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March 28, 2016 | USDA USDA

News Release — Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today unveiled a new resource created by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Colorado State University that will help communities and businesses evaluate the economic benefits of investing in local food systems. The Secretary released details about “The Economics of Local Food Systems: A Toolkit to Guide Community Discussions, Assessments and Choices” in his keynote remarks at the 12th Annual Good Food Festival and Conference in Chicago.

“Strong local and regional food systems are helping to revitalize rural and urban communities across the country, and more than 160,000 farmers and ranchers nationwide are tapping into growing consumer demand for locally grown products. With USDA support, this sector is increasing access to healthy foods for local residents and creating opportunity for small businesses that store, process, market and distribute food,” said Vilsack. “Now community leaders have a toolkit that can help measure job creation and other economic development indicators, which will help make the case for continued investments.”

The Local Food System Toolkit was developed by the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) to help communities reliably evaluate the economic impact of investing in local and regional food systems. The Local Food System Toolkit provides detailed guidance in seven modules to measure and assess the expected economic impacts of local food investments. Using real-world projects, experiences, and applied research, it provides grounded, credible, and useable assessment methods. The Local Food System Toolkit can be used by policy makers, community leaders, private businesses or foundations to offer specific estimates that will help them decide whether to invest in initiatives that increase local food activity.

Secretary Vilsack has identified strengthening local and regional food systems as one of the four pillars of USDA’s commitment to rural economic development. Over the course of this Administration, USDA has helped farmers, ranchers, and businesses access the growing market for local and regional foods, which was valued at $12 billion in 2014 according to industry estimates. In the last six years, USDA invested more than $800 million in more than 29,100 local and regional food businesses and infrastructure projects. These activities contribute to USDA’s Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food(KYF2) initiative, which coordinates efforts across USDA to support local and regional food systems.

AMS plays a key role in supporting farmers markets, community supported agriculture (CSA), food hubs, and local food businesses by offering technical assistance, conducting research, and awarding grants. The Local Food System Toolkit is the latest resource offered by AMS in support of local and regional food systems.