Local and Regional Food: A View of the Northeast U.S. Tim Griffin Agriculture Food & Environment

Issues of Scale Markets The Future?

Is Local about Distance…?

Is Local about Boundary…?

My Opinion – about relationships & markets

Diamond and Soto (2009) Facts on Direct-to-Consumer Food Marketing. USDA – AMS.

Photo by Eric Brennan Scale drives people to “local”

Geographic Concentration Corporate Consolidation Processing Consolidation Concentration and Consolidation in Food System is also a Driver

Defining “Region” Not as simple as we would think

Dense Population Urbanized, High Density (in general)

Increasing Reliance on Food from Outside the Region (or Country)

7 Million Food-Insecure Consumers: A Day-to-Day Concern

Inequalities in Food Access

Enhancing Food Security through Regional Food Systems A Regional Research Collaboration Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Competitive Grant no from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture

ARS/Orono ME Collaborating Institutions Columbia University, Urban Design Lab Cornell University, Ithaca and Syracuse Cooperative Extension Delaware State University Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development (PD) Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group Tufts University, Friedman School of Nutrition Pennsylvania State University University of Vermont West Virginia State University USDA-ERS - Washington, DC USDA-ARS – Orono, ME and Beltsville, MD ARS/ERS DC

Can regional supply chains provide healthy foods to low- income consumers, at a price they can afford? The Basic Question is this:

Access in Communities Processing/Distribution Farm-level Production

Thank you!