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Home > Blogs > Farm Life and Local Harvest > Archives > 2009 > November > 16
Monday, November 16, 2009
Ohio Local Foods Round Table
Last Thursday, I went to Reynoldsburg where the Ohio Department of Agriculture sponsored a Local Foods Round Table. More than 100 other people engaged in the local foods movement also attended. I went to the following sessions: Innovative Local Food Distribution, the Urban Food Desert Assessment discussion, Engaging Economic Development in Local Food & Agriculture, and listened to what other groups are doing around the state with local food groups.
Some snippets of interest:
Wooster, Ohio has opened a new, year-round Farmer’s Market. This market is a cooperative - both the producers and the consumers can buy shares - and volunteer hours can also be used to buy shares.
Ohio State University’s Social Responsibility Initiative and Center for Farmland Policy Innovation have been working on a number of projects around the subject of local foods. One ongoing study focuses on distribution of fruits and vegetables - Ohioans consume 4.65 billion pounds of vegetables and 3.08 pounds of fruit annually, yet less than 1% of these are grown by Ohio farmers. The question they pose is, of course, how can Ohio farmers directly source more of the produce Ohioans consume. Other studies include a report on Knox County’s local food system (expanding retailing and/or processing could result in the potential to support nearly 340 new jobs) and a study of attitudes about local and organic food, (and data showing that local food is more important to consumers than organic. Also see the Eat Fresh & Grow Jobs, MI report.
The Ohio Department of Development had representatives present. One of the statewide targeted industries is Agriculture & Food Processing, and the ODOD has growing interest in local food. Also look at the Entrepreneurship & Small Business page!
Ohio State University is currently working on a GIS mapping project to combine soical, economic (health?) and agricultural data. Once the site is online, individuals will be able to enter information (groceries, community gardens, farmers’ markets, & other food outlets) onto a map. I’ll watch out for further information on this and post it!
Wilmington College supports a program called “Grow Food, Grow Hope” , an Americorps Vista project - in partnership with community organizations - which is dedicated to raising awareness of the benefits of local food production, backyard gardening and increasing self sustainability in our daily food habits.
Pittsburgh, PA. Community Development Corporations are involved with running farm stands in the city. Can’t find the link right now - but here’s Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture and Urban Foodworks.
Cleveland/Cuyahoga County Food Policy Council is constantly forging new ideas and policy, engaging new farmers, developing a local purchasing policy.
Summit County has distributed “how to compost” literature to residents included with their utility bills. Summit County is, like Cuyahoga and Lorrain Counties, a home of Fresh Stops - a modified Community Supported Agriculture which gets fresh, local food shares to city residents in their neighborhoods at reasonable prices - and adds cooking and nutrition information at the same time.
If you attended the Roundtable and would like to add comments, please do!
