behavioral in nature--taking action to be more inclusive of the diversity of farmers in the community. There is a body of literature about stressors experienced by these farmers included in the Building Farm and Farm Family Resilience in our Communities e-Publication from Connect Extension located at: https://online.flippingbook.com/view/529228412/22/. With acknowledgement of the need for more inclusion, Extension Educators are well positioned to convene community members to better understand the challenges and ways to prevent, reduce or mitigate stressors for these farmers. A Community Action Forum is designed to address public issues. Public issues are contentious; there are multiple points of view about the causes of the issue(s) and what to do about the issue(s). An example is how to prevent and respond to future disruptions that cause stress to food systems, including the farming population. The intended outcomes focus on changing a condition or situation impacting multiple people and/or systems. There are guides for using non-contentious approaches to public issues education and community dialogue (Mathews, 2016). In Our Story , you’ll learn how our forums addressed food systems disruptions. Another way to describe the differences among the forums is that Community Education Forums provide people with information about situations or conditions affecting all or part of the community i.e., educators provide information on stress across the farming population. Community Engagement Forums involve community members in identifying or responding to public problems or issues i.e., articulating the need for behavioral and mental health services in farming communities. Community Action Forums involve community members in identifying actions they and others could take collectively to prevent, reduce, or resolve public issues and problems arising from stressful disruptors to food systems, including the farming population and local communities. The objectives of your community forums will determine the type of format and the agenda. Desired outcomes, objectives, current situations, availability of, and willingness to use, electronic technologies, will also determine the type of engagement – onsite, online or a combination. (Casey, 2020)
From: Casey, 2020, https://www.kettering.org/blogs/cga-and-zoom
23
Powered by FlippingBook