Archive for Food Systems, Nutrition Security, and Agriculture
Economic shocks, food insufficiency and mental health: Evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic
Millions of Americans experienced a sudden loss of income along with hunger early in the COVID-19 outbreak. Using Household Pulse Survey data from April 23, 2020 to March 29, 2021, the authors found that the pandemic significantly impacted both food sufficiency and mental health, with food insufficiency having a larger negative impact on mental health than income loss.
Authors: Yuxuan Pan, Linlin Fan, Stephan Goetz
Publication: Plos ONE Date Published: March 12, 2026
Tags: COVID-19, food security, mental health
Insights on Agritourism Among Producers in Western U.S. States: Evidence from the 2024 National Agritourism Producer Survey
This report presents findings from the 2024 National Agritourism Producer Survey. A total of 136 survey participants identified themselves as being in a Western region states by reporting the postal (ZIP) code of their farm. (To access the national-level findings, visit this page.) This survey is part of a larger project aimed at defining and enhancing the agritourism support system in the United States.
Authors: Jason Entsminger, Claudia Schmidt, Sarah Cornelisse, and Jackie Schweichler
Publication: NERCRD Research Brief Date Published: June 3, 2025
Insights on Agritourism Among Maine Producers: Evidence from the 2024 National Agritourism Producer Survey
This report presents Maine-specific findings from the 2024 National Agritourism Producer Survey, conducted in part to address the type of knowledge gaps just identified. The online survey was open from March through August 2024, and 2,139 agritourism operators across the United States responded. A total of 94 survey participants identified themselves as being in Maine by reporting the postal (ZIP) code of their farm.
Authors: Jason Entsminger (University of Maine); Claudia Schmidt (Penn State and NERCRD); Sarah Cornelisse and Jackie Schweichler (Penn State)
Publication: Published by NERCRD Date Published: May 2, 2025
Tags: agritourism, agritourism data brief, data brief, survey
Insights on Agritourism Among US Producers: Evidence from the 2024 National Agritourism Producer Survey
This report presents findings from the 2024 National Agritourism Producer Survey. This survey is part of a larger project aimed at defining and enhancing the agritourism support system in the United States. The primary objective of conducting this survey was to identify areas where targeted interventions and programs can support agritourism development across the country.
Authors: Claudia Schmidt (Penn State and NERCRD), Jason Entsminger (University of Maine), Sarah Cornelisse and Jackie Schweichler (Penn State)
Publication: Published by NERCRD Date Published: April 21, 2025
Tags: agritourism, agritourism data brief, data brief, survey
Determining the optimal food hub location in the fresh produce supply chain
Abstract
Purpose: Using recent US regional data associated with food system operations, this study aims at building optimization and econometric models to incorporate varying influential factors on food hub location decisions and generate effective facility location solutions.
Design/methodology/approach: Mathematical optimization and econometric models have been commonly used to identify hub location decisions, and each is associated with specific strengths to handle uncertainty. This paper develops an optimization model and a hurdle model of the US fresh produce sector to compare the hub location solutions between these two modeling approaches.
Findings: Econometric modeling and mathematical optimization are complementary approaches. While there is a divergence between the results of the optimization model and the econometric model, the optimization solution is largely confirmed by the econometric solution. A combination of the results of the two models might lead to improved decision-making.
Practical implications: This study suggests a future direction in which model development can move forward, for example, to explore and expose how to make the existing modeling techniques easier to use and more accessible to decision-makers.
Social implications: The models and results provide information that is currently limited and is useful to help inform sustainable decisions of various stakeholders interested in the development of regional food systems, regional infrastructure investment and operational strategies for food hubs.
Originality/value: This study sheds light on how the application of complementary modeling approaches improves the effectiveness of facility location solutions. This study offers new perspectives on elaborating key features to encompass facility location issues by applying interdisciplinary approaches.
Authors: Houtian Ge, Jing Yi, Stephan J. Goetz, Rebecca Cleary, Miguel I. Gómez
Publication: Journal of Modelling in Management Date Published: August 13, 2024
Tags: EFSNE, food hub, supply chain
Broadband access and agritourism operations in the United States
Abstract: An online presence is crucial for agritourism operators to connect with consumers. In this study, we use count data regression models to examine the correlation between average broadband speed adopted and the number of agritourism operations. We found that adoption of fast broadband in 2012 was associated with a significantly higher number of agritourism operations nationally in 2017, underscoring the role of broadband connectivity in facilitating interactions between farmers and consumers, as well as in promoting agritourism. However, only a weak association exists in rural counties, indicating that the broadband–agritourism relationship does not extend to less populated areas.
Authors: Claudia Schmidt, Luyi Han, Arian Moghadam, Stephan J. Goetz
Publication: Journal of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association Date Published: June 17, 2024