<p>New research on rural New Englanders shows that gardening, hunting, fishing and other HWFP activities are important tools for maintaining food security through extreme events, such as pandemics or climate change events. </p>
<p>University of Vermont and University of Maine researchers found that both food insecurity and home and wild food production (HWFP) – gardening, hunting, fishing, foraging, and having “backyard” poultry or livestock – increased significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, and <strong>those who undertook HWFP activities exhibited improved food security 9-12 months later. </strong></p>
<p>The paper, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-52320-z.pdf">published in <em>Scientific Reports</em></a>, surveyed over 1,000 individuals in rural Vermont and Maine (the two most rural states
University of Maine Cooperative Extension professor Kate Yerxa is a member of a multistate team honored with the 2022 National Excellence in Extension award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), and Cooperative Extension. The Agricultural Experiment Station Multistate Research […]
Rachel Schattman and
Kate Yerxa of the University of Maine.
The awards will support at least 22 UVM faculty and students from 5 colleges/schools and 8 departments. Over 40 local, national, and international collaborators from at least 8 partner institutions will participate, including the University of California-Davis, the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC), the Winooski School District, Bioversity International, and Bahir Dar University.
Catalyst Awards are the Gund Institute’s flagship seed grant competition, and have provided over $800,000 in startup funds, supporting over 100 UVM scholars and 20 innovative projects, since launching four years ago. In three years, the program has generated over $8M in external funding, a 12-to-1 return on investment.