Research on Consumer Behavior and Consumer Cooperatives
Consumer Cooperatives Across the State, the Nation, and the World — Professor Ann Hoyt
Consumer Behavior, Retail Industry, Family Businesses, and Philanthropy — Professor Cynthia Jasper
Consumer Cooperatives Across the State, the Nation, and the World — Professor Ann Hoyt
Ann Hoyt serves as principal investigator of the Southern Child Welfare Training Partnership, which develops and delivers high quality training to managers, staff, and care-giving families to provide family-centered child welfare services throughout Wisconsin. The partnership has a $2.47 million annual budget and accomplishes its mission through a collaboration with county and tribal child welfare agencies, the Wisconsin State Department of Children and Family Services, and the University of Wisconsin system. In 2006, Professor Hoyt and three faculty from Agricultural and Applied Sciences received a $500,000 grant to study the impact of all types of cooperative businesses on the U.S. economy. She is a co-investigator on that project. The same year, Professor Hoyt traveled to Ghana to continue her work in documenting consumer cooperatives around the globe. She also was elected to the University Committee of the UW-Madison Faculty Senate. She is the first Human Ecology representative to serve on the committee since at least 1971.
Consumer Behavior, Retail Industry, Family Businesses, and Philanthropy — Professor Cynthia Jasper
Cynthia Jasper is frequently quoted in national and local media on consumer science topics, particularly on consumer behavior and trends in the retail industry. She was initiated in 2006 as an honorary member of the student chapter of Phi Upsilon Omicron, a national honorary professional organization that promotes scholarship and leadership.
Agronomic Sustainability, Consumer Market Research, Organic and Local Foods, Community Supported Agriculture, Sustainable Consumption — Lydia Zepeda
Lydia Zepeda completed her leadership of the UW-Troy Gardens Learning Community Project, a four-year project funded by the Kellogg Foundation. Troy Gardens is a 26-acre multi-use open space on Madison’s north side that includes a community garden, kids' garden, community farm, and natural areas. The project established the community farm, education programs for K-12, internships for UW students, and participatory research on economic and agronomic sustainability. Professor Zepeda conducted marketing research on huitlacoche, a corn mushroom eaten as a delicacy in Mexico for centuries, which is now being grown here (www.troygardens.org/huitlacocheproject.html). She also established a virtual marketplace to facilitate sourcing the product (www.huitlacoche.org). Professor Zepeda is researching the demand for organic and local foods using national consumer survey data, with funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. She is also investigating the motives for buying organic and local foods, why Wisconsin farm families use their children's labor on farms and what influences how many hours children work, and what influences attrition and retention of membership in Community Supported Agriculture. Professor Zepeda received a UW-Madison Vilas Life Cycle Professorship to conduct a pilot study on food choice, and a 2006 Human Ecology Outreach Award. In 2006 she designed and offered a new course on sustainable and socially just consumption targeted at providing research opportunities for freshmen. Professor Zepeda is on the board of the Melorheostosis Association and hosted an international conference for researchers, physician and patients in Madison in 2006.
