64TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF
THE FOOD DISTRIBUTION RESEARCH SOCIETY

NOVEMBER 12-14, 2023 | Washington, D.C.

FDRS’s 2023 Annual Conference will be held jointly this year with the National Agricultural Marketing Summit.

Final Agenda

You can access the entire conference agenda HERE

FDRS Research Sessions are scheduled on Monday, November 13th.

FDRS ORGANIZED SYMPOSIUM I

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 13 | 8:00 AM – 9:30 AM | ROOM: SALON A

USING KEY THEMES TO FRAME REGIONAL FOOD BUSINESS CENTER WORK

Presenters: Dawn Thilmany, Lauren Gwin, Libby Christensen, and Martha Sullins

The Northwest Rocky Mountain Food Business Center is a network of six states that will collaborate to elevate the connections, technical assistance and capacity of a diverse and inclusive set of farm- and food-based enterprises operating in regional food supply chains. This panel will share the Center leadership team’s vision for building community-guided content and TA over the next 5 years, with hopes to connect with partners, resources and other Centers to elevate that work. One unique aspect of this center is that it will target program delivery to enterprises focused on 4 themes: 1) meat supply chains, 2) food entrepreneurs seeking to scale up, 3) farms leveraging opportunities aligned with new Climate resilient market partners and 4) those considering right size infrastructure investments. We will hear from two of the theme leads on their vision. In addition, there will be a shared governance model with state advisory teams identifying opportunities among their stakeholders. The centralized coordination and co-learning of the proposed Center will facilitate mid- and long- term collaborative investment of diverse expertise, networks, and financial resources across the region. We will also hear from state leaders on how they are seeing their team’s efforts come together under the Center’s new mission.

FDRS ORGANIZED SYMPOSIUM II

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 13 | 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM | ROOM: SALON A

THE OUTLOOK FOR HEMP IN THE U.S. ECONOMY

Presenters: Jane Kolodinsky, Tyler Mark, Yuqing Zheng, and Rebecca Hill

We present research results on market trends, research and economic impact for hemp industries. Consumer demand, impacts on rural economic development, and production trends and opportunities for hemp fiber and grain are included topics. Our symposium connects research from several projects funded by USDA (ERS, AMS, NIFA, USDA Agricultural Experiment Station) and universities (Colorado State University, University of Kentucky, University of Vermont). First, we provide details stated consumer demand for hemp-based products using national survey data. We report on seven categories of products and estimates of consumer awareness, attitude, and purchase behavior. Placed in the conceptual framework of the Theory of Planned Behavior, we report on consumer evoked sets (plan to use in the future) for hemp product categories ranging from food to fiber. Second, we provide information about hemp food products using supermarket scanner data for the years 2012-2020, and describe market trends in U.S. consumer markets as defined by the USDA ERS production regions. We report on number of UPC codes over time, total retail sales by region, and preliminary results using a Difference in Difference approach that estimates how state level marijuana policies impact hemp sales as consumers have salient connections of psychotropic marijuana with our industrial hemp focus. Third, we provide details of IMPLAN analyses of the economic impact of hemp in state economics (Colorado as the first example). This required the building of hemp social accounting matrices, non-existent prior to our study. Information on direct, indirect, and induced effects of several hemp industries are discussed. We also present scenarios where the model is “shocked” by changes in production, manufacturing infrastructure, and land use.

FDRS RESEARCH SESSIONS I

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 13 | 8:00 AM – 9:30 AM

Cowpea as a Cash Crop: A Case Study of the Potential Expansion of Cowpea Production in Ghaha

Authors: Mohammed Ibrahim, Nalini Pattanaik, James Bukenya and Abdul-Rahman Yussif Seini

Increasing the Productivity of Maize Farmers in Zambia

Authors: Godfrey Ejimakor, Brian Tiberious Etyang, and Oluwafunsho Owoyemi

A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Adoption of Bioengineered Crops by Consumers and Farmers

Authors: Levenson Badio and Samuel Zapataodfrey

Food Price Inflation in the United State as a Complex Dynamic Economic System

Author: Faith Parum

Wholesale Produce Markets: On-site Infrastructure Assessment

Author: Kristen Park

Using Machine Learning Methods to Assess Market Integration and Price Transmission in Specialty Crops

Authors: Xavier Villavicencio, Samuel Zapata and Anderson Xicay

Economic Feasibility of Establishing a Watermelon Packing Cooperative in Southwest Oklahoma

Authors: Emmanuel Honny, Lixia H. Lambert, Rodney Holcomb, and Phil Kenkel

Economic Feasibility of Novel HLB Control Strategies

Authors: Anderson Xicay, Samuel Zapata, Kranthi K. Mandadi, Veronica Contreras, and Freddy A. Ibanez-Carrasco

Intra- and Inter-Temporal Risks in Specialty Crop Producers’ Adoption of New Technologies

Author: Yefan Nian

Identifying an Optimal Farm-to-retail Supply Chain for Blueberry Growers

Author: Lixia Lambert

A Hypothetical and Real Discrete Choice Experiment of Preferences for Alligator Hide as a Crafting Material

