About the Feasibility Study
New York State is a leading agricultural producer in the nation and producers have access to one of the largest markets in the world: New York City. Closing the gaps in our local processing infrastructure is critical to providing consumers with food security and ensuring the economic vitality of agriculture in the region. This feasibility study will allow us to identify opportunities across commodity types and at different levels of the supply chain and create a robust and realistic vision for the future of sustainable agriculture in New York State.
Our Partners
This collaboration brings together strategic partners across the northeast agricultural industry to assess key areas of investment in order to improve aggregation, processing, and distribution – enhancing access to markets for sustainable and organic small and mid-size producers. Our project partners include Amy’s Kitchen, Center for Agricultural Development & Entrepreneurship (CADE), Regional Access, the Food Bank of Central New York, and GrowNYC.
Goals and Objectives
- This broad collective will work to improve marketing opportunities across the value chain, prioritize strategic investments, and create a network to support producers, aggregators, processors, and distributors as they work collaboratively to grow and source food from New York State and the surrounding region, working towards the broader goal of a more equitable and sustainable food system.
- Improve marketing throughout the local and regional food system through careful analysis of assets, opportunities, and needs at all levels of the value chain.
- Prioritize strategic investments and next steps at the state and regional levels to build a robust mid-tier value chain that contributes to a more equitable food system.
- Create a technical assistance network to support producers, aggregators, processors, and distributors as they work collaboratively to grow and source food from New York State and the surrounding region.
NOFA-NY’s Organic Regional Food System Feasibility Study is supported by funding from Agricultural Marketing Services Regional Food Systems Partnerships Program award AM190100XXXXG172.