Erin Meier, Director UM SE RSDP - The Experiment in Rural Cooperation Driftless Region Food & Farm Project – LaCrosse Farm to Institution Network JOINT MEETING LaCrosse – June 16, 2011

The Experiment in Rural Cooperation Let’s start with a high-level review! What’s all this buzz about FOOD HUBS? Who’s supporting this work nationally? What are they? Where are they? Where are the resource channels for developing distribution networks (a MN perspective)?

The Experiment in Rural Cooperation Why are we now talking FOOD HUBs? An identified challenge since the start of the local food movement: moving product from farmer to consumer Distribution has for years been “the nut to crack,” hand-in- hand with aggregation of product to make such enterprises viable. Relationship-based, direct marketing an obvious first step that built momentum: farmers’ markets, CSAs, others

The Experiment in Rural Cooperation A cultural shift is taking place as consumer support continues to grow & new institutional partners join forces (public health, natural resources, segments of state/fed’l ag) These new partners are asking for more: more of this good food on more plates in more places So now we talk about scaling-up our infrastructure to meet the growing demand, in a way that balances power & profit for our local producers & supports sustainable practices Why are we now talking FOOD HUBs?

The Experiment in Rural Cooperation Along the way has been a growing philanthropic movement – Kellogg Foundation, Wallace Center at Winrock International (its National Good Food Network), BCBS of MN/Center for Prevention - to name just a very few Kellogg FoundationWallace Center National Good Food NetworkBCBS of MN/Center for Prevention And, yes, even the USDA has had its foot in the door via SARE, CFSC, others. With political support to recognize farmers growing food (imagine?!), USDA has launched the Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food national initiative Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food Why are we now talking FOOD HUBs?

The Experiment in Rural Cooperation The needs ID’d again & again all over the country to realize REAL regional food systems - education/outreach to consumers & producers, farmer livelihood/training, aggregation/distribution, farm to institution, value-added/processed products, food security & so on - are being rolled-up & re-packaged together in action & in theory in this sexy term = FOOD HUB Garnering new national attention, analysis, definitions & funding now & (hopefully) to come Why are we now talking FOOD HUBs?

The Experiment in Rural Cooperation Jim Barham/ USDA presentation – zoom thru/esp defnsUSDA presentation National Good Food Network Webinar presentation – pg 19Webinar presentation SHAMELESS LIFTING…

The Experiment in Rural Cooperation Workshop format Participants self-organized around previously identified Project- & Issue-based teams Teams focused on immediate needs & developed business plans, marketing/outreach strategies, research designs, production planning tools, webinars, etc. National Distribution Conference – April 2011 Making Good Food Work Making Good Food Work - Detroit

The Experiment in Rural Cooperation Dig Deep Farms & Produce – Alameda County, CA Goal: create values-based local food enterprise for production, distribution & sale of its own products & aggregate products from regional farmers; develop supply requirements for retail ops; work with suppliers to develop consistent, reliable year-round sourcing. National Distribution Conference – April 2011 Making Good Food Work - Detroit

The Experiment in Rural Cooperation Farm to School Hub – Denver, CO Goal: use existing distribution infrastructure to engage small, medium, large farmers in an aggregation model; develop minimal processing for immediate use & for long ‐ term storage; promote farm products to schools, hospitals & colleges National Distribution Conference – April 2011 Making Good Food Work - Detroit

The Experiment in Rural Cooperation Rural Issues Team Outlined factors that distinguish & challenge rural food distribution; began designing two tools to inform & build capacity - Decision Tree & educational webinar to follow launch of national Regional Food Hub Collaboration. National Distribution Conference – April 2011 Making Good Food Work - Detroit

The Experiment in Rural Cooperation Start-up capital & collaboration Business viability Can the values-based value chain play out: farmer-aggregator- processor-packager-distributor-retailer-restaurant-institution- consumer? Balance of bargaining power - $ to farmer Seasonality, short/long-range planning Farmer livelihood issues – we’re expecting a lot from them Fun to talk about but let’s get real

The Experiment in Rural Cooperation MN Dept of Health SHIP & potential CDC grant MN Dept of Health SHIP BCBS of MN/Center for Prevention - June 27 distribution mtg BCBS of MN/Center for Prevention State Nutrition Action Coalition & MN Food/Nutrition Network – Aug 9 Food Access MN mtg (partl funding via USDA)MN Food/Nutrition Network MN team for NCR SARE Scaling-Up – to host regional mtgsNCR SARE Scaling-Up UM Regional Partnerships – project/research funding/support UM Regional Partnerships SE Regl Partnership & SHIP grantees – regl food strategy SE Regl Partnership A local project SE Partnership is sponsoring - Ridgeway F2S/distributionRidgeway F2S/distribution MN state-level resources/collaborative efforts

The Experiment in Rural Cooperation USDA Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food USDA Food Hub blog National Good Food Network’s Food Hub Center resource page Potential USDA Programs to Support Regional Food Hub Development database/knowledge/Regional%20Food%20Hub%20Resources%20from%20USDA%20v1.pdf Making Good Food Work distribution conference, Detroit, April Food Hub links

The Experiment in Rural Cooperation UM Regional Partnerships MN Dept of Health Statewide Health Improvement Program BCBS of MN, Center for Prevention UM Organic Ecology MN Institute for Sustainable Agriculture Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture MN Dept of Ag-SustAg Practical Farmers of Iowa U of WI Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems Food Routes Network Community Food Security Coalition Cornell University, Discovering the Food System USDA’s Sustainable Ag Research and Education Robyn Van En CSA Center More on food systems & regional activities

The Experiment in Rural Cooperation UM RSDP site listing local food partners by region (work in progress) MN Dept of Ag – MN Grown Directory National listing of farms and other sources of locally-grown food Organic Valley family of farms Land Stewardship Project Food & Farm Connection-lots of resources Sustainable Farming Association Site to find, buy, sell local food Food/Farm Directories