Connecting the Dots: Producers, Buyers, and Cooperative Perspectives for Integrating Local Food into Large Organizations

Introduction: When one thinks of food today, images of fast food restaurants, network cooking shows, and grocery store shelves, stacked with packaged food, come to mind. A response to this unhealthy food landscape is a growing movement that seeks to reconnect people and food through local and sustainable agriculture. Although interest in improving the health of communities through institutional-supported agriculture exists, limited data are available that describe how to successfully integrate local food into large organizations, such as schools, hospitals, and universities. Methods: A qualitative study was conducted to ethnographically examine institutional-supported agriculture from perspectives of buyers (hospital personnel, school and university administrators, restaurant owners), producers (dairy, meat, and produce farmers), and others involved with the local food movement in western Wisconsin. Data analysis focused on the identification of barriers, facilitators, and lessons learned for integrating local food into institutions. Results: Analysis indicates that many “dots” need to be “connected” before local food can be successfully integrated into larger organizations. Connections between producers, buyers, distributors, and community members all need to occur for local food to become part of an organization's menu. Discussion: To successfully “connect the dots,” existing barriers such as transportation and distribution issues, corporate food service contracts, hierarchical versus horizontal decision-making, lack of staff involvement, and additional time and effort must be addressed. To overcome these barriers, facilitators such as community support, building and maintaining strong relationships, recognition of the need to begin slowly and carefully, and commitment throughout the organization need to be enhanced.