The Western Rural Development Center is soliciting articles for its November 2009 issue of Rural Connections. The topic for this issue will be Food Security in the Western U.S. and Pacific Territories.

Overview
Sub-Topics
Submission Guidelines
Deadline
Criteria for Judging Submissions
About Rural Connections
Questions
Download Call for Abstracts (PDF)

Overview
The Center is interested in understanding changing rural development opportunities as they relate to food security in the Western U.S. and Pacific Territories. Furthermore, the Center wants to share this information with its stakeholders to increase awareness of the region’s activities and to build the capacity of communities by providing them with relevant and timely information.

Two commonly used definitions of food security come from the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA):

1. Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. (FAO)
2. Food security for a household means access by all members at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life. Food security includes at a minimum (1) the ready availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods, and (2) an assured ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways (that is, without resorting to emergency food supplies, scavenging, stealing, or other coping strategies). (USDA) 

Sub-Topics
The topic ‘Food Security’ is broad in scope and allows for submissions from a wide range of sub-topics including but not limited to:
Food Security
•    Local Production
•    Access
•    Storage
•    Food Safety
•    Obesity and Nutrition

Economic Impacts
•    Local Production vs. Industrialized Production
•    Biofuels Impact on Food Crops
•    Food Security and Poverty

Community Supported Agriculture
•    Case Studies
•    Highlights of successful programs
•    Tips for beginning a CSA

Food, Agriculture and Land Policy
•    Impact of Residential/Industrial Lands on Total Agriculture Lands
•    Declining Agriculture Lands
•    Water Policy, Irrigation and Agriculture

Organic Foods
•    Farm to School/Table Programs

Farm to Table
•    Highlights of successful programs
•    Tips for implementing a program

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Submission Guidelines
Please submit the following information to the WRDC by the deadline listed below. Submissions that exceed or do not follow these guidelines will not be considered for publication.

1. Abstracts should be written using MS Word and include the following information in the order listed here:
2. Title of Article
3. Author(s) Name, Job Title, University/Organization, Mailing Address, Email Address, Daytime Telephone Number
4. 400-600 word abstract of your article
5. Text should be double-spaced using a 12 point font size
6. Submit the MS Word document as an email attachment to Betsy Newman (betsy.newman@usu.edu).

Deadline
Abstracts must be submitted by close of business Wednesday, July 22, 2009.
NOTE:

• The WRDC will contact you on or before Friday, July 31, 2009 to inform you whether or not your submission has been selected for publication.
• At that time we will provide you with details on article guidelines such as the submission deadline, word count, charts, graphs, etc.
• The WRDC will provide you with eight to nine weeks from the date of notification for you to write and submit your article.

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Criteria for Judging All Abstract Submissions

1. Relationship to publication theme: Does the abstract relate to the theme or any of the sub topics?
2. Sound conceptual framework: If appropriate, does the abstract indicate the development and implementation of a theory-based intervention or research project?
3. Methodology: Are objectives clearly stated? Are findings included and do they correspond to the objectives?
4. Usefulness: Can the research, program or plan be applied elsewhere? Is it useful to practicing agriculture educators, researchers, and/or academicians, and communities?
5. Innovation: Does the abstract represent research, a program, a project, or professional preparation activity that is unique, new or creative?
6. Clarity of Content: Does the abstract clearly outline what the article is about, such as project type, target audience, setting?
7. Format: Does the abstract reference objectives, methods or interventions, results or major findings, implications? Does abstract meet typing and space criteria?
8. Overall reaction: Considering the above criteria, what is your overall reaction?

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About Rural Connections
Published twice each year, Rural Connections focuses each issue on a particular topic of interest to the Western U.S. Contributors include researchers, faculty and professionals from throughout the region. The magazine is electronically distributed to over 1,100 WRDC stakeholders, made available on its website, and posted to its Facebook page.

The magazine is further distributed by the WRDC’s partners and stakeholders and reaches a national and international audience. The WRDC also makes printed copies available for the contributors, and as requested by its stakeholders.

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Questions
Please direct your questions to:
Betsy H. Newman
Publication Specialist
betsy.newman@usu.edu

Don E. Albrecht
Director
don.albrecht@usu.edu

WRDC Office
435.797.9732

Download the Call for Abstracts (PDF)

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 1. Wikipedia. Retrieved May 14, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_security#cite_note-17