Building Local Food Networks
Ecotrust’s Toolkit and Learning Community
Building local food networks is a core piece of Ecotrust’s work to stimulate robust regional food economies. To support other communities in this work, Ecotrust Food & Farms offers these food system organizing tools:
- Our toolkit, Building Local Food Networks: A Toolkit for Organizers
- Membership and access to the social networking learning community, Building Local Food Networks
Building Local Food Networks: A Toolkit for Organizers
After many years of successfully forging market connections amongst farmers, ranchers and food buyers in the Pacific Northwest, Ecotrust Food & Farms is excited to make its toolkit available to organizers who are striving to build local food networks and robust regional food economies in their own communities.
Based on the lessons learned from the Farmer-Chef Connection conference and the Guide to Local and Seasonal Products, the toolkit provides guidance for establishing local food networks in general, as well as specifics about organizing a Farmer-Chef Connection gathering in detail. Extensive appendices provide sample materials, templates, and tools for organizers.
Building Local Food Networks: A Toolkit for Organizers is designed for food systems organizers who are seeking effective tools to build or bolster their local food economy, and specifically, for those interested in stimulating a business-to-business network of food producers and food buyers within a specific region. Building Local Food Networks outlines principles, tips, and best practices for bringing together local food producers and local food buyers to stimulate direct market commerce of local goods.
The toolkit is available for $35 as a PDF download. Purchase (via Salmon Nation online store)
Click here to join the learning community and access the toolkit.
Note: By clicking this link, you will be directed to a site where you can request an invitation to the Building Local Food Networks learning community.
- Enter your name and email on this site and submit your request.
- You will then receive an email invitation with a link to Building Local Food Networks.
- Establish your member profile, enter the forum, and access the toolkit.
The Learning Community
In conjunction with the toolkit, Ecotrust hosts an online, interactive learning community to stimulate peer-to-peer exchange of ideas, questions, and lessons learned around the topic of building local food networks. This participatory social networking forum is designed to create new partnership and networking opportunities among individuals and organizations.
By establishing an online gathering point for organizers, our goal is to bring together a network of network organizers, to share in the learning that results from our interaction, to reach out across organizational boundaries, and to help achieve more highly and effectively networked local food systems around the country, and the world.
Join the learning community at www.localfoodnetworks.net.
Contact
Market Connections
Food & Farms
tel: 503.467.0763