RE-IMAGINING INFRASTRUCTURE: Are food hubs the answer? Farmers’ markets account for less than 1 percent of food sales in the United States. They are the window dressing. If the sustainable food movement is to become a true movement with any measurable impact on the way America feeds itself, it must find a way to reach beyond the early adopters. It must make it much easier for local producers and consumers to find each other. It must restore the regional infrastructure that withered with the rise of the national distributors, who have little interest in working with local operations. What we need is a system of local food hubs that can process and bundle local foods and deliver them to the places where America eats. This is not exactly a revelation. The same conclusion has been reached by the USDA, by sustainable food advocates, and by the foundations that fund their efforts. Together, they have transformed the local-food scene in the United States. Working for NOFA, Jean Hamilton had a front-row seat. Our movement shifted all at once. Five years ago, all the funders said, We’re funding infrastructure.
Posted on: Tue, 12 Nov 2013 16:37:39 +0000
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