Category: Values-Based Food Supply Chain Case Studies

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…

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…

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.…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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)…

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…

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…

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…