Authors: Jerrod Penn and Matt Fannin

Understanding the Goal Meat Consumer and Evolving Habits: Analysis of 2023 Consumer’s Survey

Authors: Mohammed Ibrahim, Nalini Pattanaik, and Benjamin Onyango

Measuring Impacts of Label Characteristics on Consumers’ Meat Product Preferences using 3-D Eye-Tracking Technology

Authors: Nicholas Scribner and Rodney Holcomb

Analysis of Factors Affecting Local Fresh Fuirt and Vegetable Purchases

Authors: Ramu Govindasamy, Zeki Bayramoglu, Shahan Aziz, Ufuk Soysal, and Isaac Vellangany

Savor the Flavor: Consumer Preferences Associated with Red Chile

Authors: Chadelle Robinson and Katie Adams

Exploration of Sustainable Value Creation: Southern Buyers’ Evaluation of Social and Environmental Attributes Associated for Organic, Certified Naturally Grown and Locally Grown Labels

Author: Vanessa P. Shonkwiler

Influence of University Branding on Consumers’ Willingness to Pay for University Meat Products and Their Perceived Safety

Author: Denver Hinson

How Consumers’ Attitudes Towards Health and Environment Affect Their Preferences for Local Food: Evidence from Missouri

Authors: Ye Su and Lan Tran

Consumer Preferences toward Local vs. Carbon: A Study of Value-added Dairy Products

Authors: Azita Varziri, Favour Esene, Shuoli Zhao, and Tim Woods

Dietary Choices and Willingness to Pay for Sustainable Farming

Authors: Arbinda Rimal and Samantha Mosier

FDRS RESEARCH SESSIONS II

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 13 | 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM

Using 3-D Eye-Tracking Technology to Assess Consumer Interest in Locally Sourced and Processed Meat Products

Authors: Kirsten Hollansworth, Audrey King, Rodney Holcomb, and Dwayne Cartmell

RESEARCH REPORT

Connecting with Pennsylvania Winery Tasting Rooms to Understand the Current Challenges to Winery Tasting Room Owners and Operators

Authors: Kathleen M. Kelley, Ramu Govindasamy, Donna Albano, Linda Falcone, Molly Kelly, Claudia Schmidt, Amit Sharma, Jie Li, and Miguel Gomez

The Digital Pivot: Exploring Credit Card and E-Payment Utilization in Direct-to-Consumer U.S. Agriculture

Authors: Courtney Cooper, Trey Malone, Amanda Thomsen

Farmers and Consumers Connecting through Digital Food Retailing

Author: Simon Somogyi

Characteristics of State-Sponsored Local Food Marketing Program Members and Their Satisfaction with the Program: A Case in Missouri

Author: Ye Su

Assessing the Impacts of Produce Distribution for Small, Beginning, & Socially Disadvantaged Farmers

Authors: Sarah Bermingham, Kimberly Kasper & Sara Poggi Davis

Risks and Opportunities of Coffee Cooperatives in Latin America: A Comparative Analysis of Cooperatives in Peru, Mexico, and Costa Rica

Authors: Margarita M Velandia, Carlos Trejo-Pech, Roselia Servin-Juarez, Maria de los Angeles Franco-Escobar and Fernando Saenz-Segura

Piloting Blockchain Technology for Food Safety and Supply Chain Transparency

Authors: Jon C. Phillips, Honggang Wang, Nhi Nguyen, Yi (Fionna) Xie, and Clare Corley

Strategies for Improving Nutritional Quality Along the Food Supply Chain

Authors: Tim Woods and Jane Eastham

Predicting Firm Diversification in Agri-Food Value Chains

Author: Andrew Stevens

Strengthening California Food Networks with Agritourism and Direct Sales

Author/ Presenter: Rachael Callahan

Understanding Consumer Values of CSA Subscribers

Authors: Jairus James Rossi and Tim Woods

Strategic Alliances in the Grass-fed Beef Industry. Lessons from a Producer Survey

Authors: Maria Bampasidou, Jerrod Penn and Guillermo Scaglia

Many Hats: Creating an Updated Toolkit for New and Established Food Hub Operators

Authors: Noel Bielaczyc and Claire Whitehouse

Wholesale Scaling Curriculum: Core Competencies in Serving BIPOC Producers

Authors: Maria Graziani and Rodney Holcomb

Advancing Regional Strategies for Food System Work: A Scoping Review of Regional Governance

Authors: Aiden Irish, Jill K. Clark, Becca B. R. Jablonski, Karen Bassarab, Madison Kase, and Abby Long

Prop 12 Premium: An Analysis of Proposition 12’s Impact on California Pork Prices

Author: Hannah Hawkins

Stringent Genetic Engineered Regulations: Implications of U.S. Trade in Live Animals

Author: Nicholas Amoah

Economic Contribution of Arkansas Veteranarian Practices as a Rural Anchor Point

Authors: Matthew Blevins and Jacob Manlove