The new survey will analyze the program\u2019s perceived value, benefits and costs through a short online consumer survey and in-person interviews with Rhode Island farmers. Simona Trandafir<\/a>, an associate professor in URI\u2019s Department of Environmental and Natural Resource Economics<\/a>, is overseeing the survey, working with colleague Patrick Baur, undergraduate Sara Hill, graduate student Carolyn Hirshon, and URI alumna Natalie Meyer M\u201922.<\/p>\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019re collecting preliminary input to help refine the design of an upcoming online consumer survey and producer interviews,\u201d Trandafir said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An environmental economist who began her career as an engineer, Trandafir brings a systems perspective to her work. She focuses on sustainable food consumption, with much of her work exploring private and public overlap. She\u2019s also completed projects for the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources examining energy trends in the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Anyone interested in food in Rhode Island\u2014whether as a maker, buyer or consumer\u2014can help her team\u2019s research by taking a brief survey<\/a>, which will ask questions about local food purchasing habits and connections to Rhode Island\u2019s local food sector. The survey asks takers about where they purchase Rhode Island-grown food, if consumers take notice of the RI Grown label, and about barriers that the state\u2019s local food system faces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRI Grown has the opportunity to strengthen Rhode Island\u2019s agriculture and aquaculture industries by connecting consumers with fresh, local products and the people behind them. This survey will help us better understand consumers,\u201d said Ananda Fraser \u201910 \u201912, DEM\u2019s Acting Chief of Division Agriculture and Forest Environment. \u201cThe program aims to elevate awareness of Rhode Island\u2019s array of locally grown, harvested, or food raised in Rhode Island while supporting a more resilient and sustainable local food system. By promoting trusted local sourcing and community engagement, RI Grown is an investment in the state\u2019s economy, environment, and food future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The new study comes as part of an ongoing effort at URI to encourage New England\u2019s food self-sufficiency so that more food consumed in the region is locally produced. The survey is open to participants across Rhode Island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Take the survey here.<\/em><\/a> To learn more about the research or share feedback, contact Simona Trandafir at <\/em>simona@uri.edu<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 July 29, 2026 \u2013 A new research project at the University of Rhode Island looks to map how Rhode Island food moves from farms to buyers by creating a food flow map of farmers\u2019 production and distribution networks, linking it to where consumers purchase food. The research will also assess producer and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":110017,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[5,1913,1905],"class_list":["post-110015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","tag-college-of-the-environment-and-life-sciences","tag-public-engagement","tag-research"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110015"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110015\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":110024,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110015\/revisions\/110024"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/news\/sites\/16\/2026\/07\/goddard-1024x768.jpg\")