AG Strategy: Regional Food Systems

Key Points

Connecting Local Foods with Consumers

Local producers are interested in building a regional food system that will allow them to connect more efficiently with consumers. Demand for local foods grows as consumers become more educated about the benefits of purchasing and consuming foods produced closer to home. Policymakers, economic developers, and partners can play critical roles in creating and illuminating user-friendly outlets for locally grown products.

Ag Entrepreneurship & Innovation

Ensuring the long-term sustainability of regional food systems requires fostering a diversified and comprehensive entrepreneurial mindset for agribusiness across the region.

Action Steps

  • Research local food councils in Indiana and elsewhere to identify best practices.
    • Gather information on the Northwest Indiana Food Council to determine how they operate and if there are gaps in their system that can be addressed by the Region’s producers, policymakers, economic developers, and partners.
    • If appropriate, complete a feasibility study to determine the viability and capacity of, and organizational model for, a regional food group.
  • Collect information on local and regional food cooperatives by interviewing the Indiana Cooperative Development Center and existing operators, such as the Bloomingfoods Co-op Market in Bloomington and Paoli’s Lost River Market and Deli; map the food networks and food sheds with consideration of the impact of COVID on the food supply chain.
  • Connect with Purdue’s Diversified Farming and Local Foods divisions to understand the resources available to producers and processors for marketing their products.
  • Work with PCRD to research other land-grant universities’ and extension services’ regional food systems best practices.
  • Develop a series of workshops with the Purdue/ISBDC Agriculture Initiative focused on connecting producers with resources, linking producers with owners of available land, financial assistance, agrivoltaics, and other topics as determined to be relevant through continued community conversations.
  • Develop a Regional Ag Think Tank to focus on agricultural and food-processing entrepreneurship, including youth entrepreneurship, to serve as a sounding board and source of guidance.