4/23/09 New! Read the recently released 2009 Local Markets Report ENHANCING THE VIABILITY OF LOCAL MARKETS IN NY
To read about how this report was produced, click here
Work Team Contacts
Martha Goodsell, Farmer, Fallow Hollow Deer Farm, 607-659-4635 or deerfarm6@frontiernet.net
The Opportunity
New York’s small farmers seek new and diversified markets for their products. They are particularly interested in direct retail markets and scale-appropriate wholesale opportunities. At the same time, consumers demand and are increasingly going out of their way for local food. The growing number of small farms directly marketing to consumers through farmers’ markets, roadside stands, CSAs, U-Pick operations, and indirectly through NY retail markets, schools/colleges, and food security programs reflects this growing demand for fresh, healthful, local foods. With the close proximity between NY’s small farms and concentrated customer bases, the increased demand for local foods represents a significant potential market opportunity, not just for small farms but for all of New York’s farms.
A summer 2007 statewide inventory identified over 300 programs and projects designed to promote local/regional foods marketing, including “buy local” campaigns, farm-to-institution programs, and cooperative marketing activities. These programs are being initiated by Cornell Cooperative Extension Associations, local governments and non-profit organizations. Increasingly, economic development and planning agencies, and other community development organizations, are working at the local and regional community level to strengthen connections between producers and consumers. As their mission statements and outreach materials reflect, these agencies and organizations are committed to strengthening these connections to enhance farm profits and provide consumers with access to healthy foods, as well as to capitalize on social, ecological, and economic benefits these valued local resources contribute to overall community and economic development.
Despite having shared goals and similar methods for achieving these goals, few local foods market development efforts have been coordinated across multi-county regions. Small farmers, food processors, farm service providers, agriculture development specialists, community and economic developers, and local legislators agree that local food markets in NY could be enhanced through multi-county regional and statewide strategic planning. The NY Small Farms Work Team on Local Markets was organized in the summer and fall of 2007 to address this opportunity.
Work Team Goals
The Work Team will bring together established agencies and organizations, which are already working to strengthen producer-consumer food retail and wholesale connections, to:
Work Team Members
Core Group
Martha Goodsell, Farmer, Fallow Hollow Deer Farm
Heidi Mouillesseaux-Kunzman, Community Development Coordinator, Community and Rural Development Institute
Andy Turner, Executive Director, Greene County CCE
Mary Jeanne Packer, Executive Director, NY Farms!
Todd Schmit, Assistant Professor, Cornell Dept. of Applied Economics and Management
Team Members
Diane Eggert, Farmer and Executive Director Farmers’ Market Federation of New York
Duncan Hilchey, Agriculture Dev. Spec, Community and Rural Development Institute
Monika Roth, Agriculture Development Specialist, Tompkins County, CCE
Tim Pezzolesi, Department of Agriculture and Markets, Pride of NY Program
Challey Comers, Farm to Market Manager, Watershed Agricultural Council
Becca Brier-Rosenfield, Agriculture Economic Development Specialist, CCE of Madison County
It all started with a survey......
In the Spring of 2007 the New York State Work Team on Local Foods- Local Markets conducted an extensive electronic questionnaire to determine the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to local food production, processing, distributing, marketing, purchasing, and consumption. This questionnaire was not designed as or intended to be a scientific study; rather, it was, designed to solicit as many responses to pointed questions, from as many local food stakeholders as possible within a relatively short period of time.
The questions were sent to multiple e-lists serving current and potential local food stakeholders: eg. school food service, regional and local food groups, commodity groups, processors, food banks, farmers markets managers and vendors, etc. We asked list managers and members to be survey "starters" or "circulators" to reach as many potential participants as possible, and sent multiple reminders to encourage follow-through in completing the survey. The directions were simple. Participants were invited to answer all of the questions or just those in the sections they felt best represented their perspective on local foods. The questions were open ended and allowed for feedback in long or short narrative style. One hundred and five individuals completed and returned the survey. Through team member affiliation or return addresses, we were able to identify the participants as including 35 farmers, 45 consumers and 25 facilitators. To see the survey click here.
