over four million Floridians are considered food insecure, meaning that for 16.4% of adults and 25% of children, nutritious food is not available (food deserts) and/or not affordable. The population density is over 350 persons per square mile, much greater than the national average (87 persons per square mile). Development limits productive and affordable land that can be used for food production, and there are many competing demands on our natural resources. The bulk of agricultural production is produced by large farms (those having $1M or more in annual sales as defined by the USDA) that typically export commodities out of state. These large farms account for 3% of the total farms in the state. On the other hand, more than 90% of Florida's 47,500 farms are small farms, or those farms reporting gross annual sales of $250,000 or less according to the USDA. Most revenue from small farms is generated by direct to consumer sales. However, many of Florida's citizens lack opportunities to purchase fresh, nutritious food directly from a farmer, and many more lack that access from any retail outlet in their communities. Food desserts force citizens to make food choices that do not meet their nutritional needs. The large sector of small farm operators in Florida needs to be supported by research and outreach on market access and distribution strategies to enable them to contribute to Florida's food needs to the fullest extent possible. In response to current demand from consumers for local food and the state's lack of infrastructure available to process, pack and distribute food from small and medium sized farms to other outlets in the state, a significant number of new initiatives and brick and mortar businesses have established operations to take advantage of these economic and social/cultural opportunities. Additional opportunities exist as a result of the expansion of the national initiative Let's Move and popular interest in sourcing local food for cafeterias in Florida's 3,800 K-12 schools. Schools provide lunch and sometimes breakfast and afterschool snacks for over 3 million children a year. School food authorities maintain meticulous purchasing records and are an excellent opportunity to measure increases in local food purchases. At its heart, a food system cannot exist without farmers. Farms need to be profitable, food needs to be safe, and production practices need to conserve natural resources. Florida's numerous lakes and natural springs are a significant draw for tourists, and water quality and water demand are considered by the Florida public to be primary concerns. Florida farms are predominantly located on sandy soils with low fertility and fast water drainage. Because vegetables require 60-90 days to harvest, this relatively short period allows farmers to have three cropping cycles for each unit of land farmed. Extensive tillage is used to incorporate fertilizer, cultivate weeds, and incorporate remaining plant tissue after harvest. There is considerable interest in reducing tillage, reducing agricultural water, and minimizing off-farm inputs. Cover crops, or non-income producing crops planted to benefit the biological and ecological components of a farming system are an important tool used by farmers to conserve natural resources because the presence of living plant material keeps soil covered and in place during the hot, rainy summer, or cold winters when no income crop is present, and they can offset the following crop's fertilizer nitrogen requirement when legume species are utilized. In this regard, this project seeks to accomplish two primary goals: 1) Increase in-state consumption of specialty crops produced in Florida; and 2) Increase the rate of adoption of best management practices for soil and water conservation among certified organic and conventional specialty crop farms. Methodology for food systems efforts includes a census of current distribution and processing facilities and initiatives, an evaluation of farmer and buyer interest in new market channels including farm to school, a strategic plan for the development of Florida's food system, and development and dissemination of food safety best practices to school and community gardens. Methodology for farming systems efforts includes field experiments of replicated treatments utilizing factorial and systems designs that explore options to reduce tillage and off-farm inputs and increase soil health, and a decision support tool for farmers to guide them to make the best decisions for crop rotations that include cover crops. Expected outcomes include but are not limited to increased access of specialty crops to Florida consumers, reduced economic risk for participating farmers, statewide strategic plan for specialty crop food systems, a reduction of off-farm inputs, adoption of resource conserving practices, and improved cash flow for farmers.

Animal Health Component

0%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

0%

Applied

60%

Developmental

40%

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
101	0110	1070	10%
102	0210	1070	10%
111	0210	1070	10%
136	2410	1070	10%
202	2410	1070	10%
204	2410	1070	10%
205	2410	1070	10%
601	6199	3010	10%
604	5010	3010	10%
608	5010	1010	10%

Knowledge Area
202 - Plant Genetic Resources; 102 - Soil, Plant, Water, Nutrient Relationships; 204 - Plant Product Quality and Utility (Preharvest); 205 - Plant Management Systems; 604 - Marketing and Distribution Practices; 111 - Conservation and Efficient Use of Water; 136 - Conservation of Biological Diversity; 101 - Appraisal of Soil Resources; 601 - Economics of Agricultural Production and Farm Management; 608 - Community Resource Planning and Development;

Subject Of Investigation
6199 - Economy, general/other; 0210 - Water resources; 0110 - Soil; 5010 - Food; 2410 - Cross-commodity research--multiple crops;

Field Of Science
1070 - Ecology; 1010 - Nutrition and metabolism; 3010 - Economics;

