Local and Regional Food Systems

Shirley Sherrod inspired NESAWG 2015 Conference Attendees with stories of her experiences fighting for civil rights and family farmers in the South.

Authors: Gerald Marten, Nurcan Atalan-Helicke (Editors)

In 2015, the Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences published the Symposium on American Food Resilience. The 27 articles in the Symposium explore the vulnerability and resilience of food production and distribution from a variety of perspectives, providing a wealth of material that can be mined by researchers, teachers, practitioners, and policy makers for application to their own circumstances.

Authors: Anel Guel and Rich Pirog, Michigan State University

This annotated bibliography provides current research and outreach on structural racism in the U.S. food system for food system practitioners, researchers, and educators.

Authors: Farm Credit East, Wallace Center at Winrock International, Morse Marketing Connections and Farm Credit Council,

Are food hubs able to support themselves with their operations? What management decisions make the most financial difference? This 2015 report, coordinated by the NGFN Food Hub Collaboration presents a set of financial and operational performance benchmarks to measure and analyze food hubs. By attempting to establish a basis for comparing results across food hubs, a business sector that is both new and multipurpose, this study sheds light on food hubs as business enterprises. Determining such metrics is an important step in the local and regional food sector’s evolution.

Authors: Sarah A. Low, Aaron Adalja, Elizabeth Beaulieu, Nigel Key, Steve Martinez, Alex Melton, Agnes Perez, Katherine Ralston, Hayden Stewart, Shellye Suttles, and Stephen Vogel, of USDA Economic Research Service; Becca B.R. Jablonski, of Colorado State Univ

This U.S. Department of Agriculture Report provides an overview of local and regional food systems across several dimensions.

Authors: Melissa Deas, Consensus Building Institute

This report was developed to tell the story of Farm to Institution New England (FINE) and to better understand how network organizations can be an effective means for change.

A Toolkit to Help Your Community Understand the Economic Impacts of Your Local Food System Initiatives, from the eXtension Local and Regional Food Systems Community of Practice

NESAWG, American Farmland Trust, and the Conservation Law Foundation, and the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group conducted a series of 10 webinars delving into policy issues addressed in their report, New England Food Policy: Building a Sustainable Food System, bringing in experts in the field.

NESAWG's 2014 It Takes A Region Conference held a plenary on our New England Food System Policy Project, which focuses on fostering better farm and food policies and greater regional collaboration.

Authors: Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future

How does what we grow compare with what we eat? Can Maryland agriculture support the demand for local food? Are there foods that Maryland produces well that are also in high demand by buyers in Maryland?

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