With responses in hand, the team set to work analyzing the narratives. Some answers involved a single thought. Other answers involved multiple thoughts. Each thought was categorized under a heading theme. Thus, one answer might have been included under eight or more heading themes. To read all the responses click here.
The responses were grouped under an appropriate subject heading and put back into the initial SWOT grid for each of the constituent groups- farmers, consumer and facilitators. To view the headings and how they were categorized click here.
Opportunities and challenges begin to emerge
We summarized the results of this data integration process in a one page Opportunities and Challenges document, focused on supply side (farmers/ producers/ processors) and demand side (buyers/ consumers) issues. Issues for facilitators/connectors were intentionally omitted, with the goal of addressing the issues related to the producer consumer connection not those relating to the organizations and agencies that support those connections. Later we would ask facilitators to evaluate their own work, using what they learned about the opportunities and challenges of the parties they were working with. To view the list of opportunities and challenges click here.
Attendees set priorities at the Local Markets Summit
Local food leaders were invited to a one day Local Foods Local Markets Summit in Hamilton, New York. Fifty individuals participated in a day long conference on July 17, 2008. The list of summit participants is available here.
Summit participants were asked to review the opportunities and challenges and to ask themselves how the data could help them to identify local food issues. Participants were challenged to identify issues by examining how various opportunities might solve a particular challenge or how a challenge might be overcome by leveraging opportunities and strengths. Participants were encouraged to frame their issues in a "how to" question. Work team member Martha Goodsell, led participants through a series of examples by analyzing the information in the opportunities and challenges handout. To see examples of these types of questions click here.
Summit participants then broke into facilitated groups representing supply side (farmers/ producers), demand side (consumers/ buyers) and facilitators to identify issues. To read the issues identified click here. After identifying the issues, participants were given seven dots to use however they wanted to identify those issues they considered most important to enhancing connections between NYS producers and consumers. Starting with the top five issues, facilitators then helped each group identify several strategies designed to address each issue, whether the strategy was of high, medium or low priority, and what groups (agencies and organizations) are best positioned to implement the strategy. Due to time constraints, not all groups managed to address the same number of issues. Nor did all groups prioritize the strategies or identify implementers. However, all groups identified several strategies that, together, could be integrated into a strategic plan to address the issues that hinder stronger connections between NYS producers and consumers. To read the strategies suggested click here.
Following the Summit, Summit Notes were circulated to all Summit participants, with a request that they review the materials, and let us know of any omissions, needed corrections, or additions. As our original plan called for an additional round of stakeholder input, the summit notes were categorized based on the strong themes which had emerged among the issues raised. This would allow an easier visual assessment of the contributions made to date. Strategies were also categorized in this manner. Additional input was then requested from constituents and stakeholders themselves. We provided the opportunity for the greater buy-local community - including: farmers, producers, processors, buyers, consumers, school food service personnel, nutritionists, food banks, market manager, and others - to comment, add their issues and strategies, and prioritize. Additional responses from the larger community were received. Their additions and rankings were integrated into previously recorded data. To read the complete set of prioritized issues and strategies click here.
Priorities are assigned to educators, researchers, policy makers, etc....
Stakeholders then requested that the strategies be broken down into who could do what. The most significant and pressing issues to local foods system success - as identified by numerous statewide stakeholders - and their suggestions for solving were then sorted by implementation group. In some cases the solutions identified can be undertaken by individual groups such as educators, researchers, policy makers or those working in community outreach; in other cases a collaborative effort is needed to resolve the challenges faced. To read the prioritized action list by stakeholder group click here.
Get involved
We encourage all those involved in local food systems to consider these state-wide recommendations so that the most effective efforts are employed to ensure local food system success. In order to keep the lines of communication open, Buy-Local stakeholders including but not limited to program facilitators, project coordinators, farmers, processors, distributors, food service directors, market managers, consumers, and others are invited to join the Buy Local NY list serve at BuyLocalNY@yahoogroups.com