Keywords

certified organic

conservation tillage

cover crops

agroecology

food safety

farm to school

procurement

specialty crops

small farms

distribution

Goals / Objectives
The objectives of this work over the next five years are to:Production and Distribution Increase market penetration of Florida food products and Florida food systems among institutional terminal outlets including Farm to School networks, hospitals, and other similar institutions that serve the general public by 15% over the next five years in at least one Florida county.Increase the number of processing and distribution outlets for fresh market and/or value-added products produced and sold in Florida in select communities that are designated as high impact communities by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services by at least 10%.DiversificationAssess product availability, farmers' willingness to participate in new models of distribution and processing, and describe potential models of regional distribution and processing facilities for farm to school markets.Food Safety Develop and deliver training materials and programs to farm, community garden, and school garden operators as well as those clientele who are affiliated with direct to consumer markets (such as farmer's market managers) (50 participants a year) based on research findings and consistent with food safety legislation to increase knowledge of risk points in the farming system and methods to mitigate those points, new and/or alternative processors, products, and practices to enhance competitiveness and to maintain the viability of their operations.Increase adoption of food safety best management practices among schools, community gardens and farmers markets leading to 90% of entities in compliance with food safety legislation at the federal and state levels.Sustainable/Organic HorticultureIdentify best management practices for cover crop integration in sub-tropical and tropical vegetable systems including species selection, placement in crop rotation, and methods of planting and termination in a series of field trials in both certified organic and not-certified systems.Describe benefits and risks of cover crop integration in sub-tropical and tropical farming systems, including but not limited to potential increases in biological diversity, as tools for IPM programs, tools to mitigate water loss to evaporation, reduce soil temperature fluctuations, improve soil health, additional labor and input costs, and as potential reservoirs of pathogens, insects, nematodes, and weeds.Develop a cover crop decision support system or "learning tool" that integrates 1) enterprise budgets representing cover cropping costs and returns and 2) the soil health and water-related impacts of cover crops for a variety of different production systems. Publish the learning tool, make it available to farmers, and evaluate the tool's usefulness to farmers.Reduce expenditures for off-farm inputs including but not limited to fuel, nitrogen fertilizer, water, and pesticides by 20% or greater while maintaining crop quality and yield in systems that have adopted the practices recommended based on research findings from this program.

Project Methods
Food SystemsAssessment of Product Availability: To assess potential product availability, calculations of commodity yield averages and harvest windows for each desired commodity will be conducted within the state of Florida as well as at a county level. These data are readily available from the Florida Agricultural Statistics Service but are not reported in a format that would be useful to this team. Product availability data will be further integrated into demographic census data to estimate local demand.Evaluate Farmer and Buyer Commitment: We will employ a more personal approach when appropriate and utilize focus groups, telephone interviews, and face-to-face visits on farms to identify farmers' perceptions of barriers, benefits, and extent that they are willing to participate in new distribution/processing models.Increase the Number of Retail Outlets: Advances in GIS mapping and availability of socioeconomic data have allowed state and federal agencies to identify areas in need of nutritious food or increased access to food. High impact areas are those areas identified by the Florida Department of Agriculture as having the likelihood of a high rate of return on investment of programs to increase food access, based on income, availability of retail outlets, distance of housing to markets, and other factors. Specific activities can include but are not limited to establishing mobile fresh fruit and vegetable markets, new farmers markets, and community gardens.Feasibility Study of Farm to School Procurement: Buyers, including consumers, processors, institutions (schools, hospitals, prisons) and distributors will be asked to share purchasing history with this team. Indirectly, farmer commitment will be quantified based on the volume and diversity of Florida commodities sourced by buyers. School food service, independent grocers, farmers markets, and large-small scale processors are groups of buyers we are particularly interested in because of the availability of data and the transparency of trade as viewed by the general public. With baseline data gathered at the beginning of the period, we will monitor changes over time. The county scale was selected because many school food purchases are made with sufficient volume to receive competitive pricing and can supply the entire district (district = county), and county-level policies and regulations are well-integrated throughout the food system.Economic Impact: Typically, economic impact is measured in farm-level income or by sales at businesses within the area (farmer's markers, independent grocers), retained dollars in the system when re-spent locally, and employment increases. Because the economic data described here reflects ongoing work by current IFAS faculty, this team aims to focus on direct market channels (Farm to consumer).Census of Existing and Emerging Food Infrastructure: A statewide census of current and emerging capital investments and community initiatives will describe what models are already on the ground and working; successful initiatives could be opportunities for leveraging efforts and serve as a public commitment for supporting healthy communities. This information will be collected through telephone interviews and face to face conversations with county Extension directors, county economic development board members, and local industry leaders.Assessments and Recommendations for Improved Processing Capabilities for School Food Service: Nationally, there are excellent examples of successful farm to school food facilities. If the scale (number of meals served/day), functions (dry/wet/cold pack, wash/chop/flash frozen, etc.), services (co-pack, process, aggregate), and extent and quality of partnerships are relative to the organization's mission and community need, then the facility will likely be a success. For example, processing facilities that include a partnership of an institutional processor with a co-pack aggregator and "last mile" distribution system could be a logical choice for Florida. A single farmer could provide product to the partnership that would be utilized in multiple ways, maintaining the chain of in terms of food safety and traceability and increasing efficiency for all parties. This structure would also be more amendable to attracting small to mid-size operators interested in farm to school and other institutional networks. Fresh market products could be used to enhance school entrees as well as support the local food system and address food security in other ways as needed by the community. Volume limits could be put in place to reduce internal competition.In collaboration with the UF-IFAS Farm Food Safety Team, various methods will be examined to determine the most effective training approach, measured by knowledge gain, intent to adopt practices at the time of training, and subsequent confirmations of behavior change leading to adoption of practices. Methods include classroom, face to face training, in-field experiential learning and mock food safety audits. Considering that the Food Safety Modernization act is still several years away from being fully implemented, this work is expected to be ongoing throughout the duration of the project.Sustainable/Organic HorticultureThe primary objectives of these studies are to restore or improve soil health and in particular the capacity of the soil to cycle nutrients and water to crops. Multi-year field trials will be conducted on farm or on University of Florida research stations and will compare treatments to a farmer standard control. Designs for experiments will likely be complete block designs, depending on the hypothesis tested. For some trials, a systems approach to hypothesis testing will be utilized when the information sought is dependent upon multiple variables. For cover crop and nutrient management experiments, negative controls (grower standard) is typically the absence of a cover crop, but could be plastic mulch if the treatments involved plant-based surface residues. Treatments typical of this set of experiments include conventional tillage, reduced tillage, presence or absence of cover crop, cover crop species analysis, monoculture cover crop species verses species mixtures, planting rates and time of year, termination by mowing (with or without soil incorporation) or roller-crimping. Data collected includes: soil moisture, precipitation/irrigation rates, soil chemical properties including organic matter and nutrient content, physical properties including bulk density and water infiltration rates, cover crop C:N and biomass, residue remaining on the soil surface following cover crop termination and then throughout the following cropping season, pest density and diversity, and vegetable crop yield and quality.Cover Crop Decision Support System: To explore the soil health and economic benefits of cover cropping across time scales and management systems to improve system resilience, a variety of crop species, cover crop species, and farming systems will be utilized. For each experiment, soil type, cropping system, cover crop species, and methods of planting and termination will be defined and explored. Soil moisture, rainfall, soil organic matter, and soil nutrients, cover crop C:N and biomass, and management records will be monitored at each location to quantify the impacts of different cover crop management on soil water balance and nutrient cycling in organic as well as conventional specialty crop farming systems. Farmer practice will be compared to research findings and specific best practices will be defined based on quantitative data and practitioner experience. A web-based learning tool for cover crop decision that incorporates Enterprise Budgets, the Water Footprint tool http://agroclimate.org/tools/Water-Footprint/, the use of seasonal climate forecasts for cover crop management, and data from multiple, representative experimental sites.

