Consumer demand for food that is locally produced is strong nationwide, and southwest Missouri is no exception according to Dr. Pam Duitsman, a nutrition and health education specialist with University of Missouri Extension.
"Farmers connecting directly to consumers at Farmers Markets has grown substantially over the past few years," Duitsman said. "However, even though the connections of farmers and producers to retail and institutional establishments has grown, southwest Missouri faces recurring challenges in fulfilling the demand for locally grown food in larger volume markets."
A healthy and growing community food system that provides enough sustainably grown local food to completely meet consumer demand does not happen overnight.
According to Duitsman, food systems develop over time based on the assets and needs of each unique community. The needs vary, but aggregation of food products, processing, packaging, marketing, distribution, and food handler knowledge are examples of a few challenges that face growth of successful and sustainable food systems.
"Conversations have been underway this past year to begin looking at building infrastructure in the southwest Missouri to provide what is needed to supply local food to larger markets," Duitsman said. "This will include everything from land, education, storage, equipment, trucks, regulations and policies to a community filled with markets and supporting organizations."
This can seem daunting to an individual small or mid-size farmer wanting to "scale-up" from direct-consumer sales. Taking care of all the logistics of supplying products for high volume, consistent quality, timely delivery, out-of-season availability markets can be a challenge.
At the same time, institutional and large-scale buyers may be very interested in purchasing local food, but often find the challenges of complicated negotiations, unreliable supply and on-time delivery, lack of product processing, non-negotiable standards for grower certified food sanitation and insurance coverage, and other inconveniences too daunting.
Communities across the country are finding a promising solution to be Food Hubs. Research shows food hubs can expand the reach of small, local farmers; can supply larger institutional market demand, and drive economic growth for the community in the process.
Start The Dialogue
The "Seeds of Prosperity: Local Food as Economic Development" program is planned for 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Friday Feb. 5 at the University Plaza Hotel and Conference Center in Springfield.
The program is a special day-long session at the three-day Missouri Organic Association's annual conference according to Duitsman.
Enrollment information is available at http://extension.missouri.edu/greene. The cost to attend this one day "Seeds of Prosperity" session is $75 and includes an evening event and meal.
Scholarships are available for farmers and producers and for more information, contact Clarissa Hatley at the Greene County Extension Center at 417-881-8909.
However, the cost of this session is included in the enrollment fee of those attending all three days of the Missouri Organic Associations annual conference. Enrollment information for the full conference is available at http://www.moaconference.org/moa-conference-registration.
"Any and all stakeholders interested in building economic development through expanded marketing opportunities for local food should attend,"Duitsman said.
For more information, contact Dr. Pam Duitsman at the Greene County Extension Center or by email at [email protected].
Community on 01/22/2015