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Local Food Systems: Concepts, Impacts, and Issues
(May 2010)
This comprehensive overview of local food systems explores alternative definitions
of local food, estimates market size and reach, describes the characteristics of local
consumers and producers, and examines early indications of the economic and health
impacts of local food systems. Statistics suggest that local food markets account for
a small, but growing, share of U.S. agricultural production. For smaller farms, direct
marketing to consumers accounts for a higher percentage of their sales than for larger
farms.
Comparing the Structure, Size, and Performance of Local and Mainstream Food Supply Chains
(June 2010)
A series of coordinated case studies compares the structure, size, and performance
of local food supply chains with those of mainstream supply chains. Interviews and
site visits with farms and businesses, along with secondary data, describe how food
moves from farms to consumers in 15 food supply chains. Supply chains are compared by
degree of product differentiation, diversification of marketing outlets, and information
conveyed to consumers about product origin. The cases highlight differences in prices
and the distribution of revenues among supply chain participants, local retention of
wages and proprietor income, transportation fuel use, and social capital creation.
Your Food Environment Atlas
Food environment factors—such as store/restaurant proximity, food prices, food and
nutrition assistance programs, and community characteristics—interact to influence food
choices and diet quality. The Food Environment Atlas assembles statistics on food
environment indicators to stimulate research on the determinants of food choices and
diet quality and provides a spatial overview of a community’s ability to access healthy
food and its success in doing so. The Atlas currently includes 90 indicators of the
food environment in three broad categories—food choices, health and well-being, and
community characteristics.
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