The American Farmland Trust is about more than farms. These folks are concerned about the food supply for everyone -- from rural areas to big cities.
An elaborate food distribution system has beveloped between producers and consumer that has matured into delivering inexpensive, standardized food products. But times are changing because of organic food trends, and scares about contaminated foods from afar. The US food system is evolving in the direction of delivering the "story behind the food" in response to growing consumer demand. But it has a long way to go.
Food that is identifiable as "local," including food that is organically or "sustainably" produced, is a very small fraction of both total regional agricultural production (0.5 percent) and of total U.S. retail sales (2.8 percent). This sustainable sector of the food system is growing rapidly.
Despite the challenges of locating locally grown foods for families and local restaurants and institutions such as schools, there are significant opportunities to increase "eating locally" in San Francisco and the Bay Area. The local food movement in the region has as much momentum as anywhere in the country. Strong Farmers Coops, Farmers Markets, and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) operations make it almost convenient!
Many public and private institutions (such as schools and hospitals) are now seeking to source food locally. As the fossil fuel era wanes, fresh, local food may gain an advantage in the marketplace over food that is processed and shipped long distances.
Read more about the growing local food trend in the San Francisco Foodshed Report.
