Building Multipliers, Rather than Measuring Them: Community-Minded Ways to Develop Economic Impacts

Abstract

As co-authors of the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service's (AMS) Economics of Local Food Systems Toolkit featured in this special issue, we pose the question of whether standard input-output (I-O) modeling approaches are appropriate for use in community foods work. In this reflective essay, we discuss the underlying data used in the most common assessment tools and suggest that they are not precise enough for estimating the impacts of emergent small local food firms amid rapidly changing contexts, even when modified following generally accepted methodologies. Since the basis of I-O modeling is the understanding that the various sectors of an economy are linked-an output from one sector may be an input to another-we are proposing approaches that make these community linkages more visible to food system practitioners. We wish to advance the idea that placing the focus on how communities build robust multipliers may be a better use of resources than generating multiplier calculations that hold questionable value. We suggest that methodologies derived from social network analysis (SNA) will prove increasingly useful in the impact(s) discussion.

Sustainable Food System Assessment

“…A further limitation is that most national secondary data sets show primarily the workings of large-scale farms and the commodity industry, not trends in community food production (Goldenberg & Meter, 2019 ). These broader trends do strongly affect those producing food for nearby consumers, infl uencing the cost of land, availability of labour and other farm inputs, opportunity costs, and a host of other concerns, but once again it is important to interpret what is shown carefully.…”

“…We have come across defi nitions of 'local' that range from 'within my township' to 'anywhere we can drive within 24 hours'. Such mileage limits are easy to co-opt, while building social capital is what provides a competitive advantage to community foods efforts (Goldenberg & Meter, 2019 ).…”

“…Economic fl ows integrate across all of these capitals , as does social capital. Over time we have placed stronger focus on the need for strong social capital to create a resilient community economy (Goldenberg & Meter, 2019 ). Holling ( 2001 ) adds that 'connectedness … determines the degree to which a system can control its own destiny' (p. 394).…”

What is a ‘Multiplier’ Anyway? Assessing the Economics of Local Foods Systems Toolkit

“…What options exist for resource-constrained communities in measuring the economic impact of local food systems? Goldenberg and Meter (2019) and Shideler and Watson (2019) provide two alternative options that communities can follow if they seek to better understand their local food economy but do not have the capacity to undertake a rigorous and detailed I-O study. Goldenberg and Meter (2019) argue against the use of I-O techniques in community-level economic impact assessments.…”

“…Goldenberg and Meter (2019) and Shideler and Watson (2019) provide two alternative options that communities can follow if they seek to better understand their local food economy but do not have the capacity to undertake a rigorous and detailed I-O study. Goldenberg and Meter (2019) argue against the use of I-O techniques in community-level economic impact assessments. They claim that the cost of acquiring accurate data for I-O modeling is generally too high relative to the scale of existing local food projects.…”