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   1994 2004

Number of farmers' markets 1,755 3,137

Number of certified organic farms 4,050 11,998

Number of cooking schools 338 930

Viewers of the Food Network (in millions) 7 79

Total sales of restaurant food (in billions) $281.5 $440.1

Number of artisan cheeses in the American Cheese Society's Annual Competition 100+ 700+

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

Strength Weakness

Easy and cheap access to capital

Strength Weakness

Long-range vision Strength Potential Weakness

Flexibility and response speed

Weakness Strength

Connect to consumers through personalized relationships

Weakness Strength

Providing organic, natural, humane, cage-free food

Potential Weakness

Strength

Providing fair and sustainable food

Weakness Strength

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

Educators Nutritionists

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:

www.localharvest.org

www.sustainabletable.org

www.foodroutes.org

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? www.farmtoschool.org

What if food in our hospitals and nursing homes came from our local food systems? www.grownlocally.com 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.