From the fertile minds of the nation’s agricultural leaders, a new initiative to connect local food producers with consumers is taking root.
With the 2009 launch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food campaign, officials at USDA aim to strengthen local and regional food systems and stimulate economic opportunity by emphasizing the critical connection between producers and consumers. In addition to creating new economic opportunities by better connecting consumers with local food producers, the initiative aims to engage experts across USDA to help stimulate a national conversation about the importance of understanding where food comes from and how it lands on people’s plates.
To start the dialogue, USDA officials launched an interactive Web site — online at www.usda.gov/wps/portal/knowyourfarmer?navid=KNOWYOURFARMER — that invites farmers, ranchers, businesses, community organizations, governments, schools and consumers to submit and share videos, photos, ideas and stories about food, agriculture as well as local and regional food systems. The Web site includes information about farmer’s markets, nutrition, community food projects, sustainable agricultural practices and risk management education programs. The site also features social media tools to help focus the public conversation about farming and food while engaging American agriculture workers and linking producers to customers. In addition, to help consumers understand where their food comes from and how they can support local food economies in their communities, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack recorded a video, online at USDA’s YouTube channel, inviting consumers to join the discussion and share their ideas for ways to support local agriculture.
“Americans are more interested in food and agriculture than at any other time since most families left the farm,” said USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan in a 2009 statement announcing the initiative. “Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food seeks to focus that conversation on supporting local and regional food systems to strengthen American agriculture by promoting sustainable agricultural practices and spurring economic opportunity in rural communities.”
The initiative’s efforts to connect local production with consumption include programs to help producers adopt new direct marketing practices. For example, nearly $10,000 in funding for the University of Minnesota will bring together experts on food safety for a discussion on marketing to public schools, colleges, universities, hospitals and other health care facilities. In addition, a grant to the Northwest Food Processors Association aims to strengthen the relationship between local food processors and customers in parts of Idaho, Oregon and Washington. Also, USDA announced $3.4 million in funding for collaborative outreach and assistance programs to socially disadvantaged and under-served farmers.
“An American people that is more engaged with their food supply will create new income opportunities for American agriculture,” Vilsack said. “Reconnecting consumers and institutions with local producers will stimulate economies in rural communities, improve access to healthy, nutritious food for our families, and decrease the amount of resources to transport our food.”
For more information, visit www.usda.gov/wps/portal/knowyourfarmer?navid=KNOWYOURFARMER.
- Copyright The Nation’s Health, American Public Health Association
