Building a Local Food

System Part 1: How Did We Get Here?

NE Iowa Food & Farm CoalitionJanuary 2008

The Local Food System…

Who should participate in local food?

Source: Local Food System, PM 1995, ISU Extension, November 2005

ConsumersFarmersProcessors and retailers

Everybody

Source: C.S. Mott Group for Sustainable Food Systems

Our Local Food Discussions…

The PastThe PresentThe Future

NE Iowa Food & Farm Coalitionwww.niffcoalition.org

The Beginning…

“Why don’t we grow our own food in the American Heartland?”

“It is becoming increasingly difficult for Americans to ignore the fact that we may be entering an era that will force agriculture to change more in the coming decades than it

has in the last half century.”

Fred Kirschenmann, Director of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, December 2005

Strategic Plan

Assessments

Institutional SurveyConsumer SurveyMap of AssetsEconomic ImpactBase-Line Data Collection