1 / 18

Think Local Food : Real Prosperity Starts Here

Think Local Food : Real Prosperity Starts Here. Presented by: Janice St. Onge VSJF Flexible Capital Fund, L3C VT Sustainable Jobs Fund. What is a Food System?. A food system includes all processes involved in feeding a population: Growing & Harvesting; Processing & Packaging;

gianna
Download Presentation

Think Local Food : Real Prosperity Starts Here

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Think Local Food: Real Prosperity Starts Here Presented by: Janice St. Onge VSJF Flexible Capital Fund, L3C VT Sustainable Jobs Fund

  2. What is a Food System? A food system includes all processes involved in feeding a population: • Growing & Harvesting; • Processing & Packaging; • Transporting • Marketing; • Consuming; and • Disposing of food and food-related items. A food system operates within, and is influenced by, social, political, economic and environmental contexts. It also requires human resources that provide labor, research and education. (Wikipedia definition)

  3. Food System Evolution: Market Forces • Over 40 years… consolidation in production, processing, distribution, and retail • Ability to feed $6+ billion people • More mechanized with less people in production agriculture • More variety, year round • Policies supporting “cheap food” and subsidies for small number of commodity crops • Greater efficiencies and productivity so that inexpensive food can be maintained

  4. Market Forces • A food system that does not benefit most farmers • Immigration policy supporting our cheap food policy • Environmental degradation and depletion • Increased dependency on fossil fuels (diesel and fertilizers) • Has contributed to (caused?) the diabetes and obesity epidemics • Subject to rapid price fluctuations

  5. Changing Consumer Preferences are Impacting the Market

  6. Top 30 food processors in North America. Philip H. Howard, Consolidation in the North American Organic Food Processing Sector, 1997 to 2007

  7. More food production more food security

  8. Growing Consumer Awareness • Consumers are asking … • Where does our food come from? • Who benefits? • Is our food safe? • National trend - local and sustainable - for economic, environmental, social and health reasons • Growing awareness of why we need to support agriculture and local food systems • USDA campaign: Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food • Agriculture & Food Systems Development IS Economic Development

  9. Market Innovation: Food Hubs • Regional food hubs - increasing market access for small local / regional producers • The success is fueled by entrepreneurial thinking and sound business practices coupled with a desire for social impact • Challenges include • Access to capital • Business development / advisory capacity

  10. Vermont Legislature requesting 10 year strategic plan to strengthen VT’s food system •  18 month public engagement process •  plan available at www.vsjf.org • 150 organizations collaborating to implement through the Farm to Plate Network • Indicators of progress tracked over 10 years • Goal #1 is to double the amount of local food consumed by Vermonters over 10 years

  11. Economic Impact Potential • Vermont’s major agricultural and food product output totaled $2.7 billion in 2007. • Direct impact of 5% increase in production • $197 million in annual output from 2011- 2020 • With multipliers, total output would increase by average of $213 million/year from 2011-2020 • Personal income would increase by $110 million per year • 1,700 new jobs!

  12. To invest… • Across the supply chain • Go Direct or Spread the risk in an Intermediary • Buy local • Debt, equity, donation, Crowdfunding • Large, small, medium • Start up, early stage, growth • Mentor or advise

  13. For more information Janice St. Onge (802) 828-0398 janice@vsjf.org www.vsjf.org

  14. Small scale, local intermediary • Sector specific: farm, food, forest, energy • Mission focused: • Building healthy food systems • Re-localizing our energy, • Preserving working landscapes • Impacting the value chain • Using royalty financing with mentoring • Offering connections for investors and borrowers

More Related