Tour Tahoe's Local Food Hub

In Detroit, and throughout the country, many people find themselves in "food deserts", or places where access to fresh fruits and vegetables is extremely limited. Black residents are addressing these issues via the creation of their own food production and supply network called the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network. Through this network, Black neighbors created a co-op grocery store that promotes urban agriculture and healthy eating.

Food hub projects are gaining momentum in Hawaii as a means to connect farmers with customers. The projects go against the narrative that produce should be sold to big-box supermarkets, and instead focuses on "allowing farmers to concentrate on farming and creating a seamless ordering system so consumers can order food online for delivery or availability at central pickup points."

Cows will produce the same amount of milk no matter the demand for the product, and with supply staying steady and demand decreasing, a surplus of milk is thrown out routinely. Through a collaborative effort by farmers and a local non-profit in Pennsylvania, however, a solution has emerged that not only turns the extra milk into cheese and yogurt, but supplies the products to those in need.

An income qualified farm-to-community incentive program has found its place within the Coloradan San Miguel County. Allowing farm shares to be distributed at Mountain Village Farmers’ Market, both communities win through affordable and healthy food and the providing of a consistent income source.

The Al Barakeh Wheat Project is working to regain food sovereignty through urban wheat farming in Amman, Jordan, by partnering farmers with families to teach them how to grow and harvest wheat.

By collaborating with other businesses, nonprofits, and institutions, food processing enterprises in Montana are expanding the local supply chain to keep food in the state. The Mission Mountain Food Enterprise Center packages food for a local grower's co-op, which distribute Montana products to individuals, grocery stores, and restaurants. The Livingston Food Resource Center created its own partnerships by buying its food from Montana farmers to give to people experiencing economic hardship. These collaborations are reducing the costs for local food processing, which also cuts down on costs for customers.

In Brazil, 45% of agriculturally viable land is owned by 1% of tenants. To combat this inequitable ratio, the Landless Workers’ Movement formed and took a stand for seizing lands that are "not fulfilling a productive or social use." The group successfully reclaimed an area known as Mario Lago and has since begun a reforestation process alongside agroforestry which has allowed for an increase in diversity of food produced. The farmers haven't stopped there, however. To sell their produce, they have implemented a system of turning the consumer into a co-producer thus ensuring economic stability.

Getting food from farm to table isn't as easy as one may think. This is especially true for smaller farms that have to transport their produce to larger distribution sites to see any sort of profit. One local farmer in the Catksills Mountains of upper New York, recognized this problem and ultimately built an "ad-hoc operation acting as both the marketing and distribution agent" for a multitude of farmers in the region. Despite the many challenges he's faced, he's even been able to charge the wholesale buyer the delivery and administrative costs versus the traditional method of charging the farmer.

Community leaders are working together to address the issue of food insecurity in Mansfield, caused not just by lack of access to grocery stores and fresh food sources, but also often by unemployment, high housing costs, low wages, poverty, and health care costs. The North End Local Foods Initiative is installing food gardens in these communities, creating access to fresh produce, to educational opportunities, recreational activity and more.

In the U.S., a movement of Black farmers is trying to reclaim their legacy as agrarians. Only 1.7 percent of farms were run by Black farmers according to the U.S. Census of Agriculture. Black farmers are forming collectives, creating land trusts, creating conferences.