CFFPI - Scaling-up Connections between Regional Ohio Specialty Crop Producers and Local Markets: Distribution as the Missing LinkThis work will begin Summer 2009 and is funded by the Ohio Department of Agriculture's Specialty Crop Block Grants. PIs: Jill Clark, Jeff Sharp and Shoshanah Inwood. In Ohio, the demand for locally grown food is growing, and 98% of Ohioans indicate state and local governments should be working to develop local food systems. Specialty crops are a key subsector to start addressing the development of Ohio’s food system. Ohioans consume an estimated 4.65 billion pounds of vegetables and 3.08 billion pounds of fruit annually, yet less then estimated 1% of these fruits and vegetables are grown by Ohio farmers. Given current production levels, Ohio farmers could be satisfying over 26% of Ohioans vegetable needs and 5% of their fruit needs. One of the missing links in connecting consumer demand and Ohio farmers is current food distribution networks. Focusing on distribution of specialty crops would create opportunities for Ohio farmers, distributors, and be an economic stimulus; however, a critical issue that must be resolved is to address gaps in the current distribution system as it connects producers and consumers. In Ohio we currently have little understanding of the mainstream specialty crop distribution system. Ohio State University’s Center for Farmland Policy Innovation (Center) and the Social Responsibility Initiative (SRI) will begin to address this gap with the proposed research detailed below. Project Purpose Developing a local food system is complex. Many advocates focus heavily on direct marketing. While direct marketing is one part of the solution, it is limited by the low number of Ohio consumers that can conveniently reach farmers. Further, direct marketing is hampered by inefficiencies – increased costs and energy consumption. In order to reach mainstream consumers and increase production levels, locally grown specialty crops need to be integrated into the mainstream distribution system. For example, the overwhelming majority of retail food buyers (83% of restaurants and 90% of retail outlets) preferred to purchase from a food distributor rather than direct from a farmer. Retailers already have long existing relationships with distributors and prefer the convenience and reliability of working with a few distributors over a large number of farmers. A limitation for local farmers to enter the mainstream distribution system has been a lack of understanding the structure of the distribution system. Further, Ohio distributors have been reluctant to work with local farmers claiming they are not market-ready because local farmers have a limited understanding of quality, quantity and flow of product. Papers and Presentations Clark, Jill, Jeff Sharp and Shoshanah Inwood. 2009 “Distribution: The Missing Link.” Prepared for the Ohio Local Foods Roundtable November 12, 2009, Reynoldsburg, Ohio, Project Plan Recognizing an absence of understanding the distribution structure, this project will begin by cataloguing the types of products distributed, product sourcing, service area, trip logistics, food safety requirements, product point of entry and marketing strategies. Additionally, Ohio has unique micro-climates and soil regions that can produce high quality specialty crops – it necessary to understand where they are and how distribution can foster growth in these regions through increased production and better marketing. Research needs to be conducted to create informed recommendations for current growers and distributors, potential new growers and distributors and policy-makers to enable local provision of specialty crops to be scaled up to meet demand. |
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