Abstract
Despite the relative absence of wholesale distribution in much of the planning profession's academic and grey literature, emerging models promise to remake the relationship between producers and their regional markets. In this article, key lessons from the value(s) chain literature are illustrated with examples from comparative case studies con¬ducted by the University of Wisconsin–Madison Center for Integrated Agricultural System to acquaint professional planners and allied professionals with strategies for imbuing mid- to high-volume local food distribution with normative values such as transparency and fairness. The research presented here is not a comprehensive analysis of regional wholesale food distribution. Rather, we have focused on organizational, logistical, and marketing characteristics of local and regional food value(s) chains. We utilize an exploratory comparative case study method to identify innovations in food distribution focusing on midtier food value(s) chains. We then describe larger system interventions that planners could employ to better accommodate midtier food distribution needs in the regional planning and food regulatory environment. These interventions include documentation of existing wholesale food system infrastructure; incorporation of agricultural industry clusters into regional economic development planning; cultivation of regional culinary identities to enhance marketing and branding efforts; and collaboration with policy makers and food safety regulators to foster zoning and regulation that protect public safety and welfare and build the capacity and market access of local food entrepreneurs.
Highlights
In June 2010 four professional associations, the American Dietetic Association, the American Nurses Association, the American Planning Association (APA), and the American Public Health Association, convened in order to develop a set of shared principles to orient practitioners and associations in their work transforming the food system
Following are the principles detailed in the resulting document, Principles of a Healthy Sustainable Food System (American Dietetic Association, the American Nurses Association, the American Planning Association, and the American Public Health Association, 2010):
Strategic planning and collaborative trans-sectoral solutions will be necessary to ensure that as regional food systems expand, they retain the goals and values outlined in the Principles of a Healthy Sustainable Food System
Summary
In June 2010 four professional associations, the American Dietetic Association, the American Nurses Association, the American Planning Association (APA), and the American Public Health Association, convened in order to develop a set of shared principles to orient practitioners and associations in their work transforming the food system. For at least a decade, urban and regional planners have worked to establish and advance these objectives in the food system by facilitating farmland conservation initiatives, promoting and streamlining permitting processes for farmers’ markets, expanding urban agricultural activities through innovative zoning code revisions, and increasing community access to fresh food through supermarket attraction initiatives and improved accommodation of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) (formerly food stamps) and Women, Infants and Children (WIC) supplemental food benefits at farmers’ markets. Noticeably absent from this list of accomplishments is planners’ participation in supply chain development and high-volume distribution Perhaps this absence is best explained by Pothukuchi and Kaufman’s observation that many planners perceive the food system as being driven primarily by the private market (2000). This may be especially true for issues pertaining to supply chain coordination, which superficially appear further outside the purview of planning practitioners than issues pertaining to agricultural land use and household hunger
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