1. Social Network Analysis of the Farm to Plate Network, 2011-2012
Drake Turner and Christopher Koliba, Ph.D.
University of Vermont
April 2013

2. Research Objective How is the Farm to Plate Network structured?
Does this structure create value for member organizations?
Funded through the James M. Jeffords Policy Research Center

3. Network Analysis and Food Systems
How is network analysis applied to the food system?
Biology – study of food chains
…and not much else ? = +

4. Research Question and Hypotheses
RQ – How is the Farm to Plate Network structured on a governance level? How is it structured on an operational level? How do these structures compare to one another?
H1 – The Farm to Plate Network increases and strengthens the connectivity of member organizations in the farm and food sector in Vermont.
H2 – Farm to Plate Network member organizations tend to favor the exchange of information over the exchange of human resources in service of joint programs and projects and the exchange of financial resources.
H3 – Government organizations, nonprofits, and academic organizations participate in the governing and operation of the Farm to Plate Network more centrally than for-profit or funder organizations.

5. Methods Online Survey SPSS ORA/UCINET
Sent to representatives from all organizations in total network (212 organizations)
16 Questions about:
Organization demographics
Association with Farm to Plate Goals
Assessment of impacts of network membership
Collaboration with other network members
Information Sharing, Project/Program Collaboration, Resource Sharing
85 organizations responded
SPSS
Demographic information, goals, and assessment of impacts
Crosstabs and frequency statistics
ORA/UCINET
Governing network – meeting minutes
Operational network – collaboration data from survey
Network maps and centrality measures
Mention multiple responses from some organizations – averaged responses

6. Total Network N=212 Governing Network n=142 Sampled Network n=85
Number
Percent
Non-Profit 97
46% 67
47% 41
48%
For-Profit 62
29% 30
21% 16
19%
Academic 7% 13 9% 11
13%
Funder 6% 10 8
Government 25
12% 22
16% 9
11%
Total Network
N=212
Governing Network
n=142
Sampled Network
n=85

7. Results
H1 – The Farm to Plate Network increases and strengthens the connectivity of member organizations in the farm and food sector in Vermont.
“Our organization has formed new relationships in the past year as a direct result of our involvement in the Farm to Plate Network.” (n=85)
Membership in network has helped our organization to advance our own organization’s goals
We have formed new relationships as a result of the Farm to Plate Network
We have strengthened existing relationships as a result of the Farm to Plate Network

8. “Our organization’s involvement in the Farm to Plate Network has helped strengthen our existing relationships.” (n=85)
“The Farm to Plate Network is helping our organization to advance our organization’s own goals.” (n=85)

9. Social Network Analysis Terms
Node
Tie
Density
Centrality
Degree
Betweenness
Eigenvector
Density – the proportion of direct ties in a network relative to the total number possible
Degree – measures the number of connections each node has – measures activity and visibility in a network
Betweenness – measures the importance of a node in terms of connecting other nodes – assesses brokerage
Eigenvector – measures how important/central a node’s connections are

10. Issues confronting the network:
Key to success lies in the capacity of the network to be self-sufficient
Difficulties in getting organizations to operate in a networked way
Public-private partnership struggles (examined later)
Source: Farm to Plate Annual Report, 2012

11. F2P Governing Network

12. Governing Network – Number of Meetings Attended by Sector (n=142)
F2P Governing Network
Governing Network – Number of Meetings Attended by Sector (n=142)
Governing Network – Number of Meetings Attended by Organization (n=142)

13. Sampled Network – Information Sharing

14. Sampled Network – Program/Project Collaboration

15. Sampled Network – Resource Sharing

16. Sampled Network – Network Level Measures
Results
Sampled Network – Network Level Measures

17. Sampled Network – Information Sharing

19. Sampled Network – Project/Program Collaboration

21. Sampled Network – Resource Sharing

24. Discussion: Limitations Calls for Future Research
Missing data
Response validity
Calls for Future Research
Baseline study
Implications for Practice
Network Managers
Network Members
Outsiders
Network Managers – concrete feedback in relation to perceptions of value of network membership
Network Members – members are able to visualize their positionality in the network – can see gaps in their relationships and opportunities for improvement
Outsiders – opportunity to understand the structure and scope of the network, and find leverage points and opportunities for entry

25. Next steps: Generate peer review articles
Issue a final report to F2P Network summarizing these findings
Link survey results to Atlas
Continue to analyze data, particularly around goal-specific network configurations.
Possibly continue to provide information back to the F2P network
Conduct network survey every two years to track the evolution of the network over time
Access data from the Atlas to develop a data analytics profile of website users– connecting these results to network analysis– in collaboration with VSJF and others…

26. Thank you!

27. Sources
Campbell, M.C. (2004). Building a common table: the role for planning in community food systems. Journal of Planning Education and Research, 23:
Clancy, K. (2004). Potential contributions of planning to community food systems. Journal of Planning Education and Research, 23 (4):
Farm to Plate Annual Report, 2011.
Farm to Plate Annual Report, 2012.
Kania, J., and Kramer, M. (2011). Collective impact. Stanford Social Innovation Review, Winter 2011:
Koliba, C., Campbell, E., and Davis. (2011). Food System Diagram.
Koliba, C., Meek, J., and Zia, A. (2011). Governance Networks in Public Administration and Public Policy. Boca Raton: CRC Press.
Prell, C. (2012). Social Network Analysis: history, theory, and methodology. London: Sage Publications.