North Carolina Local Food Council - Community Food Strategies

VISION AND PURPOSE OF THE NCLFC

The North Carolina Local Food Council (NCLFC) serves as a collaborative network across various organizations, agencies, and groups whose statewide work supports vibrant farms & fisheries, healthy people, strong communities, thriving local economies, and resilient ecosystems through a common aim: NC’s local food systems. Specifically, this council will facilitate:

Interaction between members to foster coordinated programs, policies and support for NC local food systems within member organizations and government and non-governmental agencies.
Communication, training, policy development, and collaboration within local councils and between the local councils and the statewide council.
Food-related policy discussions and development in formal and informal forums.

WHAT IS THE LOCAL FOOD SYSTEM?

Food system refers to all aspects of producing, buying, selling, eating, and disposing of food. This includes production, processing and aggregation, distribution, marketing, consumption, and food waste recovery. A local food system encompasses a network of all of these components, is place-specific and relationship based. It can encompass a county, region, or the whole state.

NCLFC believes that a vibrant local foods economy will help preserve our state’s agriculturally rich farmland, waterways, and rural countryside with the added benefit of preserving and protecting our water resources and water and soil quality. A strong local foods economy can sustain the economic viability of many of our farm and fishery operations, thus enhancing the quality of life for food producers and the society as a whole. Non-traditional partners, for example health insurance companies, regional planners, and entrepreneurs starting business ventures that respond to and fuel demand for local products, are teaming up with existing food and agricultural stakeholders to address food-related societal issues in new ways.

Equally important is that food, as a universal language, is creating ties between our state’s rural heritage and our growing urban populations.

MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS: