We have created teaching materials on values based food supply chains for university-level courses and extension.
Agriculture of the Middle researchers have produced teaching materials on value-based food supply chains for university-level food systems, business, and economics courses. These teaching materials include an introductory overview of values-based food supply chains and case studies that illustrate the benefits and challenges of these supply chains.
Using Values-Based Food Supply Chain Case Studies in University Classes
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 a valuable resource for research on supply chain structure and performance. They are also a valuable resource for teaching, since they offer learners detailed descriptions of real-world businesses that illustrate general concepts being introduced and explored in a classroom or extension workshop setting.
The nine case studies can be found here. The businesses profiled include:
Country Natural Beef, a successful, relatively small cooperative that markets natural beef products for its members.
Organic Valley, a farmer-owned cooperative that markets organic milk and other dairy products nationwide for its members.
Red Tomato, a dual purpose non-profit organization that (a) markets sustainably grown fruits and vegetables in the Northeast and (b) consults on regional food system development across the country.
Shepherd’s Grain, a closed membership limited liability company that markets flour milled from wheat grown in the Pacific Northwest using no-till and direct-seeding sustainable farming practices.
Co-op Partners Warehouse, a certified organic wholesale distribution warehouse in St. Paul, Minnesota, that is owned and operated by the Wedge Natural Foods Co-op.
Full Circle, an organic farm-to-table delivery service that grows, sources and distributes fresh produce to West Coast communities on a subscription basis.
Good Earth Farms, a family-owned business in central Wisconsin that markets organic grassfed beef and pasture-raised pork and poultry through the internet to customers nationwide.
Home Grown Wisconsin, a now-disbanded farmer-owned cooperative that distributed fresh produce to upscale restaurants and CSA customers in the Chicago area from 1996 until the spring of 2009.
Idaho’s Bounty, a multi-stakeholder cooperative that operates an online marketplace for locally produced food in southern Idaho.
