Local food and organic food are two ways to make a more profitable small farm, restaurant, cafe, food market, or other food business.
 |
| Local honey from Cherokee, Oklahoma. |
Local food trend
Buying local food is a growing trend. It’s better for the environment because of the lower transportation distances.
“Eating locally isn’t just a fad like the various diets advertised on late-night TV – it may be one of the most important ways we save ourselves and the planet.”
– Dr. David Suzuki, chair, The David Suzuki Foundation
21st Century Citizen calls it “a simple step you can take” and lists five resources to buy more local food.
Organic food trend
Our friend Jack Schultz recently profiled the organic trend in his Agurban email newsletter.
“The demand for organic food is outstripping the ability of farmers and ranchers to supply it. Yet U.S. farmers and ranchers have been slow to turn acreage over to organic production,” an article in the Daily Yonder said.
“Just as mainstream consumers are growing hungry for untainted food that also nourishes their social conscience, it is getting harder and harder to find organic ingredients,” a recent Business Week report stated.
Tips
Many small town food-related business can take advantage of these two trends to improve profitability.
Farms and livestock producers:
- Get certified as organic
- Dedicate more acres to organic items
- Focus on local markets, promoting your local advantage
- Develop direct market methods to go direct to consumers or consumer groups
Restaurants and cafes:
- Seek out local partners and organic sources
- Promote your local and organic items in all your marketing
[Thanks to Giovanni Gallucci for the photo of Lavender Ridge Farms, Gainsboro, Texas.]
New to SmallBizSurvival.com? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Get our updates. Want more stories? Read our shared stories from all over.
- Survey of Rural Challenges 2021 results, analysis of themes from 2015 through today - June 7, 2021
- What makes a small town a micropolitan or nanopolitan? - May 22, 2021
- Improving Rural Housing: turning blighted dilapidated houses into new homes - May 7, 2021
- Are marijuana shops good or bad for small towns? - April 22, 2021
- Downtown is your town’s core: How to make your case - February 22, 2021
- Zoom Towns: attracting and supporting remote workers in rural small towns - December 10, 2020
- In an economic crisis, spend your brainpower before your dollars - November 25, 2020
- Video: How to fill empty car dealership buildings for the holidays - November 6, 2020
- How has 2020 changed the challenges rural small towns face? Tell us here - October 20, 2020
- The Idea Friendly Method to surviving a business crisis - October 6, 2020
