local and regional distribution
Alaska Marine Conservation Council Sustains Local Food in Coastal Communities
June 17, 2015 | Trish Popovitch
Courtesy of the AMCC
The Alaska Marine Conservation Council (AMCC) addresses infrastructure and population challenges in the nation’s last frontier in an effort to localize Alaska’s food system.
Founded in 1994, the AMCC works hard to ensure the economics of Alaska’s most bountiful natural resources, its marine life and coastal communities. Read More
CSAs, Food Hubs, and Farm-to-School Programs Earn Maine No. 2 Spot in Locavore Index
June 8, 2015 | AJ Hughes
Maine, which ranks No. 2 on the Locavore Index, has over 125 farmers’ markets serving delicious and colorful produce. (photo courtesy of John Bott/Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry)
Maine is a great destination for locally-sourced food, as evidenced by its strong showing in the latest Strolling of the Heifers Locavore Index. In 2015, the state ranked No. 2, a spot it has held since 2013.
“The purpose of the Index is to stimulate efforts across the country to use more local food in homes, restaurants, schools and institutions,” says Orly Munzing, founder and executive director of Strolling of the Heifers. Read More
Kansas Task Force Seeks to Strengthen Local Food in a Big Ag State
June 3, 2015 | Rose Egelhoff
Vendors at the Overland Park Farmers’ Market make a sale. Like other states, Kansas has seen a boom in the number and popularity of farmers’ markets in recent years. Image courtesy of Overland Park Farmers’ Market/ Jason Ebberts with TBL Photography.
A group of farmers, horticultural experts and politicians from both sides of the aisle have come together to learn about local food in Kansas.
The seven-member Local Food and Farm Task Force, established by Kansas Senate Bill 286, will prepare a report of their findings along with policy and funding recommendations for January 2016 session of the Kansas legislature. Monthly meetings started this past November and will continue through December 2015.
The task force includes a horticultural expert from Kansas State University’s extension system, a Republican and a Democrat selected by their respective party’s legislative leadership, a member from the Kansas Department of Agriculture and three member appointed by the governor—including the chairman, Ron Brown, who is a family farmer and executive board member of the National Association of Conservation Districts.
Kerry Wefald, Agriculture Marketing Director at the Kansas Department of Agriculture, attends task force meetings as a member of the administrative support team. According to Wefald, the current focus of the task force is to get an idea of what gaps exist in the state food system. Read More
USDA Report Shows Increase in Activity of Local and Regional Food Systems
May 10, 2015 | AJ Hughes
The United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service recently published a report on the breadth of local and regional food systems, as well as current trends.
In 2012, 163,675 farmers sold a total of about $6.1 billion worth of locally marketed food, states the report. Also according to the report, 7.8 percent of U.S. farms sell local foods, which represents 1.5 percent of the total value of agricultural production in the U.S.
Barn2Door Looks to Apply Farmstr Lessons, Connect Farmers and Buyers Nationwide
March 31, 2015 | AJ Hughes
Screenshot, barn2door home page.
The Seattle direct-to-consumer marketplace Farmstr, which launched in 2013, is no more.
“At the end of the day, it wasn’t enough for us to justify a large next round in order to compete with the very well-funded competition,” founder Janelle Maiocco told BizJournals.com in February.
But on March 15, 2015, Maiocco launched Barn2Door. Maiocco, who was followed to Barn2Door by several of her former Farmstr colleagues, will apply lessons learned from her time at the helm of Farmstr to her new business venture. Read More
Visit our sister sites!
