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          Human Nutrition and Food Safety
          Local Foods and CommunitiesLocal Foods and Communities

  Local foods are marketed through direct sales to consumers (e.g.,  CSAs, farmers’ markets, on-farm stores, or pick-your-own), food hubs, grocery stores, restaurants, schools, and other outlets.
Benefits to the community include: support for local farmers, job creation, economic diversification, attracting reinvestment and growth, keeping food dollars within the local economy,  and reducing food insecurity.
Learn about local foods through NAL collection items, exhibits, and selected external links to information.


  Related Topics
    
    Community Supported Agriculture
      Urban Agriculture
      Raised Beds and Container Gardening
      Food Security
      AgriTourism

  Local Food Resources
    

      
Local Food Systems
              ATTRA. The National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service.


      Local Food Research and Development
              AMS. United States Department of Agriculture.


      Local Foods
              USDA. Economic Research Service.ERS conducts research and issues reports on the economic and marketing aspects of local food systems, and more.


      Local Foods College
              University of Minnesota. University of Minnesota Extension.


      The Economics of Local Food Systems: A Toolkit to Guide Community Discussions, Assessments and Choices
              USDA. Agricultural Marketing Service.
Comprised of seven modules, the Toolkit covers food system planning, assessment and evaluation.
      
              Relevant Legal Issues
    

      
Local Food Systems
              National Agricultural Law Center.
Agricultural Law Information Partnership.


      Cottage Food Laws in the United States
              Harvard Law School Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation.Data and Policy
    

      
2020 Local Food Marketing Practices Survey. Census of Agriculture.
              USDA. National Agricultural Statistics Service.
The purpose of the second Survey "is to produce benchmark data about local food marketing practices."


      The Role of Local Food Systems in U.S. Farm Policy  (pdf | 950 KB)
              U.S. Congressional Research Service.


      Data to Support a Thriving and Informed Local and Regional Food Sector
              Part of a USDA, AMS funded project on Local and Regional Food Systems Response to Covid: Recovery and Resilience


  Mailboxes, Mom and Pop Stands, and Markets:  Local Foods Then and Now
        

          
            The National Agricultural Library holds copies of many historical and current materials documenting the ways that food makes its way from the farm to our tables. This exhibit showcases these resources, placed within a larger context of agricultural marketing and purchasing.

  Search the NAL Collection
  

      Garden variety: the American tomato from corporate to heirloom
      Making local food work: the challenges and opportunities of today's small farme...
      Selling local: why local food movements matter.
      Food, farms, and community: exploring food systems.
      Local food systems : background and issues
      Storey's guide to growing organic vegetables & herbs for market : site & crop ...See all 2,210 results
      
              Access to Research Articles
  

      Activating the local food system in emergency food response.
      How Can Food Hubs Best Serve Their Buyers? Perspectives from Vermont
      Designing an effective, scalable data collection tool to measure farmers market...
      Evaluating food hubs Reporting on a participatory action project
      Developing a local definition of urban agriculture: context and implications fo...See all 1,751 results

  Featured Resources
    
    Defining Local Food
    
    An Analysis of State Approaches and Challenges.

    View the report
      
              USDA Local Food Directories
    
    Agritourism, CSAs, farms, farmers markets, food hubs, and more.

    Find local food


  Important Links
    
    Local Food, Local Places ToolKit [epa.gov]
      Local Food Research and Development [ams.usda.gov]Page Content Curated By
    

      Agricultural Law Information Partnership
    Alternative Farming Systems Information Center (AFSIC)
    Food and Nutrition Information Center (FNIC)
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