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Multistate Agricultural Literacy Research

Agriculture impacts the food, health, economy, environment, technology, and well-being of all. We are a nation that has reaped the benefits of a successful agricultural system. This has allowed our society to flourish, engage in leisure activities, and dream about future endeavors. Our successful innovations concerning food and fiber have resulted in fewer farmers and larger yields. However, this success story has come with a consequence – a society that has little understanding concerning agricultural production and processing, and how this system meets our basic needs (food, clothing, shelter), and relates or interacts with a sustainable environment and our quality of life. Daily decisions made by individuals, through dollars and voting, affect our agricultural system – from soil to spoon. If U.S. agriculture is going to continue to meet the needs of the U.S. population and address growing global needs, agriculture needs to be understood and valued by all.

For more information about how you can become involved with the National Center for Agricultural Literacy or the AES Multistate Research Committee, please contact Michelle Burrows, michelle.burrows@usu.edu.

Research Objectives

The objectives of our research to address agricultural literacy include:

  1. Assess the agricultural knowledge of diverse population segments related to agriculture, including consumers, students, and producers. Specifically, explore and/or measure: a. points of acquisition of agricultural knowledge; b. decisions made based on assessed knowledge.
  2. Assess attitudes, perceptions, and motivations of diverse population segments related to agriculture, such as consumers, students, and producers. Specifically, explore and/or measure: a. how perceptions, attitudes and motivations are developed; b. decisions made based on assessed attitudes, perceptions, and motivations; c. behavior changes that have occurred due to changes in attitude, perceptions, and/or motivation.
  3. Evaluate agricultural literacy programs to measure program impact. Specifically: (a) measure impacts of agricultural literacy programs related to critical thinking and problem solving; (b) explore and evaluate peer and participant-centered agricultural literacy programming methods to determine their effectiveness in addressing defined agricultural literacy outcomes?

These objectives serve as the research agenda. Research findings from this work will provide stakeholders with valid agricultural literacy assessments, and demonstrate the impact of various programming modalities. These results are necessary as a baseline to initiate decision-making that "moves the needle" toward an agriculturally literate society. It is noted, however, that while this work can be done through a multistate effort over the next five years, a long-term approach, as identified by phases over the next 15-20 years, will be necessary to measure long-term impacts. Additional information can be found on the W4006 NIMSS website.

Publications

Published research from previous versions of the Multistate Agricultural Literacy Research project can be found in our Zotero databases: