Minutes of NE-165 Meeting
Private Strategies, Public Policies, and Food System Performance

November 14-15, 1996
Country Hearth Inn
Orlando, FL

Minutes

Participants

Business Meeting Agenda

Minutes

Chairperson Julie Caswell opened the meeting at 8:30 a.m. on November 14th (see attached meeting agenda and list of those attending). After a round of introductions, Julie discussed the meeting objectives. Since our last meeting, the new 5-year NE-165 Project was approved and will run from 1996-2001. At the June meeting, we decided to have two meetings in 1996-97 focused on launching the collaborative efforts of the group. This meeting is the first of these two, with sessions organized by researchers under several of the project's procedures. The objective of these sessions is to discuss research and methodological issues and make plans for future programs.

The morning's first session focused on the uses of consumer demand models in the NE-165 Project. Ron Cotterill presented "An Overview of Brand Modeling Approaches to the Measurement of Market Power". He discussed the use of scanner data, and price elasticities generated from them, in measuring market power. Cathy Wessells presented "U.S. Canned Salmon: Implications for Salmon Enhancement Policies". She discussed the private and public uses of scanner-based data. Questions and discussion followed the presentations.

The second session of the morning was a business meeting. The minutes of the last meeting were approved and we turned to our advisors for comments. Dan Rossi, our administrative advisor, congratulated us on the approval of our new proposal. He said it was excellent and had received a very positive response from the Northeast Directors. He also noted that he liked the format of this meeting with its focus on collaboration. Dan then discussed several factors affecting research including: level funding of experiment station efforts; the new Fund for Rural America, which will spend about $100 million on research and education over the next three years; and the increasing emphasis in government on accountability. Julie thanked Dan on behalf of NE-165 for his efforts during the course of the project approval process.

Susan Welsh, our CSREES advisor, congratulated us on Don West's and her behalf on a great proposal. She distributed a report on CSREES Research Activities that underlined many of the issues Dan discussed. Susan especially emphasized the need for NE-165 to get ready to show how its research findings are applied and what impact they have. She encouraged members to begin writing impact statements for her to kept on file as a way to start this process.

Julie then discussed plans for election of officers. She reviewed the administrative structure, noting that the elected officers (all holding three year terms) are chairperson, six members of the executive committee, and secretary. Up for election this Fall are the chairperson, two members of the executive committee, and the secretary. She suggested, and the group approved, that the election by conducted by the four continuing executive committee members: Everett Peterson, Cathy Wessells, Randy Torgerson, and Randy Westgren. Everett and Cathy are to be co-chairs. After discussion, the group approved a process by which Everett and Cathy would take nominations at this meeting and by email; distribute a ballot to all voting members (1 per station, agency, or other entity) in mid-December; and announce results at the end of December.

On the NE-165 publication series, Julie discussed the switch, accomplished during the Fall, to electronic distribution of NE-165 Working Papers through AgEcon Search (http://agecon.lib.umn.edu/) to all project members. Paper distribution will continue to be used for libraries. Julie will resend the email to everyone concerning how to submit a Working Paper. The AgEcon Search website also carries all the chapters from NE-165's 1995 conference proceedings and will carry future proceedings as well. Anyone with questions should call Julie. She also encouraged everyone to distribute articles and book chapters through the NE-165 Reprint Series (Ron Cotterill is the contact person). Julie said she expects the NE-165 Web Page to be up by March 1997.

The group then broke for lunch, to return in the afternoon and through the morning of Friday, the 15th, to two breakout sessions focused on the two objectives of the project. Julie asked the breakout groups to focus on discussing research, make concrete plans for collaboration, and return to a Wrap-Up Session on Friday afternoon to report plans for future NE-165 activities such as workshops and conferences.

Breakout Session for Objective 1 (Thursday Afternoon and Friday Morning)

 

The subgroup was made up of researchers working on Objective 1 of the Project:
To analyze the impacts of changes in strategies, technologies, consumer behavior, and policies on the economic performance of the food system.

 

The subgroup began Thursday afternoon with a wide-ranging round robin on current research that highlighted many methodological issues. This was followed by a focus on commonalities in research interests and priorities for collaborative research on Friday morning. A major common focus was on issues of vertical coordination, with the subgroup agreeing to organize a conference in this area in 1998 (see Wrap Up Session below for details). The focus of this conference would be to go beyond descriptive work to emphasize modeling retailer/manufacturer issues, vertical relationships, industrialization, price transmission, policy influences, and welfare impacts. A shorter, half-day session on price transmission and vertical coordination was tentatively planned for the June 1997 NE-165 meeting.

 

The subgroup also discussed a second area of focus for priority work on the comparison of food system development in North America, the European Union, and other country groups. Issues would include use of advertising, private labels, and globalization. The subgroup felt that collaborative work in this area would take longer to develop and would be a possible topic for a conference in 1999.

Breakout Session for Objective 2 (Thursday Afternoon and Friday Morning)

 

The subgroup was made up of researchers working on Objective 2 of the Project:
To provide economic analysis of private and public strategies in order to assess their impact on improvement in food safety and other quality attributes.

 

The subgroup began with a Roundtable Discussion moderated by Laurian Unnevehr on Public and Private Benefits and Costs of Alternative Risk Reduction Strategies (Subprocedure 2.B3). The discussion ranged over current work; work plans; data development, and planning for distributing research results. A major focus of the session was evaluation of HACCP implementation. Rich Williams discussed the need for post-implementation evaluation, especially in light of government accountability requirements, and FDA's preliminary plans in this area. The group outlined plans (reported in Wrap Up Session below) to organize a joint conference with FDA on Benefit/Cost Analysis of HACCP and Alternative Risk Reduction Strategies. Another theme of the afternoon discussion was private and public uses of labeling and certification as a means of assuring food quality and communicating about it. Examples included ecolabeling, forestry and fishery labeling, organic labels, nutrition labels, and warning and safety labels. The group tentatively planned a session on this topic for the June 1997 NE-165 meeting, with a possible conference later on.

 

On Friday morning the subgroup had a session moderated by Robin Douthitt and Eileen van Ravenswaay on Risk Perception and Information (Subprocedure 2.A1). Presentations were made by Robin Douthitt, Jordan Lin, Eileen van Ravenswaay, and Cathy Wessells on their work in this area with extensive discussion among the subgroup on methodology and approaches. A main thrust of planned joint activity was the sharing of survey instruments and the development of bibliographies on Risk Perception (coordinated by Robin Douthitt); Labeling/Certification (coordinated by Julie Caswell); and Risk Assessment/HACCP (coordinated by Roberta Morales).

Wrap-Up and Planning Session (Friday Afternoon)

The two subgroups met to coordinate plans. Ian Sheldon reported for the Objective 1 subgroup. The subgroup plans a major conference on vertical coordination (Subprocedure 1.A1) in 1998. The Organizing Committee is Ian Sheldon, Bill Tomek, Cathy Durham, Rodney Smith, Nick Powers, Tom Stafford, and Mark Denbaly (others who are interested should contact Ian Sheldon). A half-day session at the June 1997 NE-165 meeting will focus on price transmission and be a lead up to the 1998 conference. A possible focus in 1999 would be on Comparative Food Systems.

Julie Caswell reported for the Objective 2 subgroup. The subgroup plans a jointly organized FDA/NE-165 conference on benefit/cost analysis of HACCP and alternative risk reduction strategies to be held in late 1997 or early 1998. The Organizing Committee will be led by Laurian Unnevehr and Rich Williams, with other possible members including David Zorn (FDA), Cathy Wessells, Roberta Morales, and Julie Caswell (others who are interested should contact Laurian). The subgroup is interested in holding a researchers' conference followed up by presentations tailored for different audiences of policy makers. The subgroup is also interested in organizing a session on labeling and certification at the June 1997 NE-165 meeting.

Julie noted that the plans of the two groups are very compatible and complementary. The group approved the two organizing committees going forth with plans for the two conferences. Julie thanked everyone for their enthusiastic participation in the meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 2:30 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,
Julie A. Caswell, NE-165 Chairperson

 

Participants

List of Meeting Participants:

Ronald Cotterill

University of Connecticut

William Tomek

Cornell University

Richard Kilmer

University of Florida

Stanley Fletcher

University of Georgia

Nick Powers

University of Illinois

Laurian Unnevehr

University of Illinois

Michael Ward

University of Illinois

Wes Harrison

Louisiana State University

Julie Caswell

University of Massachusetts

Eileen van Ravenswaay

Michigan State University

Rodney Smith

University of Minnesota

Azzeddine Azzam

University of Nebraska

Alberto Manalo

University of New Hampshire

Roberta Morales

North Carolina State University

Ian Sheldon

Ohio State University

Cathy Durham

Purdue University

Cathy Wessells

University of Rhode Island

Daniel Rossi

Rutgers University

Everett Peterson

Virginia Tech. University

Robin Douthitt

University of Wisconsin

Richard Williams

Food and Drug Administration

Susan Welsh

CSREES, USDA

Mark Denbaly

Economic Research Service, USDA

Jordan Lin

Economic Research Service, USDA

Tom Stafford

RBCDS-Cooperative Services, USDA

 

Agenda

                           
NE-165:  Private Strategies, Public Policies, and Food System Performance

November 14-15, 1996
Country Hearth Inn
Orlando, FL



Thursday, November 14

  8:15-8:30AM    Opening Session

                     Introduction of New Members
                     Meeting Objectives
                         
  8:30-10:30AM   Focus on Research Approaches: Consumer Demand Models 
                 (Subprocedure 1.C1)

                     An Overview of Brand Modeling Approaches to the
                     Measurement of Market Power, Ron Cotterill,
                     Univ. of Connecticut

                     U.S. Canned Salmon: Implications for Salmon Enhancement
                     Policies, Cathy Wessells, Univ. of Rhode Island

  10:30-11:00AM  Break

  11:00AM-12:00PM    NE-165 Business Meeting:  Reports and Discussion
                     Approval of Minutes of Last Meeting 
                     Comments from Administrative Advisor and CSREES
                      Representative
                     Plans for Nominating Committee
                     NE-165 Publication Series and Electronic Communication
                     Advance Planning for 1997 and Beyond Meetings
                     NE-165 Activities at Toronto and Sacramento Meetings

  12:00-1:15PM   Lunch
  
  1:15-3:15PM    Breakout Sessions on Research Methods

                 Session 1: Consumer Demand Models (Subprocedure 1.C1)
                     Moderated by Everett Peterson, Virginia Tech. Univ.

                 Session 2: Public and Private Benefits and Costs of
                 Alternative Risk Reduction Strategies (Subprocedure 2.B3)
                     Roundtable Moderated by Laurian Unnevehr, Univ. of Illinois

                     Updates on Current Work
                     Evaluation of Where the Research Area Is and Where it
                      Needs to Go
                     Data Development Activities
                     Planning a Workshop for Professional Audiences
                     Planning How Best to Disseminate Results to Policy Makers


  3:15-3:45PM    Break

  3:45-5:00PM    Breakout Sessions on Research Plans

                     Session 1: Objective 1
                     
                         "To analyze the impacts of changes in strategies,
                         technologies, consumer behavior, and policies on
                         the economic performance of the food system."

                         Session Moderator: Ron Cotterill, Univ. of Connecticut

                     Session 2: Objective 2
                     
                         "To provide economic analysis of private and public
                         strategies in order to assess their impact on
                         improvement in food safety and other quality attributes."

                         Session Moderator: Julie Caswell, Univ. of Massachusetts



Friday, November 15

8:30AM-12:00PM   Breakout Sessions
                     (Note: A break will be served at 10:00AM)

                     Session 1: Research Roundtable on Procedure 1
                         Session Moderators: Ronald Cotterill and Everett Peterson

                     Session 2:  Focus on: Risk Perception and Information
                     (Subprocedure 2.A1)
                         Session Moderators: Robin Douthitt and Eileen van Ravenswaay

                         A Nation-Wide Survey of Consumer Food Risk Perceptions
                         with Special Emphasis on Biotechnology Food 
                         Applications, Robin Douthitt, Univ. of Wisconsin
                         
                         Aspects of Consumer Perceptions of Foodborne
                         Microbiological Health Risks, Jordan Lin, Economic
                         Research Service

                         Measuring Risk Learning, Eileen van Ravenswaay

                                              
                         Consumer Preferences for Information on Fresh Salmon:
                         A Rank-Ordered Logit Analysis of a Conjoint
                         Experiment, Cathy Wessells, Univ. of Rhode Island

12:00-1:15PM     Lunch

1:15-2:30PM      Reports from Breakout Sessions, Wrap Up of Business and
                 Planning

2:30PM           Meeting Adjourned

 


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