Progress 10/01/16 to 09/30/17

Outputs
Target Audience:Food Systems and Food Safety: Farmers, brokers, distributors, aggregators, processors, buyers, consumers, policy makers, creditors, farmers market managers, county and city officials, state agencies responsible for food trade, processing and service activities. When schools are involved as buyers, there is an emphasis on those schools with 51% or greater participation in the National School Lunch program Organic/Sustainable Horticulture: Farmers, consumers, buyers, technical service providers and NRCS staff in particular, community and school gardens leads and practitioners Changes/Problems:No major changes or problems to report. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?1. Improving Production, Distribution and Diversification in Florida's Food System Provided leadership for the Farm to School team as their faculty advisor. I receive no funding in this role, yet I remain very active in program planning, development, and mentoring the staff of ten who serve as Regional Farm to School Coordinators (now referred to as Food Systems Specialists). Nominated Farm to School Statewide Coordinator (under my supervision) for Superior Accomplishment Award. He won. Interviewed for his replacement (he is now my PhD student) and helped to hire/train new State Coordinator. Wrote letters of recommendation for F2S staff seeking other employment (moving on) or graduate school. (One staffer received dream job offer at CCOF, one other began graduate school). Member of Central District Food Systems Advisory Board. Co-led Central District training. Assisted in the design of educational programming including a food systems wheel and learning objectives needed for desired outcomes. Food Systems In-Service Training for Service Providers, including Extension. (Lead organizer and recipient of internal competitive award ($6,000, Extension Administration) to fund Food Systems Think Tank March 20-22, 2017 in Apopka. Trained 25 participants over 1.5 days; the format included presentations, group exercises, farm tours. Developed extensive food systems resource notebook for each participant. In addition, I served as co-organizer for: Using the USDA Impact Toolkit, a training that immediately preceded mine to 35 attendees. March, 2017 2. Food Safety A new project was awared. Co-PI on USDA NIFA award Build Your Own Farm Food Safety Manual, the award will fund staff supervised by me to create colorful, professional educational content on farm food safety and will be specifically targeted to small farm operators. 3. Sustainable/Organic Horticulture Provided undergraduate instruction on sustainable and organic farming to approximately 350 students (total) in the following courses: FRC 1010 Fruit for Fun and Profit, and HOS 3420/6932 Nutrition of Horticultural Crops. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?1. Improving Production, Distribution and Diversification in Florida's Food System Invited panelist to the UF/IFAS Extension Symposium's Food System Plenary. One of 5 to answer food systems questions from Florida Extension. 350 attendees. Invited keynote speaker to the Florida EFNEP Annual Meeting. Presentation titled Myth-Busting Your Food. June 2017. 75 attendees. 2. Food Safety FInvited to give the presentation Food Safety at Farmers Markets Sin Sarasota County at the Farmers Market Manager Training. September (30 attednees) 3. Sustainable/Organic Horticulture Twilight Carrot Field Day, Live Oak, March 2017. Presented carrot findings from 2016 to 50+ producers, agency staff and industry representatives. Invited speaker SE Fruit and Vegetable Conference Organic Carrot Production to be presented in January 2018 in Savannah, GA. National Cover Crop Conference - Invited Speaker: Reduced Tillage in Organic Vegetable Systems Invited to give the following educaitonal sessions (n=attendee number) Organic Farming - Certified Crop Advisor Training, Oct 2017. (75) Resources for Organic Farmers - FOG Food and Farming Summit Sept 2017 (30) Vegetable Production for Small Farms - Marion County Beginning Farmers March 2017 (10) Cover crops for Florida Gardens - Master Gardener State Conference October 2017 (30) What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?2018 begins the final year of this HATCH project. A few grant projects will be finalized this coming year, and I will be reflecting upon accomplishments, emerging research needs and Extension education needs as I begin writing a new 5-year HATCH proposal. There are sufficient funds and personnel resources to meet current commitments.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? 1. Improving Production, Distribution and Diversification in Florida's Food System This project has supported an increase in market opportunities this year by finalizing an advanced draft of the Florida DIrect Marketing Handbook. This 88pp color handbook is designed for specialty crop producers seeking information on best practices, polies and procedures of selling direct to consumer. Print copies are planned for spring 2018. 2. Food Safety The School Garden Food Safety online training was completed with the support of staff and colleagues. The Florida Dept of Agric. Division of Food Nutrition and Wellness will oversee the administration of the training and it will be required of every school that desires to have their garden certified (verification of the pledge of adoption of best practices, including record keeping and maintaining current on new food safety information). 3. Sustainable/Organic Horticulture 3.1 Co-PI (Florida lead) for the four-year USDA OREI grant "Evaluating Paper Bags for Pest Management in Organic Peaches". I recruited a graduate student (PhD) and farmer cooperator for the research. Student was invited to Alpha Epsilon Lambda Nov 2017. Research plan for Spring 2018 was completed for work to be held on a USDA certified organic family farm located in central Florida. The student's committee is complete. This is a new project and there is not data to report yet. 3.2 Co-PI FDACS Office of Ag and Water Policy grant Organic and Conventional BMPs for Carrot in Northeast Florida. Completed second year of research. . 3.3 Small Farms BMP Manual (@ request of FDACS) team member to write and review manual prior to final adoption and publication. This is a new manual and will be added to the FDACS BMP Series specifically designed to protect water quality and reduce water use in agriculture. Manual is in final draft form.

