Proposed SNA of Food Advocacy Networks

By Christina Filipovic
Will be taking second part of course

Food Advocacy Networks and the Farm Bill
 

Background:

Over the last several years, interest in food and the food system has grown rapidly in the United States. A hodgepodge of advocacy organizations, “public intellectuals,” celebrity chefs, and pundits converged to offer their criticisms and solutions for what many believe to be a broken food system. First Lady Michelle Obama took on child obesity and nutrition as her project of choice, partnering with public, private and nonprofit organizations to reverse the childhood obesity epidemic by 2030. At first glance, there appears to be growing public sentiment in favor of major food policy reforms, led by a vibrant and influential food movement.

However, a closer look at political realities paints a different picture. The 2012 Farm Bill expired on September 30, with Congress tabling it until after the election. While proposed legislation and policy changes surrounding food and nutrition spring up state by state, there has been minimal movement on substantive policy changes on a national level. The success of public-private partnerships touted by Let’s Move and Partnership for a Healthy America has been mixed, with much of the corporate world drawing criticism from public health advocates for fighting more aggressive policies such as limiting junk food marketing to children and overhauling nutrition labels. There appears to once again be diminished trust and fraying ties between the nonprofit sector and the private sector. While I would ultimately (I graduate in 2014) like to use my capstone project to take a closer look at the effectiveness of these public-private partnerships, either on the domestic or international level, I plan to use this class to explore the nature and extent of the budding “food movement,” through the prism of the farm bill. I believe that an insightful analysis of vocal food advocacy will provide a good base for comprehending some of the interests informing these partnerships.

In addition, I hope this mapping of advocacy networks provides a reference point for any organization wishing to engage on a specific topic within the farm bill.

Questions & Methodology:

Looking at an overall picture of those tweeting on farm bill topics, what do the cliques and clusters look like and how are they formed? By topic? By agreement/placement on political spectrum? How do public, private and nonprofit actors engage (or not) with one another? Where are the structural holes? Who are the current brokers, or could potentially serve as brokers?

Who are the most influential (Eigenvector) and engaged (communication levels, directionality, strength of ties, type of ties) individuals (on Twitter) on farm bill topics? In what way are they engaged (critical, constructive, supportive)? What are their primary topic(s) of choice (the Farm Bill is a very broad piece of legislation encompassing nutrition assistance, trade, international food aid, conservation, research, energy, crop insurance, and more) and how does this inform who they are connected to?

I plan to use both NodeXL and UCINET in the primary stages of research.

Attribute Data

- Sector (public, private, nonprofit, foundation)

- Background (chef, academic, politician, media, etc.)

- Region

- Political Leanings

- Gender

- Age

- Region

- Primary topics of interest within food/farm bill

- Primary topics of interest overall

Hypothesis

I hypothesize that clusters will be formed largely by political perspective, somewhat by topic, and significantly by sector. The individuals with the highest Eigenvector scores will likely be generalists, commenting on various segments of the Farm Bill. I don’t expect to see a whole lot of obvious “brokers,” though journalists and nonpartisan individuals might situate themselves in the middle of some groups.

Potential Problems/Request for Feedback from Classmates

-        The issue at hand is very large and broad in nature, but as many commentators and advocacy organizations work on more than a single element of the bill, it is necessary to take this broad approach. Keeping in mind that the ultimate goal is to understand the “food movement,” are there suggestions for narrowing down or simplifying the topic?

-        How does one measure success for movements? Increased public awareness? Policy change?