User’s Guide to Local Agriculture Systems (LAS)

in a

USDA-Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI) Framework

Definition of Terms: Local Agriculture Systems

Local: As close to home as possible, meet local needs, first, export surplus

Agriculture: Food, feed, fiber, fuel, floriculture, forestry, and “farmaceuticals”

System: Life cycle, holistic, womb-to-tomb, closed-loop, adaptive, resilient, interdependent, nested ecosystems

Local Agriculture Systems and Metrics

System• Local Foods– Cost / Healthy Calorie

• Green Energy– Cost / Kilowatt

• Distributed Manufacturing– Asset Management

• Community Currency– Medium of Exchange

Metrics• Zero Miles

• Zero Emissions / Effluents

• Zero Landfill / Waste

• Zero Leakage

USDA – Specialty Crop Research Initiative

Specialty Crop• Vegetables

– Herbs

• Fruits– Dried Fruits

• Tree Nuts

• Horticulture

• Floriculture

Examples• Tomatoes

• Brambles

• Pecans

• Turfgrass

• Nursery Stock

USDA – Specialty Crop Research Initiative

USDA – Specialty Crop Research Initiative

Calories / Dollar Spent on Local Foods• 100% Participation

1,000 People in a Specific Area• Areas are Non-Competitive and Networked

Portfolio Diversification and Expansion• Season Extension

Place-Based Value Integration• Local Ownership, Import Substitution (LOIS)

Ecosystem Flows• Physical, Virtual, Transactional

Holistic• 100% Participation

USDA – Specialty Crop Research InitiativeConsumption-to-Production

• Consumers

• Markets

• Distribution

• Processing

• Production

• Calories / Dollar Spent on Local Foods– 100% Participation

• 1,000 People in a Specific Area– Areas are Non-Competitive and Networked

• Ecosystem Flows– Physical, Virtual, Transactional

• Place-Based Value Integration– Local Ownership, Import Substitution (LOIS)

• Portfolio Diversification and Expansion– Season Extension

The Point of It All…

• Deliver affordable, healthy, quick, convenient, tasty, safe calories through specialty crops in sufficient quantity to meet basic survival needs for any and all local residents

• Start and expand local businesses that create jobs, make a profit, reinvest in the community, require little or no subsidy for sustainability, and practice environmental stewardship

Who Lives in Your Neighborhood?

• Know the demographics of each 1,000-person geographic marketing block:– Age– Gender– Ethnicity– Religion– Health risk– Education– Employment and Income– Family

Know What Resources You Have

within a 1,000 Person Marketing Block!

• Understand who owns– Public– Private

• Assets– Land– Facilities– Equipment

• Where the assets are located– Mapping– Layers– Ground truth– Realtime

• How they fit into social, business, and natural ecosystems– Modeling– Scenario Planning

Build a Portfolio of Business Opportunities

• Develop a portfolio of products, services, and infrastructure from agricultural alternatives and value chains that meets the needs of consumers in the marketing block and sustains profitability of the operation

Increase Capacity and Capabilities

• Utilize face-to-face, offsite, virtual, and onsite forums to access critical information flow about local agriculture systems, learn how to operate them effectively, and receive credentialing, credit, certification and licensure that attests to competence

Take Action

• Exercise the network advantage: work openly, in parallel, and collaboratively among customers, colleagues, and suppliers to help others learn and learn from others