Publications

• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Treadwell, D. 2017. Carrot Industry Emerging in Florida. Vegetable and Specialty Crop News. July 6, 2017. http://vscnews.com/carrot-industry-emerging-florida/
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2018 Citation: Perez, J., Treadwell, D., Hochmuth, R., Broughton, B., Boyette, M. and D. Campbell. Nitrogen Management in Organic Carrot Production in North Florida. Southeastern Fruit and Vegetable Association Annual Meeting. Poster (Abstract) January 2018.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Treadwell, D., Hochmuth, R., Zampieri, L. and Perez, J. 2018. Developing Nitrogen Best Management Practices to Reduce Risk to Water Quality in Organic Carrot in Florida. ASA, CSSA, and SSSA International Annual Meeting. Oct. 21-26, Tampa, FL. (Oral Presentation) Electronic Abstract: https://scisoc.confex.com/crops/2017am/webprogram/Paper107430.html

Progress 10/01/15 to 09/30/16

Outputs
Target Audience:Food Systems: Farmers, brokers, distributors, aggregators, processors, buyers, consumers, policy makers, creditors, farmers market managers, county and city officials, state agencies responsible for food trade, processing and service activities. When schools are involved as buyers, there is an emphasis on those schools with 51% or greater participation in the National School Lunch program Organic/Sustainable Horticulture: Farmers, consumers, buyers, technical service providers and NRCS staff in particular, community and school gardeners Changes/Problems:Convincing growers to attend and follow food safety trainings and best practices continues to be a vexing challenge. We have been successful in recruiting our highly visible farmers to participate and adopt food safety practices, but there are many more in the state that still need training. Disappointingly, attempts to engage farmers to attend farm food safety training through farmers' market networks has been met with a degree of contempt. Farmers and market managers do not agree with our team's encouragement and concern for possible libel should something happen down the road. We were successful at meeting our goals in our FDACS Specialty Crop Block grant, but recognize that training these farmers is still our responsibility at the moment, in the absence of other venues or partners. We will continue our efforts to strategize about effective communication strategies and will try new approaches to reach the segments of our clientele that for now seem unwilling to participate in farm food safety training. No other problems or challenges to report in terms of fulfilling objectives in competitive awards. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?1. Improving Production, Distribution and Diversification in Florida's Food System Two invited presentations were delivered to the beneficiaries listed for the production and distribution objectives. Developed specifically for an audience of farmers and chefs in Florida's panhandle, the 30 minute presentation titled "Hot Topics in Food and Farming" reviewed green labels including the National Organic Program, discussed genetically modified crops and their perceptions (and misperceptions) by the buying public, and proposed a framework for discussing emotionally charged topics in our food system. Slide presentation followed by discussion. May 20, 2016. Participants = 19. UF/IFAS Extension Escambia County, Cantonment, FL. A 15 minute presentation to farmers and local decision makers interested in expanding local food economies titled "Fruit and Vegetable Marketing" was one of eleven presentations at the day long program UF/IFAS Tampa Bay Cottage Industry Expo. Participants = 45. Wesley Chapel, FL. July 30, 2016. 2. Food Safety A 30 minute presentation titled "Overview of Farmers' Markets: Current Status and Future Opportunities" was presented to an audience primarily of farmers' market managers and vendors at the program Best Practices at Farmers' Markets - Improving Food Safety and Market Growth, led by collaborator S. Ahn. Participants = 38. August 16, 2016. Orlando, FL. 3. Sustainable/Organic Horticulture Six invited presentations were delivered to the beneficiaries listed for the organic and sustainable horticulture objectives. A three hour program titled "All about Soil" was developed to teach advanced gardeners the underlying mechanisms important for a healthy soil and the best practices necessary to optimize plant health and crop yield. Participants were adults active in the Grow Gainesville community organization. A slide presentation, demonstrations, and visual aids including microscopes, plants, roots, soil, and soil organisms were included in the program. Participants = 29. June 16, 2016. Gainesville, FL. With collaborator S. Weiss, an in-field demonstration on termination of tropical cover crops was given to farmers, academics, students and technical service providers at the SARE-sponsored Southeast Cover Crops Conference. The demonstrations were planned and planted three months in advance, and special equipment was provided. The work reflected our research findings from our SR SARE grant. Participants who came to our demonstration = 125. July 18-19, 2016. Goldsboro, NC. This demonstration was recorded and published. https://www.southernsare.org/News-and-Media/Regional-Resources/Regional-Videos/Southern-Cover-Crop-Conference-Videos A 30 minute presentation was given with J. Love titled "at the Southeast Cover Crops Conference, July 18-19, 2016. Goldsboro, NC. Participants = 20 A 30 minute presentation titled "Overview of Soil Health" was shared with farmers and technical service providers at Florida A&M University's Soil Health and Quality Workshop. August 31, 2016. Participants = 11. Keynote speaker for the Northeast Florida Master Gardener Association titled "Vegetable and Cover Crop Varieties for Northeast Florida Gardens. The presentation was 45 minutes and included a question and answer session. September 8, 2016. Participants = 280. Jacksonville, FL A 15 minute presentation was delivered to water quality stakeholders including land owners, farmers, agency personnel, members of the High Springs Water Alliance and technical service providers titled "UF/IFAS Programs for Resource Conservation on Small Farms". A short discussion followed. October 27, 2016. Participants = 55. High Springs, FL. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?1. Improving Production, Distribution and Diversification in Florida's Food System Face to face conversations, informally as well as in a formal program, oral presentations, visual aids, handouts, newsletter articles, blogs, web-based training. 2. Food Safety Face to face conversations, informally as well as in a formal program, oral presentations, visual aids, handouts, newsletter articles, blogs. 3. Sustainable/Organic Horticulture In addition to the methods previously described, program results have been disseminated in the classroom to graduate and undergraduate students during invited guest lectures including FRC 1010 ("Organic Fruit Production" Growing Fruit for Fun and Profit, 1 CR elective, enrollment = 275), as well as student groups ("The Science of Sustainable Agriculture" Sigma Alpha n=50). What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?1. Improving Production, Distribution and Diversification in Florida's Food System A full proposal was submitted to FDACS' Specialty Crop Block Grant Program to request funding to develop educational content based on research for small farm operators, including revisions to the specialty crop portion of the website. Assist my recent PhD graduate in publishing his papers from his dissertation. Continue to develop relationships and look for funding opportunities to address objectives. Complete the competency based PSE web-based training for SNAP-Ed and EFNEP networks. 2. Food Safety I will participate in the Train the Trainer course: Produce Safety Alliance's Produce Food Safety Training scheduled for early 2017. Four grower PSA trainings are planned thus far for 2017. Continue to mentor agents and as co-PI of the Southern Center grant facilitate opportunities for agent food safety training. 