Under the supervision of Dr. John H. Bodley, Washington State University anthropology graduate student, Troy M. Wilson, will undertake an ethnographic and social network analysis of the civic agriculture movement in the Palouse, a major grain-producing region in the Pacific Northwest. He will use social network analysis to understand the movement's place in the modern food system, along with the structures that support its growth and which might impede development. Despite this region's historical focus on large-scale grain production for the global market, growing consumer concerns with food quality and rising energy costs have contributed to a surge of interest in smaller-scale production methods, farmers' markets, and community gardens, collectively referred to as "civic agriculture." However, relatively little is known about how farmers engage with and are affected by this new food production trend, and how it relates to community development and sustainability.
Wilson will focus specifically on how small-scale farmers who participate in local farmers' markets in the Palouse region connect with the civic agriculture movement. He will employ a variety of social scientific research methods. He will map the social networks around civic agriculture in the Palouse through archival research and interviews with participants, including farmers, non-profit organizations, commercial businesses, and land-grant institutions. He will explore document production and distribution strategies by mapping farms and distances to market with GIS, interviewing farmers and farm workers, and undertaking participant observation on farms, in food transport, and at markets. He also will analyze the personal networks that connect farmers to civic agriculture and knowledge flows (e.g., between farmers and extension agencies).
The research will contribute to social scientific understanding of inter-scalar network structures, generally, as well as their role in the contemporary development of civic agriculture. Furthermore, by examining the unique ecological relationships, practices, and social-political connections underlying the civic agriculture movement, the research will help to better understand the potential of smaller-scale practicies for national food security. The research also will contribute to the education of a graduate student.
