When a customer walks into one of our Weaver Street Market stores this time of year it’s pretty obvious that we work with a lot of local farms. Big displays of local tomatoes, peppers, peaches and more spill off our produce department shelves. The produce is vibrant and fresh, the displays beautiful. But what’s behind them is something even more important: a thriving local food system.
We are lucky in Orange County to be in the center of a vibrant local food system. But what does that actually mean, besides buying food that was grown by a local farmer?
The website CommunityHealth.org defines a local food system as: “a collaborative network that integrates sustainable food production, processing, distribution, consumption, and waste management in order to enhance the environmental, economic, and social health of a particular area.”
You might be surprised to find out that the local food system goes far beyond just shopping at the farmers market or co-op (which is important, don’t get me wrong!). It comprises the processers who mill our flour, process grains into chicken feed, cut our meat, or freeze local produce for use all year round. It includes the distribution company that delivers the produce to our stores and restaurants. It even includes the waste management company that collects food scraps from the community for composting.
Weaver Street Market goes the extra mile to help support all the elements of our local food system, starting with one of our board of directors’ goals for 2020 to drive the growth of local and sustainable foods. This includes bringing on new suppliers as well as producing more food ourselves at our food commissary in Hillsborough.
We recognized that there was more to realizing that goal than just buying the local produce available on the market. It includes crop planning with our local farms to grow the items that our customers really want and need, and encouraging new farm businesses to produce items that we didn’t have a local source for, like a year-round salad greens producer or a grass-fed dairy that makes yogurt.
A thriving local food system needs more than just farmers and food to hold it together. It requires government and elected officials, citizen input, and business leadership to commit to developing tools and systems to support the network of local farmers, processors, and consumers. In 2004 Weaver Street Market, Whole Foods, and Orange County partnered to fund a feasibility study which concluded that opening the Piedmont Food Processing Center (PFAP) would be instrumental in creating a stronger local food system. Since opening in 2009 PFAP has assisted dozens of new food businesses that otherwise would never have been created, by training new food entrepreneurs and providing them with a well-appointed commercial workspace. Having access to infrastructure that would otherwise require a huge investment allows new business owners to learn in a low risk environment. Weaver Street Market has supported PFAP since the beginning by purchasing raw materials for their members, purchasing finished products from their businesses, and serving on the board of directors.
Undertaking the growth of a local food system can be a full-time job, and for some folks it is! Last month Orange County hired a full-time Food Council Coordinator to lead the effort in developing a community-driven food system. The Coordinator works between government officials, stakeholders in the local food system, and the public to ensure access to nutritious foods for all, promote sustainable agriculture, and increase economic development in Orange County.
What are some easy things consumers can do to help? First and foremost, spend more of your food dollars locally. Even if you can’t live on an entirely local diet, purchasing your groceries at a locally owned store or restaurant keeps more money in the community, supporting jobs and community services. If you are really interested in participating, try serving on the board of the Orange County Food Council .