3. Sustainable/Organic Horticulture To advance the nitrogen use efficiency in organic vegetable production systems and reduce risk to groundwater quality, a proposal was submitted to FDACS Office of Agriculture and Water Policy to update best nitrogen management practices for organic carrot and conventional carrot from previous recommendations written 30+ years prior. The Southern Cover Crop Council board has prioritized the development of a cover crop decision tool, and we will begin working on that in 2017. I will seek external funding to assist with this development. Continue to mentor PhD student and refine his course of study in organic specialty crop systems.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? 1. Improving Production, Distribution and Diversification in Florida's Food System 1.1 Provided leadership for the Florida Farm to School (F2S) team (FTE 10.0). The team trained 103 farmers, established or enhanced 64 school and 10 community gardens, provided opportunities for 287 students who tried a new healthy produce item, and received and/or processed 60,746 lb of produce from local farms for school consumption. 1.2 The F2S Team published two Newsletter Issues, one for spring and one for late summer. Each issue (6-8 pp) contained several short articles, photographs, tips and additional resources, and a calendar. Recipients (n=250) include program partners and beneficiaries. http://uffnp.org/farm-to-school-and-community/ 1.3 Co-authored a food systems poster: Torres, T., Korman, D. Treadwell & D. Campbell. 2016. Training the Trainer: Sustainable Professional Development Opportunities for School Garden Coordinators. National Farm to Cafeteria Conference. June 2-4, 2016. Madison, WI. 1.4 The Small Farms Program hosted 2 regional conferences to strengthen local food networks (N= 310). Participants (66%) self-identified as farmers or prospective farmers. 90% of respondents would attend the conferences again, and 95% planned to share new information with another farmer. 79% of respondents acquired the skills to diversify their operation with a new crop or service. 49% were completely confident they would apply new knowledge gained from the event. 1.5 I led the design, funding effort, and implementation of a two-day food systems retreat for faculty.The 34 attendees included State Specialists, RSAs, and county agents from 23 academic departments or UF/IFAS Extension county offices who developed short and long-term programming plans, new content and T4 platform for our website and an executive summary for UF/IFAS administrators and attendees. 1.6 Participated in 2 day PI meeting in Atlanta, GA January 2016 for project managers for the National Center for Obesity Prevention. We planned a DACCUM process to evaluate stakeholder's opinions on policy systems and environmental (PSE) changes most likely to impart change, and an interactive website to train SNAP-Ed staff responsible for PSE programming on PSEs. 1.7 Co-Chair of a PhD student who completed his dissertation "Creating Successful Farm to School Programs in Florida: A County-Wide Feasibility Study of Direct Procurement". The project documented needs of farmers and school food buyers and proposed solutions. The student graduated with a degree in Agricultural and Biological Engineering with a minor in Horticultural Sciences. I supported this student's stipend and tuition for 4 years. 1.8 Co-PI of USDA award SNAP and EFNEP Nutrition Education and Obesity Prevention Center of Excellence. I provided expertise about developing relationships with community partners and establishing program infrastructure necessary to include food systems work as a PSE approach for SNAP-Ed. I was also involved in the development and dissemination of competency based PSE web-based training for SNAP-Ed and EFNEP networks. The web-based training is on target for completion early in 2017. 2. Food Safety 2.1 Presented poster (competitive, selected) in the Farm to Cafeteria Conference titled "Food Safety Partnerships Benefit Florida's Farms and Schools". Approximately 2,800 participants at the event. Treadwell, D. D. Campbell, J. Perez, B. Owens, K. Korman, N. Parkell, L. Davis, and R. Hochmuth. 2016. UF/IFAS's Food Safety Partnerships Benefit Florida's Farms and Schools. National Farm to Cafeteria Conference. June 2-4, 2016. Madison, WI. 2.2 Served as co-PI for the NIFA-funded project Southern Center for Food Safety Education, Training, Extension, Outreach and Technical Assistance (M. Danyluk, PI, UF/IFAS). I will serve as a liason to Extension agents serving small farm operators and engage them in food safety training. Funds will support agent travel to the train the trainer of the Produce Safety Alliance's (PSA) Produce Food Safety Training for Growers. 2.3 Served as PI for the FL Specialty Crop Block Grant titled "Educational Teams, Training, and Technical Assistance on Food Safety and Farm Establishment for Small, Specialty Crop Producers" that supported regional conferences, food safety training, and development of educational materials for small farm operators. Co-PIs include S. Ahn (food safety in farmers' markets) and S. Galindo (project evaluator). Co-authored the poster: Food Safety Response Team: Extension Agents Helping Small Farms with FSMA Compliance. 2016 Southeast Regional Fruit and Vegetable Conference. N. Parkell, R. Hochmuth, D. Toro, and D. Treadwell. Extensional Prof. Assoc. FL Annual Meeting. 2.4 Led a contract funded by FDACS Division of Food Nutrition and Wellness titled "Healthy School Environments" to develop a curriculum for teachers and other school garden champions to teach them food safety best practices for the garden. Outputs included an hour-long interactive e-training, garden checklists, and fact sheets for garden users. 3. Sustainable/Organic Horticulture 3.1 At the Southern Cover Crop Conference, I will serve as a Florida representative and Board Member for the Southern Cover Crop Council. Treadwell and Weiss collaborated on 2 in-field demonstrations that replicated their SARE-funded research on conservation tillage of vegetables. A video of our presentation has been viewed 225 times since September 2016. Treadwell, D, S. Weiss, and R. Archuleta. 2016. Mechanical termination of threephysiologically distinct cover crop species, and Weiss, S, D. Treadwell, and R. Archuleta. 2016. Cover crop surface mulch for conservation-tillage vegetable cropping systems. Southern Cover Crop Conference, July 18-19, 2016. Goldsboro, North Carolina:https://www.southernsare.org/News-and-Media/Regional-Resources/Regional-Videos/Southern-Cover-Crop-Conference-Videos One poster academic annual meeting: Weiss, S.A., D.D. Treadwell, R.S. Ferrarezi, K.P. Beamer, and T. Geiger. 2016. Primary Macronutrient Dynamics of Sunn Hemp (Crotalaria juncea L.) Residue in Different Mulching Strategies for Organic Tropical Cropping Systems. ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting, Milwaukee, WI. 3.2 Treadwell helped a Northwestern SARE film crew to film 6 farmers using cover crops in Florida; 5/6 have worked directly with Treadwell: https://www.sare.org/Events/Cover-Crop-Conferences/National-Conference-on-Cover-Crops-and-Soil-Health/Cover-Crop-Innovators-Video-Series 3.3 I was awarded (competitive) a summer Extension intern (400+ hours total). The stipend was paid by the Dean's office. ($12/h = $4,800+). The student helped to develop the framework for a Beginning Farmer and Rancher statewide Extension program by interviewing beginning farmers in Florida and program leads from ten of the strongest beginning farmer programs in the country to determine best practices & local needs. 3.4 I served as the state leader, with my co-leader MB Henry (Polk County Extension) of the Small Farms and Alternative Enterprises program. I support staff and project development through grants. I lead internal communications including annual meetings, project updates, and social media (Facebook, Blog, and Newsletter The Cultivator). Presented a poster: Treadwell, D., M. Henry, J. Perez, and S. Galindo. 2016. Farmers Value Networking Opportunities at Florida Regional Small Farms Conferences. American Society for Horticultural Sciences Annual Meeting. Atlanta, GA 8/15-18, 2016. HortScience 51(9): 346 (Supplement) 3.5 Small farms Facebook page covering research reports, event announcements, and important news relevant to small farm operators. 222 posts with an average reach of 320 viewers per post. In 2016, the site had 90,637 engaged users, a metric used by Facebook to describe visitors that read, liked, or shared a post. The site has 1,660 unique followers: www.facebook.com/FL.SFAEC

