What’s the Market for Local Food?

Abstract

A lot of citizens and organizations are interested in local foods today and are actively working to develop a local food system. Often this takes the form of promoting local growers or showcasing cuisine made with local products. Still, many organizations working in this arena quickly find that the main issue is not demand, but lack of supply of local product. To begin tackling the issue of local food supply, some are turning to some form of foodshed analysis to make measurements which can inform local community and business decisions. One tool I have been developing to assist in such analysis is a foodshed calculator, which quantifies the market for a range of commonly-direct-marketed products from meats to fruits and vegetables. With this tool, communities and organizations can begin to estimate the market potential for growers for their particular trade area.