Leveraging Local Food

Local food is an business opportunity for growers and buyers and can be an important part of growing a local economy. Advantages of local food include:

Local food is fresher, healthier, and tastes better
Local food uses less energy and costs less money to distribute
Local food is an idea customers love
Local food keeps more money circulating in the local economy

Developing a local food economy will not happen overnight. It will take motivated entrepreneurs and interested buyers, such as schools, markets, and restaraunts. But it is possible and is happening all over the country. Little Folks Produce & Meats, in Grenada is a perfect example of an independent locally owned farm that is generating income by growing local food for Mount Shasta and Weed. They are an example of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) which is an innovative approach for small-to-medium sized farms to be successful. CSAs have grown from 50 in 1990 to over 2200.

The McCloud Victory Gardens Project is beginning the process of growing local gardens in the hopes of not only saving money but selling surplus in the McCloud Farmers Market. Contact Lin McClellan at 530-859-2332 if you would like to get involved.

If you are interested in learning more about the advantages of and opportunties in local food production, we suggest that you Ask Francis, Master Gardener. Francis Mangels has been growing gardens in the Pacific Northwest for 50 years and is motivated to provide free services to those interested in growing gardens, orchards, and vineyards by his belief that local communities should become self-sustaining as soon as possible.

If Francis can't answer your questions, check out the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service, a USDA sponsored website providing a wealth of information including publications on innovative crop and livestock enterprises, marketing approaches, and organic certification.