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Cho, A*. H., Chase, C. A., Koenig, R. L., Treadwell, D. D., Gaskins, J., Morris, J. B., & Morales-Payan, J. P. (2016). Phenotypic Characterization of 16 Accessions of Sunn Hemp in Florida. Agronomy Journal, 108(6), 2417-2424. doi:10.2134/agronj2015.0531
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Treadwell, D., D. Campbell, and K. Shelnutt. 2016. SNAP-Ed Food Systems District Coordinators Focus on Policy, System, and Environmental Changes to Support SNAP-Eligible Residents in Florida. American Society for Horticultural Sciences Annual Meeting. Atlanta, GA 8/15-18, 2016 HortScience 51(9): 346 (Supplement)
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Treadwell, D., M. Henry, J. Perez, and S. Galindo. 2016. Farmers Value Networking Opportunities at Florida Regional Small Farms Conferences. American Society for Horticultural Sciences Annual Meeting. Atlanta, GA 8/15-18, 2016. HortScience 51(9): 346 (Supplement)
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Weiss, S.A., D.D. Treadwell, R.S. Ferrarezi, and K.P. Beamer. 2016. Mulching Strategies using Conservation Tillage for Weed Management in Tropical Organic Hot Pepper Cropping Systems. HortScience 51(9):243 (Supplement).
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Simonne, A., Ozores-Hampton, M., Treadwell, D. and L. House. 2016 (published). Organic and conventional produce in the US: Examining safety and quality, economic values, and consumer attitudes. Horticulturae. Proc. First Int. Symp. Qual. Mngmt. Organci Hortic. Prod. ISSN 2311 7524.
• Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2016 Citation: J.A. Watson. Creating Successful Farm to School Programs in Florida: A County-Wide Feasibility Study of Direct Procurement. Doctoral Dissertaion. Dept. Agricultural and Biological Engineering. University of Florida.

