Mailbag: Making Local Markets; Plus News from N. Carolina and Texas
OCTOBER 20, 2007 - Susan in Kentucky sent us news of an innovative site that’s finding ways to connect all the links in the local food chain. It’s an idea we’ve heard discussed, but here’s the real deal - check out the case studies on the site that show, for example, how a home-based wine jelly maker might connect with “co-packers” to bring her product to a wider (local) market. This is the next phase of the local foods movement: building a more complex and accessible food system than the current drive-out-to-the-farmgate situation that we’ve been left with in so many places after decades of neglect.
I work with a group called MarketMaker that is in several states online now and many other states are following. This vehicle allows farmers, grocery stores, resturants, processors, etc. to connect. It is in its infancy and the University of Illinois department of agriculture is heading it up. MarketMaker goes beyond state lines to connect people and those in the food industry.
There’s also interesting news sent in by Greta from Austin, Texas, where a college food service contractor sponsors an Eat Local Challenge and has a local purchasing policy that now accounts for 30 percent of its budget - not bad in an industry notorious for its reluctance to change.
Finally, a note from Trace with a link to a story about Wilmington, North Carolina’s local-food scene. It sounds so different from where Alisa and I live - we couldn’t believe Trace couldn’t get carrots until winter, but she reminded us that their summer temperatures heat it up at about 90 to 100 F. On the other hand, their growing season is eight months long…and they have peanuts… You can read Trace’s blog, too, or check out Wilmington Local Living.
-JBM
