Engaging Stakeholders to Refine Research Objectives for Grant Proposals

The mission of the Center for Sustainable and Organic Food Systems at the University of Florida is to assist in the development of sustainable and organic food systems, with an emphasis on local and regional systems.  One of the ways of so doing has been to facilitate collaboration among researchers in complementary fields to form interdisciplinary teams that address problems facing our stakeholders.  In 2012, a team with expertise ranging from the biological sciences of entomology, horticulture and weed science to social sciences related to rural community development and food and resource economics coalesced to prepare a research proposal.  Addressed at developing organic strawberry cropping systems that are more environmentally and economically sustainable and are resilient to weeds, pests, and diseases, the proposal targeted the USDA NIFA Organic Research and Extension Initiative (OREI) program and was highly regarded but not funded.  In an effort to increase the likelihood of obtaining funding at resubmission, the team sought input from industry stakeholders utilizing a focus group format.  The results of the focus group were used to craft a second proposal that resulted in a year of funding from the National Sustainable Strawberry Initiative that has allowed the team to generate preliminary data.  Additionally, the outreach and evaluation component of the project included a strong emphasis on stakeholder input, which was obtained through focus groups at a regional growers’ conference, and at the research trial locations – a research station and a collaborating grower’s farm.  The information gained will be invaluable for preparation of the revised OREI 2014 grant proposal.