Progress 03/01/15 to 09/30/15

Outputs
Target Audience:Food Systems: Farmers, brokers, distributors, aggregators, processors, buyers, consumers, policy makers, creditors, farmers market managers, county and city officials, state agencies responsible for food trade, processing and service activities. When schools are involved as buyers, there is an emphasis on those schools with 51% or greater participation in the National School Lunch program Organic/Sustainable Horticulture: Farmers, consumers, buyers, technical service providers and NRCS staff in particular, community and school gardeners Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Production and Distribution.The F2SC team supported local food procurement at all levels, from small-scale gardens to large-scale school food purchasing.Over 100 gardens were installed and maintained with 4,209 beneficiaries enjoying 80,811 active hours in the gardens.School gardens were designed with 85% having 4 of the 5 vegetable sub groups from the new meal pattern and produce was enjoyed as taste tests, in cafeteria lunches, and taken home to be eating with the family.Community gardens around the state covered around ½ acre and had the potential to produce enough food for 65 adults estimated to have a $33,106 retail value during the growing season. 881 or 21.0% of the schools in Florida purchased food from Florida farmers (a total of 409,744 pounds) as a result of direct actions made by the F2SC team.As a testament to the impact F2SC is creating in farm to school procurement, Beverly L. Girard Ph.D., M.B.A., R.D., Director of Sarasota Food Nutrition Services, said "We would not have been successful without Zach Glorioso (F2SC South Central DC)." Food Safety. In addition to the Build your own Farm Food Safety Manual classes, The Florida Small Farms Food Safety Implementation Team taught at several other meeting in July- December, 2015. These included: Local Foods Summit, September 20 in Gainesville, FL with 8 attendees for this session on training programs offered by this UF/IFAS team Florida Farmers Market Managers Food Safety Training, November 9 in Gainesville, Fl with 48 attendees for the session on Farm Food Safety GAPs and how UF/IFAs can help train farmers Watermelon Farmers Food Safety Update including HACCP and FSMA, December 1 in Gainesville, FL with 28 attendees. This session was organized by this team. Organic and Sustainable Horticulture. UF hosted a field day for farmers that attracted over 40 participants. The program included classroom style presentations, a farm tour, and activities in teh field designed to help farmers identify benefits of cover crops. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Production and Distribution.The team used a variety of media outlets and face to face educational programs to communicate findings to stakeholders and the general public. Members of the F2SC team were honored with the 2015 Southern Region as well as National American Society for Horticultural Sciences-Outstanding Educational Materials Award during annual meetings in February and August. In addition, the F2SC team was also honored with a University of Florida Champions for Change Award for their contributions to improving the school and community food environments. Team members were interviewed, photographed, and/or mentioned in the media ten times for a variety of additional accomplishments. Each District Coordinator was awarded a competitive scholarships to attend farmer conferences and food safety and smarter lunchroom trainings valued at an estimated $2,474. Food Safety. Results are disseminated to farmers typically in face to face settings, although we do use social media and our team's webiste (Small Farms and ALternative Enterprises). Organic and Sustainable Horticulture. Results are shared during edcuational programs, our peer-reviewed electronic fact sheets, and on our Facebook page. I work with NRCS to communicate findings. i support NRCS nationally by idenitifying expert farmers to serve as mentors for others. I give guest lectures to undergraduate and graduate students. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Production and Distribution.The team used a variety of media outlets and face to face educational programs to communicate findings to stakeholders and the general public. Members of the F2SC team were honored with the 2015 Southern Region as well as National American Society for Horticultural Sciences-Outstanding Educational Materials Award during annual meetings in February and August. In addition, the F2SC team was also honored with a University of Florida Champions for Change Award for their contributions to improving the school and community food environments. Team members were interviewed, photographed, and/or mentioned in the media ten times for a variety of additional accomplishments. Each District Coordinator was awarded a competitive scholarships to attend farmer conferences and food safety and smarter lunchroom trainings valued at an estimated $2,474. Food Safety. In the coming year we will work with the Southern Region Center for Food Safety Education, Outreach, Training and Technical Assistance Team to remain current on FSMA updates, to participate in the train the trainer program directed by the Produce Safety Alliance, and train our Exempt farmers to design farm food safety manuals. Our goal is 100% FSMA compliance. Organic and Sustainable Horticulture. Publish findings from the SARE study, present findings at ASHS and ASA, and apply for additional grant funds.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Production and Distribution. Since 2012, I have provided leadership for the Farm to School team. Beginning in 2015, the Farm to School team transitioned from funding provided by the Florida Department of Agriculture to Florida SNAP-Ed. The University of Florida is the authorized entity of Florida SNAP-Ed, termed the Family Nutrition Program (FNP). The accomplishments of the farm to school, farm to community team (F2SC) were made possible by nurturing strategic collaborations with a great diversity of community partners, including farmers, state and federal agencies, nonprofit organizations and private enterprises using a variety of communication methods including: face-to-face, telephone, email, formal training programs, field days, and tours. The F2SC had direct contact with 858 stakeholders, of which 6% were farmers, and provided service and capacity building to the community. Team members were invited or volunteered to serve on 12 standing food policy, wellness, and food systems committees and worked with 102 individual collaborators. The F2SC team supported local food procurement at all levels, from small-scale gardens to large-scale school food purchasing.Over 100 gardens were installed and maintained with 4,209 beneficiaries enjoying 80,811 active hours in the gardens.School gardens were designed with 85% having 4 of the 5 vegetable sub groups from the new meal pattern and produce was enjoyed as taste tests, in cafeteria lunches, and taken home to be eating with the family.Community gardens around the state covered around ½ acre and had the potential to produce enough food for 65 adults estimated to have a $33,106 retail value during the growing season. 881 or 21.0% of the schools in Florida purchased food from Florida farmers (a total of 409,744 pounds) as a result of direct actions made by the F2SC team.As a testament to the impact F2SC is creating in farm to school procurement the Director of Sarasota Food Nutrition Services said "We would not have been successful without Zach (F2SC South Central Region program coordinator)." Food Safety. Eight Food Safety "Build your own Farm Food Safety Manual" workshops were conducted in 2015 to 133 attendees. A summary of the on-line post workshop questionnaire designed by Dr. Galindo, administered through Qualitrics, and analyzed statistically with ANOVA at alpha = 0.05 relative to the pretest, found the following results: Knowledge gain was 88%, averaged over all participants 72% were very likely to implement a plan, 25% indicated they were likely to implement 100% indicated the workshops met their expectations, 100% would recommend the workshop to others 61% of attendees rated the workshop in the top 20% of all workshops they have attended 93% indicated they were very satisfied and 7% indicated they were satisfied with the overall quality of the workshop 82% were very satisfied with the expertise of the instructors, 17% were satisfied Fifty percent (50%) of attendees indicated they were very likely to have some type of third party audit There was a wide range of types of customers listed, top three were selling directly to consumers (48%), restaurants (24%) and to retailers or wholesale markets (18%). Most attendees had less than 10 years of farming experience and most were farming less than 10 acres. In addition, I will be a co-PI on a USDA-NIFA/FDA grant: Southern Region Center for Food Safety Education, Outreach, Training and Technical Assistance. Primarily, the grant provides for curriculum enhancement to the national food safety curriculum managed by Cornell's Produce Safety Alliance, and supports food safety training for trainers. Organic and Sustainable Horticulture.This year we completed the second year of a two year field trial funded by SR-SARE to examine the influence of plant-based mulches on pepper.

