Educators or Facilitators? Clarifying Extension's Role in the Emerging Local Food Systems Movement

Authors

• Brian Raison, The Ohio State University ExtensionFollow

Volume

48

Issue

3

Abstract

With the recent growth of the local food systems movement, OSU Extension formed a new statewide team. In the process, Extension program delivery systems were explored contrasting traditional program delivery (historically rooted in a teacher-clientele, information transfer, demonstration methodology) vs. a community capacity-building facilitation process. This seemingly marginal distinction raised questions with deeper implications for Extension's outreach and engagement process. In brief, how can Extension fill the gap between community-expressed needs and the traditional framework of delivery? Should Extension help communities fulfill their goals and objectives by acting as facilitators, co-conveners, and true partners, rather than simply as educators?

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Raison, B. (2010). Educators or Facilitators? Clarifying Extension's Role in the Emerging Local Food Systems Movement. Journal of Extension, 48(3), Article 8. https://doi.org/10.34068/joe.48.03.08