Connections, April 2009

Innovations for Local Market

As part of its innovations research, the Local Market Working Group has identified nine objectives in supporting and/or increasing local market opportunities and access to locally grown foods:

1. Increase consumer awareness with education and marketing programs
2. Support agritourism
3. Expand farm to institutions opportunities
4. Increase opportunities to purchase local foods
5. Create a food policy council
6. Identify, support and increase business training programs for farmers
7. Connect new farmers to available land
8. Improve processing of local foods in the region
9. Increase distribution opportunities in the region

Within each objective, a number of innovations and strategies were identified.

On March 12, the Local Markets Working Group held a workshop where participants worked in groups to review the list of innovations. Each table selected their top choices, and recommended how to implement them, including identifying what resources are needed, who is needed to make it work, and how long each innovation would take to implement. Implementation of these innovations will be explored further as part of the next phase of the Local Market Working Group. From the workshop, the top three innovations were:

• Strengthen and expand local food education for schools and low-income communities
• Develop a regional buyer's guide to let consumers know where to purchase local products
• Develop supportive state and local policies for agritourism

The full list of innovations can be reviewed and commented on at:
www.sacog.org/rucs/wiki