Thursday, February 13, 2014

Local Food Supply Chain In The Limelight!

Invitation To Attend Local Food Round Table Discussion
LFLF attended a stakeholder meeting Wednesday evening sponsored by the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission and the topic was locally produced food.  The Beaver County Agricultural Land Preservation Board gathered farmers/producers and local businesses as well as local officials to discuss the benefits of local foods, possiblities of expanding the availablity of local foods, and the barriers to supplying & utilizing local food.
Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission - Why Are We Here?
Represented were produce farms, dairy farms, an organic CSA, beef, & lamb producers, honey producers, as well as community gardens, businesses using local produce, and local officials.
The group was split up and the sub-groups brainstormed specific barriers to production as well as possible solutions.
Laura Mundell of SPC Facilitating Discussion
Three other SW PA counties have been surveyed so far. The 10 county compiled results will be used in future regional economic growth strategies ..... stay tuned!
David Pinkosky of SPC Gets An Answer From The Producers
One of the topics that came up late in the discussion was the potential impact of the Federal Food Safety Modernization Act  ......... LFLF has been remiss in not bringing this topic up in this forum!