Linking Farmers and Consumers: Lessons and Opportunities Mary Hendrickson, Ph.D. Food Circles Networking Project

Community food systems are in the news….

Food System Trends Number of farmers' markets1,7553,137 Number of certified organic farms4,05011,998 Number of cooking schools Viewers of the Food Network (in millions)779 Total sales of restaurant food (in billions)$281.5$440.1 Number of artisan cheeses in the American Cheese Society's Annual Competition From Saveur Magazine, August 2004

These alternative food systems are really about ….  Tasty, healthy food Consumers are looking for differentiated foods – e.g. natural, organic, humanely raised, no antibiotics, family farm raised, fair labor practices  Relationships Food that you buy from your friends and neighbors to support their businesses and your community’s development  Fun!

Farmer opportunities? Dominant Global Food System Good, Clean and Fair Food Systems Mass produce food on a scale to feed the mainstream StrengthWeakness Easy and cheap access to capital StrengthWeakness Long-range visionStrengthPotential Weakness Flexibility and response speed WeaknessStrength Connect to consumers through personalized relationships WeaknessStrength Providing organic, natural, humane, cage-free food Potential Weakness Strength Providing fair and sustainable food WeaknessStrength

For farmers, food entrepreneurs and communities…  Don’t create a capital-intensive, profit- above-all-else, impersonal system that produces for the masses Lots of temptations to do just that!  Markets will demand more and more product LABELED as organic, humane, natural, free-range, no antibiotics, cage-free ….  Supply them or else….Wal-Mart & Organic? Potential to get squashed like a bug  Quality can suffer  3 Ms (money, management and marketing) will be in short supply

But plenty of opportunities to …  Develop new visions of what the food and farming system can be  What are the principles that we want to incorporate?  There are many models ranging from micro to international trade  Celebrate uniqueness and diversity in the food system  This is an asset not a liability!  The taste of place is becoming more and more important  Put people first – on the farm, in the plant and in the community  Make food systems local/regional not global  Community Self-Reliance

Food Circle Farmers Eaters Chefs Grocery Stores Processors EducatorsNutritionists

This kind of food system is based on relationships between people, within their community, and within their ecosystem.

Community food systems take…  Knowledge how to grow, process, market, distribute and cook food that is connected to people in a particular place and time  Infrastructure Rebuild and create This includes everything from land, equipment, trucks, storage, and retail spaces to regulations, policies and education

Components of community food systems…  Getting food from farm gate to the eater’s plate Production Processing Distribution Market outlets

New Production Methods  Hoop houses or high tunnels Allow farmers to get early or late crops, winter greens

Alternative Production Methods  Intensive Rotational Grazing for dairy and beef Increases CLA content Lower fat and cholesterol  Used for lots of animals Sheep Goats Pastured Poultry complements

Farmers Markets  Sweeping across the Midwest Websites for finding farmers markets:

Linking Chefs & Farmers

New value chains…  Create values-based value chains Share the risks and benefits of producing and consuming food throughout the supply chain Focus on partnerships  Examples: Oregon Country Beef/Burger Chain & New Seasons Red Tomato and Federation of Southern Cooperatives Good Natured Family Farms and Hen House

New Business Models  Hen House a grocery store in Kansas City, uses fresh local products to differentiate themselves from other stores – sales of locally grown increasing 35% a year Almost $7 million in locally grown sales in 2006

Farm to Cafeteria  What if the food served in our schools came from a sustainable food system?  What if food in our hospitals and nursing homes came from our local food systems? Kaiser Permanente system

Community Gardening

Eater knowledge How do you purchase, store, cook these kind of things for maxim taste and nutritional value? How do you find the time? Images from Fair Share Farm, and Google Image

Our Responsibilities  Good, clean and fair food is going to take cooperation Farmers see other farmers as cooperators and not competitors – TOGA, Niman, Organic Valley/Organic Prairie Eaters see themselves as more than consumers – as community members, as citizens, as workers, as participants Concern ourselves with structure (what kind of relationships are we creating?) rather than scale (how big is too big?)

What do we get? Better Nutrition: Increased consumption of nutrient dense foods coupled with a decrease in nutrition-related diseases like diabetes and obesity Improved Local Economy: Increased number of viable farms, processors and stores contributing to the local economy Self-reliant, Food-Secure Community: Decreased number of people needing emergency food provisions and increased consumption of local foods in all parts of the community.