Publications

• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Treadwell, D., Weiss, S. and E. Valencia. A comparison of tillage and mulching strategies for weed management in organic pepper (Capsicum annum L. Tormenta) CSSA-ASSA-SSSA (Tri-Societies) Annual Meeting. Minneapolis, MN. Nov. 15-18, 2015. https://scisoc.confex.com/scisoc/2015am/webprogram/Paper94073.html
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Treadwell, D., K. Shelnutt, S. Galindo, G. Israel, D. Campbell, D. Diehl, L. Headrick, and D. Bearl. Approach and Accomplishments of Farm to Plate Programming in Floridas SNAP-Ed Program. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. Annual Meeting. New Orleans, LA. Aug 3-7, 2015 HortScience 50(9):S96. (Abstr.)
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Treadwell, D., M.B. Henry, R. Hochmuth, S. Galindo and J. Perez. Specialty Crop Programming for Floridas Small Farms and Alternative Enterprises. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. Annual Meeting. New Orleans, LA. Aug 3-7, 2015. HortScience 50(9):S97-98. (Abstr.)
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Weiss, S., D. Treadwell, K. Beamer, R. Ferraezi. 2015 Tropical Cover Crop mulch systems for low-external-input reduced-tillage vegetable production. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. Annual Meeting. New Orleans, LA. Aug 3-7, 2015. HortScience 50(9): S169-170.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2015 Citation: Glorioso, Z., Owens, E., Walmer, C., and Treadwell, D. Farmers Building Community: Activities to Enhance Farm to School Programs in Florida. Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group Conference. January, 2015. Chattanooga, Kentucky. Poster Presentation.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2015 Citation: Glorioso, Z., Korman, K., Campbell, D., Walmer, C., Owens, B., Glatting, C., and Treadwell, D. Expanding Floridas SNAP-Ed Programs from Farm to Plate. The 128th Florida State Horticultural Society Annual Meeting. June 2015. St. Augustine, FL. Poster Presentation.
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Treadwell, D., T. Meisenbach and S. Baughman. An Overview of the NEW eXtension, and how to evaluate your online extension program. ). Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. Annual Meeting. New Orleans, LA. Aug 3-7. 2015. HortScience 50(9):S86. (Abstr.)
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Treadwell, D. Weiss, S. J. Perez and E. Valencia. Cover crops and conservation tillage in organic jalapeno pepper (Capsicum annum L. Tormenta). Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. Annual Meeting. New Orleans, LA. Aug 3-7, 2015. HortScience 50(9):S222. (Abstr.)
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2015 Citation: Simonne, A., Ozores-Hampton, M., Treadwell, D. and L. House. 2015. Organic and conventional produce in the US: Examining safety and quality, economic values, and consumer attitudes. Acta Horticulturae.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Morris, B. C.A. Chase, D. Treadwell, A. Cho, T. Murphy, R. Koenig, J. Pablos-Moran, and G. Antonious. 2015. Effect of sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea L. cutting date and planting density on weed suppression in Georgia USA. J. Environ. Sci. Health, Part B: Pesticides, Food Contaminants, and Agricultural Waste. 50:8, 614-621.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Cho, A.*, C. Chase, D. Treadwell, R. Koenig, B. Morris, and J. Morales-Payan. 2015. Apical Dominance and Planting Density Effects on Weed Suppression by Sunn Hemp (Crotalaria juncea L.). HortScience 50(2):263-267