All of the enterprises profiled in the values-based food supply chain case studies involve and serve what the authors defined as farms and ranches of the middle, and all of them exhibit considerable commonality as well as diversity. As the authors re-examined the four original cases (Organic Valley, Shepherd’s Grain, Country Natural Beef and Red… [Read More]

Nine values-based food supply chain case studies developed under a series of two USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Agriculture and Food Research Institute (AFRI) grants provide a set of consistently structured descriptions of diverse food supply chains that are contributing to change in the food system. As such, these case studies are… [Read More]

Starting with the early development of the “disappearing middle” hypothesis in the 1980s, farm policy has been integral to the question of how to maintain the viability of midscale agriculture. Marty Strange, a renowned advocate for family farms and rural communities, called the question of what to do with medium-sized farms the policy issue of… [Read More]

Some people in the agri-food business community use the term “value chain” to focus on supply chains that deal with food products given incremental value through processing and/or attribute differentiation (#1 and #2 above). Within the Agriculture of the Middle (AOTM) initiative, the term “values-based food supply chain’ places emphasis on both the values embodied… [Read More]

In recent decades, U.S. agriculture has witnessed a decline in the number of “farming occupation” farms—where operators report farming as their main occupation—in all gross sales categories below $500,000. Many observers attribute the difficulties faced by small and midsized farms to their inability to effectively compete in the highly competitive and increasingly globalized agricultural markets… [Read More]

Full Circle is an organic farm-to-table delivery service based in western Washington, that grows, sources and distributes fresh produce on a subscription basis. Begun in 1996 by the husband-wife team of Andrew Stout and Wendy Munroe plus a friend, Full Circle now delivers produce from California to Alaska and employs more than 250 people. They… [Read More]

Idaho’s Bounty was founded in 2007 as a cooperative with both customer and producer members. It provides logistical support for a direct-to-consumer, Internet-based food buying club. The co-op focuses on three regions of southern Idaho: the Wood River Valley (Ketchum), the Treasure Valley (Boise) and the Magic Valley (Twin Falls). Farmer members each have a… [Read More]

Mike and Deb Hansen started their Central Wisconsin farm, Gifts from the Good Earth, in 1995. Their goals for their farm revolved around environmental, economic and social sustainability. As demand for their organic, humanely raised meat products grew, they developed partnerships with four other farms to create a company called Good Earth Farms in 2005…. [Read More]

Home Grown Wisconsin was a cooperative, multi-farm food marketing enterprise founded in 1996 in south Central Wisconsin. This co-op sold fresh produce to upscale restaurants and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) customers for more than 10 years. Its goal was to expand the market for fresh, local, organic produce through the distribution of high quality products… [Read More]

Co-op Partners Warehouse was established in 1999 by the Wedge Natural Foods Co-op in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This certified organic wholesale distribution warehouse serves retail stores, food service businesses and buying clubs throughout the Upper Midwest. It is an important link between customers and suppliers of local produce, dairy products and other perishable foods. Because it… [Read More]

Michael Rozyne, one of the creators of the international fair trade company Equal Exchange, founded an organization called Red Tomato in 1996. The goals for Red Tomato were to develop a dual purpose non-profit to market sustainably grown fruits and vegetables in the Northeast, and provide nationwide consulting services for regional food system development. Red… [Read More]

In 2003, Shepherd’s Grain sold its first batch of specially blended baking flour to Hot Lips Pizza, a small restaurant chain in Portland, Oregon. This initial sale was the culmination of more than three decades of wheat production experience and a healthy dose of creative thinking. In the mid 1980s, a pair of wheat producers,… [Read More]