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A woman carrying a crate of freshly harvested organic vegetables from her plot.

A woman carrying a crate of freshly harvested organic vegetables from her plot.

Credit: Tom Werner / Getty Images

Localization

Call to action:

Localize food sources to address human health, agricultural pollution, food apartheid, climate change, and cultural and biological diversity.

Localization reconnects families and communities with nutritious, fair(link is external), regenerative, and regionally produced food. For centuries, diverse seasonal crops were grown sustainably to be shared and consumed locally. Industrialism(link is external) overthrew these local and regional food systems in favor of mass-produced monocultures(link is external) that are traded and consumed globally. A movement(link is external) is underway to relocalize our food. People are joining for many reasons, but chiefly because no other activity encompasses a greater range of benefits for life, health, soil, water, children, and the planet. Localization includes home and community food gardens, farmers’ markets, in-person and internet-based co-ops, community-supported agriculture (CSA), urban farming(link is external), and farm-to-table and pier-to-plate programs(link is external) for schools and other institutions. Collectively, localization has the potential to transform food systems by supporting regional regenerative agriculture, fairer and shorter supply chains, and local decision-making.

Nexus Rating SystemBeta

Solutions to the climate emergency have unique social and environmental effects, positive and negative. To develop a broader understanding of the solutions in Nexus, we rate each solution on five criteria.

Sources for each Nexus are graded numerically (-3 through 10), and the average is displayed as a letter grade. You can explore each source in depth by clicking “view sources” below. For more information, see our Nexus Ratings page.

Localization
8.60
0.00
0.00
8.40
7.00

Localization

Culture
N/R
Women
N/R
Biodiversity
A-
Carbon
B+
Reference Social Justice Culture Women Biodiversity Carbon
Why Local Food Matters(link is external) 9.0 8.0
Localization Leads to Stronger Sustainable Results in Conservation(link is external) 8.0
Nutritional quality of organic conventional and seasonally grown broccoli using vitamin C as a marker(link is external) 8.0
The Economic Impact of Locally Produced Food(link is external) 9.0
More Than Food: The Social Benefits of Localized Urban Food Systems(link is external) 9.0
Localization food sovereignty and food systems transformation(link is external) 9.0
Beyond red lists: The power of community-supported fisheries(link is external) 9.0 9.0
Role of Biodiversity in Ecological Calendars and Its Implications for Food Sovereignty(link is external) 8.0
Sustaining local food systems and agricultural biodiversity(link is external) 9.0 9.0
Food biodiversity includes both locally cultivated and wild food species in Guasaganda Central Ecuador(link is external) 8.0 8.0
Developing biodiversity-based solutions for sustainable food systems through transdisciplinary Sustainable Development Goals Labs(link is external) 8.0 9.0
How local food systems support sustainability and food access(link is external) 8.0 8.0
Food Systems depend on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services(link is external) 8.0
Why Supporting Food Systems and Protecting Biodiversity Need to Go Hand in Hand(link is external) 9.0
Global food-miles account for nearly 20% of total food-systems emissions(link is external) 8.0
Food miles emissions probably overestimated(link is external) 6.0
Eat Local, Save Energy: Essential Answer(link is external) 7.0
8.6 0.0 0.0 8.4 7.0

Action Items

Individuals

Learn about the benefits of localization. In developed nations, agriculture remained largely local until the advent of railroads(link is external), followed by the refrigeration of produce and the development of long-haul trucking, all of which opened up distant markets. Food became a commodity, and age-old relationships between people and their food broke down. Today, nearly three billion people(link is external) do not have access to local, healthy food or cannot afford it if they do. Localization is a response to industrial agriculture(link is external), including the rise of factory farming(link is external) and ultra-processed foods(link is external). One of the movement’s founders, Alice Waters(link is external), pioneered the farm-to-table(link is external) movement in the United States. Individuals, farmers, nonprofits, and governments are now actively promoting(link is external) localization. It allows people to learn more about and support agroecological farming methods. It allows growers and farmers to connect directly with families and communities and spread awareness of the many benefits of regenerative agriculture. There are many reasons to localize(link is external) food, including:

Grow your own food. The best way to support the local food movement is to grow food yourself. Start a garden(link is external). There are many resources for beginning gardeners and many types of foods that can be grown. Here(link is external) is an article about gardening with heirloom vegetables(link is external). Here is an example of an heirloom seed(link is external) company. Here(link is external) is a book about growing a wide variety of tomatoes. Here(link is external) is a book about growing perennial vegetables (see Perennial Crops Nexus).

Buy food that is grown locally. Support local food producers by shopping at farmers’ markets(link is external), through community-supported agriculture(link is external) (CSA), food cooperatives, or by buying directly from a local rural or urban farm (see Urban Farming Nexus).

Start or join a local food cooperative. A food cooperative(link is external) (co-op) is collectively owned by people who shop there. Many co-ops(link is external) purchase local food from multiple vendors, often at higher product standards.

Forage and glean local foods. A rich diversity of wild or uncultivated foods(link is external) can be foraged(link is external) locally, from urban areas to the backcountry. Gleaning(link is external) is harvesting foods that would otherwise go to waste, from city fruit trees to leftover crops on farms.

Groups

Farmers and Ranchers

Build relationships with local customers. Relationships benefit farmers by revitalizing the way local consumers shop and eat. During the COVID-19 pandemic, farmers banded together(link is external) to deliver food directly to their customers via digital systems.

Provide healthy, fresh food to neighboring institutions. Supplying nourishing, local, regenerative food is a major growth opportunity(link is external) for farms and ranches of all sizes. It is also healthier for your customers and the environment (see Regenerative Agriculture Nexus and Grasslands Nexus for more suggestions).

Provide training opportunities for young farmers and ranchers. It isn't easy to join the localization movement as a new farmer, particularly due to high land costs. Established organic and regenerative farmers and ranchers can help by providing apprenticeships and internships in their operations so new farmers can learn the necessary skills. Here are models:

Restaurants, Schools, and Other Institutions

Prioritize buying regenerative food from local small-scale farmers, ranchers, and other food producers. Schools, universities, hospitals, prisons, and retirement homes can all source local food:

Companies

Buy food for your business from organic and regenerative farms and ranches. Companies, including restaurants, cafeterias, and grocery stores, can play an important role in localization efforts by virtue of their purchasing power and integration into supply chains. Examples include:

Governance

Provide grants, loans, and long-term leases for land. Local land ownership for small-scale farmers and ranchers is the foundation of a local food system.

Implement policies that prioritize local farmers, food producers, and consumers.

Prioritize local regenerative food in public institutions. Food procurement policies(link is external) that prioritize local fresh food support the local food system and economy while making a strong statement about the importance of eating healthy food(link is external).

Change national food policy. The kind of food that we eat is heavily influenced by the prevailing food and agricultural policies. Enacting policies(link is external) that prioritize local growers can include changing zoning laws, conducting land inventories, and offering financial incentives.

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