About
The goal of Midwest Healthy Ag is to listen to farmers and rural residents in six Midwestern states and to learn from you. The interviews started in December 2020 in Wisconsin, and we moved into Nebraska in February 2021. Interviews began in Iowa in mid-March, and will be followed by meeting folks in Illinois, Minnesota and Kansas. All interviews should be completed by the end of August 2021.
We want to know more about the farm you own or the farm you’re paid to work on. Tell us how the land is managed, how the animals live, and how the crops and other products are grown and sold. We want to know how you work, who helps you and who you help.
Maybe you’re not a farmer at all, but you are a spouse or partner. Maybe you deliver the mail to farmers, teach their children, preach on Sunday mornings to them, or pour their coffee and serve them a meal. Whatever it is you do, you’re part of a rural community and we’re interested in YOU. We will be collecting information through interviews.
While we intended to visit you in your county and stay for about two weeks, we had to switch up how we will conduct our interviews in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19. These interviews will be conducted using an internet service like Zoom where we can see you on your computer (and you’ll be able to see us, too). If you don’t have internet or have spotty service, we can interview you over the phone.
Some of our interviews will be with one person and perhaps a spouse/partner while others will be in groups. If you’re interested, we’ll send you a packet in the mail ahead of time so you have a chance to review the questions before our appointment. If it’s just you or you and your spouse/partner, you can sit at your kitchen table or your home office and enjoy a cup of coffee while our two researchers—Serena and Carolyn—ask the questions and record your responses.
Your information will be kept confidential and none of your responses will identify your name, where you live, or how you answered each question. The group interviews—called focus groups—will pull together 4-8 people who may have things in common, like women only, farm workers only, or general members of the community.
The focus groups will be conducted through an internet service like Zoom so that you won’t be in one room together during the pandemic. You will be in the safety of your own home but can choose to see and be seen by others in the group via your computer’s video camera. All of this information will also be confidential, and we ask focus group members not share the responses outside of the group.
Hopefully in late 2021, we’ll be able to get to visit you in your communities to do face-to-face meetings with field trips, meals, and discussion groups. Your health, confidentiality, and safety are our first priority. We invite you to join us for some good conversation. And we thank you for participating!