1. Indiana APA Fall Conference
October 21, 2011
The development of Indiana Flavor
resources was supported by the
Indiana State Department of
Agriculture

2.  Understand what a local/regional food
system really is
 Discuss the state of local/regional foods
movement
 Look at a network-based approach to
developing local and regional food systems
 Generate ideas for integrated local/regional
food systems into the planning practices

4.  The Grocery Store Food System
 Keeps cash-register prices low
 Provides a diverse food supply
 The Local/Regional Food System
 Connects us more directly with our food
 Connects us to the people who grow our food
 Provides an opportunity for economic growth,
especially in rural areas

5.  Overnight, Wal-Mart became the world’s
largest organic foods retailer.
 Whole Foods carrying local products.
 Stand-alone Whole Foods have parking-lot
farmer’s markets.
 “Consumers are increasingly….going to Wal-
Mart, Costco or other discount retailers for
rock-bottom prices, and to places like Whole
Foods and Farmers Markets for specialized
quality and service.” – New York Times, Oct. 6, 2005.

8. Nearly a quarter of American
shoppers now buy organic
products once a week, up from
17% in 2000. But for food purists,
"local" is the new "organic," the
new ideal that promises healthier
bodies and a healthier planet.
Many chefs, food writers and
politically minded eaters are
outraged that "Big Organic" firms
now use the same industrial-size
farming and long-distance-
shipping methods as conventional
agribusiness.

9.  Jamison Farm Lamb Loin with Kohlrabi,
White Polenta and Spiced Dates – Charlie
Trotters, Chicago
 Fischer Farms Natural Black Angus Beef
Burger, Nick’s English Hut, Bloomington, IN
 Housemade Nicono made with Green
Walnuts from Sunny Hill Farms - The
Libertine, Indianapolis

10. Ecolabel Value Assessment: Consumer and
Food Business Perceptions of Local Foods,
Iowa State University, 2003.

11. Responses IN IL IA KS MN
Grown in my state 39% 40% 29% 45% 40%
Grown in the Midwest 24% 26% 27% 18% 24%
Grown 25 miles of less 21% 15% 20% 18% 40%
from purchase
Grown 100 miles or 12% 17% 20% 14% 19%
less from purchase

12. Factors IN IL IA KS MN
Freshness 38% 48% 31% 27% 34%
Price 19% 13% 9% 16% 9%
Support local farms 17% 10% 24% 26% 26%
Quality 16% 13% 17% 16% 18%
Environmental 3% 2.5% 1% 1% 0%
concerns
Helps local economy 3% 10% 9% 15% 7%

13. Responses IN IL IA KS MN
No more 23% 56% 9% 23% 15%
1-5% more 46% 7% 61% 47% 45%
6-10% more 20% 21% 21% 22% 19%
11-15% more 5% 7% 2% 3% 7%

16.  A community (local or regional) is really a
network of connections.
 Better connections usually mean better
opportunities.
 How do we build connected communities that
can take advantage of opportunities?

17. A non-growing network results in small and
dense clusters with little or no diversity. The
lack of outside information, and dense cohesion
within the network removes all possibility for
new ideas and innovations.

18. ACEnet provides a wide range of
assistance to food, wood, and
technology entrepreneurs in 29
counties of Appalachian Ohio

19. Had a hunch that there was the potential for a network of
tomato producers. Mapped the network by asking existing
and emerging food professionals three questions:
 From whom do you get new ideas that benefit your
work?
 From whom do you access expertise that improves
your operations?
 With whom do you collaborate?

21. Kitchen Incubator became a
hub for restaurateurs and
farmers

23.  Farmers Market
 Outdoor Café
 Restaurant Association

26.  Identification of assets
 Linking and leveraging assets into a network
 Launching and sustaining initiatives with
Strategic Doing

27.  Jackson County had stalled in plans for a
large food distribution center
 ISDA asked Purdue to assist
 Applied this network-based approach
+ + =

29. The National Maple Syrup Festival is now in its 4th year and in 2011 over
5,000 visitors attended the festival, top chefs from around the U.S. serve
as guest judges at the Sweet Victory Challenge sponsored by Vermont-
based King Arthur Flour and Medora syrup is on the menu of some of
the nation’s finest restaurants and in up-scale retailers across the U.S.

30. http://www.insideindianabusiness.com/newsitem.asp?ID=50238

31.  Presentation on Understanding the Local
Food Economy
 Stakeholder Matrix Tool
 Sample Survey Questions
 Inventory of Best-Practice Community Food
Projects
 Effectiveness versus Complexity Matrix Tool
Available at - http://pcrd.typepad.com/ecd/indiana-flavor/

32.  If we perceived ourselves as
“network weavers” would it
change the way we do what
we do?
 What are our infrastructure
and other place-based assets
and how could we link and
leverage them?
 What sort of network hubs or
“hot spots” can we develop?
 Other questions to
consider???

33. Scott Hutcheson
Purdue University
1201 W. State Street
West Lafayette, Indiana 47907-2057
hutcheson@purdue.edu
http://www.pcrd.purdue.edu/
http://www.facebook.com/PurdueCRD
www.twitter.com/pcrd
765-479-7704