Dear Berea Resident,
We are a research team of students and faculty at Berea College and Eastern Kentucky University. As you may know, we have been working on a community food system assessment with the Berea Economic Advancement Team since 2011. We now intend to collect data that will allow us to understand the views of Berea backyard farmers. We would like to know your views on the local food system along with your knowledge pertaining to the production of food. All questions in this survey relate to food that you grow and/or raise, but do not sell to others. It includes food that you grow for your family or give away. It can be as small as a few tomato plants or as large as a subsistence farm.
The attached survey will take approximately ten minutes to complete and will allow us to assess agricultural concern of food production by backyard farmers within the Berea Community. We would like the survey to be filled out by the primary producer of food in your household, if you are not the primary producer of food, please give this survey to that person at your earliest convenience.
Your participation in this survey is very important. These survey findings will be included in a final report to local legislators by the end of the summer, and will be used to direct the future actions and directions of this project. Although we are encouraging your participation in this survey, we must stress that your participation in this study is completely voluntary.
When filling out this survey, remember, there are no right or wrong answers. We are simply interested in your honest and open responses.
Thank you in advance for taking the time to fill out this survey. This survey and your responses will help us in understanding the food economy of Berea and Madison County and will hopefully, lead to a community wide discussion on issues related to local food and food availability. Please contact us if you have any questions,
Sincerely,
Berea Economic Advancement Team
