The Full Circle of Local Food Systems
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By Maura Henn, NCAT Local Food Systems Specialist
What do farmers markets, locally owned grocery stores, and community compost centers have in common?
If you answered they are all part of a functioning local food system, you would be right. If you had asked me that question six years ago, I may have been able to make the connection that they had something to do with food, but my answer would have ended there! Even though I had managed a farmers market, worked at cooperative grocery store, and regularly sought out and enjoyed locally produced food, it wasn’t until I started working at NCAT that I realized that I had been participating in local food systems my entire life.
A local food system refers to the network that connects local producers and consumers, promoting the consumption of locally-grown food. A local food system includes the overlap and collaboration of five key sectors: production, processing, distribution, consumption, and waste management and food recovery. Though there is not a federally established definition of local food, it is generally accepted that local food is food that travels the entire supply chain, from production to waste management in the same locality.
Buying local foods strengthens local economies and helps keep family farmers farming. It also creates a connection between consumers and local farmers that enhances both individual and community health. Efforts such as urban farms, community gardens, farmers markets, locally-owned small grocers, and composting programs all contribute to local food systems.
Here is a breakdown of what makes up the local food system:
- Production is the act of cultivating land and growing crops as well as raising, feeding, and breeding livestock. Production can also include fishing, hunting, and foraging. Local farms and ranches, community and school gardens, and urban farms are all examples of places where local food production takes place.
- Processing transforms raw ingredients, physically or chemically, into value-added products through butchering, cooking, baking, curing, fermenting, and milling. Processing may also include harvesting, packaging, and combining raw products that can then be found in restaurants, bakeries, or grocery stores using local ingredients. Entrepreneurs using community kitchens to prepare small batches of their latest recipes, or school kitchens prepping fresh vegetables for a salad bar as part of their Farm to School program are examples of processing in action.
- Distribution includes how we move the food we eat from farms, ranches, and processing sites to farmers markets, grocery stores, food cooperatives, food hubs, community supported agriculture (CSA) programs, and wholesalers. Distribution also includes the transportation and business logistics needed to make it all happen.
- Consumption, probably the simplest process to explain, is the joyful act of eating the locally produced and processed food through a wide array of physically safe, affordable, and culturally acceptable places, including home kitchens, institutional cafeterias, shelters, schools, workplaces, hospitals, concessions, cafes, restaurants, and food banks.
- Waste Management and Recovery: Often managed by municipalities, waste management can take on a few different forms, such as weekly curbside trash and recycling pick-up. Some communities have compost services to help reduce the amount of fruit, vegetables, and yard waste that is deposited in landfills or garbage incinerators. Food recovery is a form of waste management. Also known as food rescue, food salvage, or surplus food redistribution, it is the practice of gleaning edible food that would otherwise go to waste from places such as farms, produce markets, grocery stores, restaurants, or dining facilities and distributing it to local emergency food programs.
Of all the processes of local food systems, food recovery is the one I think has the most opportunity for expansion within communities, which can help deliver safe and edible food to people who need it. Gleaning programs allow for unsold food to be donated to food pantries, food access programs such as community fridges, or even directly to consumers. When I was a full-time college student who also needed to work full time to cover rent and living expenses, I relied heavily on the “red tagged” food that was made available to staff at the local food cooperative where I was employed. The red tagged food was available to take home free of charge because it had met its sell-by date. I look back now and realize I had been a recipient of a gleaning program. Without that supplemental source of food I would have had a hard time managing all that was required in both schoolwork and my job.
As with all aspects of local food systems, one vital ingredient is present in each sector: people. Without people growing, preparing, selling, eating, and mindfully disposing of food byproducts, local food systems would not exist. Some are called to the profession of farming and ranching and choose to market their products locally—a vital part of the local food system. Those of us who aren’t farmers or ranchers still have essential roles to play in the system. We all participate in our local food system in one way or another. Those of us who are able can choose to invest in these local systems by supporting local farmers, sharing our garden yields with neighbors, installing a compost system in our backyard, or countless other actions we can take as members of a local food community. Local food systems are for everyone, and everyone has a place within them.
ATTRA Resources:
Episode 376: Talking ‘Health in the Hood’ with Asha Walker – ATTRA – Sustainable Agriculture
Start a Farm in the City – ATTRA – Sustainable Agriculture
Composting: The Basics – ATTRA – Sustainable Agriculture
NCAT Marketing Tip Sheet Series – ATTRA – Sustainable Agriculture
Additional Resources:
Local and Regional Food Systems Resource Guide | Agricultural Marketing Service
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USDA by Jacob Tosch, Porter County SWCD.
USDA photo by Joshua Coleman