Six port communities on Oregon’s rocky southwestern coast are taking their seafood-rich economy into their own hands. More than 80 percent of the state’s catch travels frozen to places like China for processing before working its way back to Oregon and other dinner plates. The lack of local and regional links in global seafood supply chains is … [Read more...]
Louisville, KY: Betting jobs on rural-urban food connections
Mike Higgins had just become president of a national food manufacturing company based in Louisville, KY, when he met Sarah Fritschner from the city’s economic development department. “Sarah asked if I would be willing to try local food in our products if she found the farmers and took care of getting it to me the way I would need it,” he … [Read more...]
Farms Fuel Rural Main Street Mojo
Just four years ago, Main Street in Corbin, Kentucky (pop. 7,300), looked and felt like most downtowns in rural America: Vacant buildings. Empty sidewalks. A few surviving businesses. Today it’s hard to find a parking space on the mile and a half of Corbin’s Main Street. “We have a vibrant 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. economy here now,” said Andy … [Read more...]
Rural town aims to be “the place” for local food firms
Veteran economic developer Todd Valline said it was a light bulb moment last winter when farmer Ellen Walsh-Rosmann walked into his office. Valline is the new chief executive officer at the Shelby County Chamber of Commerce and Industry in rural western Iowa. He needs some good reasons for young entrepreneurs to build businesses and lives in … [Read more...]
Grocers test buy-local incentive for low-income shoppers
A popular incentive for low-income shoppers at farmers markets is moving into grocery stores. It's an expansion that promises nourishment for both rural and urban areas. Around 5,000 low-income shoppers used the program from June through August in a trial run at four Kansas City area Price Chopper supermarkets. They spent nearly $30,000 on … [Read more...]
Matchmakers Pull Local Food Sector Together
Originally published April 6, 2015 at the Wallace Center “Good Food Economy Digest“ Weekend phone calls, late nights, working out the details of a new farm-to-retail distribution venture. The entrepreneurs on either end of the line are Laura Edwards-Orr and John Brusie. She is executive director of Red Tomato, a local food venture that’s been … [Read more...]
Food Hubs: Solving Local
Small-farm aggregators, called food hubs, are helping wholesalers stock local food and sell it with integrity; with the local economic, environmental, and social benefits consumers want. The new Wallace Center-National Good Food Network report — Food Hubs: Solving Local — shows how. Here’s an excerpt of the report, co-authored by Patty … [Read more...]
Making Economic Sense of Local Good Food
What are the economic drivers behind so much local food demand and business growth? My answer in a presentation earlier this year is that it is a highly entrepreneurial spirit inside all of us that is breaking down major barriers and opening new opportunity. The secret to further growth and development of local and regional food systems is to drop … [Read more...]
Food Innovation Districts
The wide world of local and healthy food is coming together at the community level in many ways. A new guidebook explains how some towns are developing whole business districts around the synergy of community gardens, farmers markets, farm-to-table eateries, cottage food businesses and more. “Food Innovation Districts: An Economic Gardening … [Read more...]
Food Innovation District: New Economic Gardening Tool
Farmers and gardeners all know that the most powerful thing they can do to grow healthy plants is to invest in soil. Rich soil is the key to vibrant, resilient plants; it’s the basic building block of life. Now take that truth and apply it to your local economy. What is the most powerful thing we can do to grow strong businesses and lasting … [Read more...]
