The Local Food Purchasing Guide was created to help you understand how to access the very best ingredients from your region, for the betterment of your food business and community. In this publication, you can find specific information on:
- seasonality,
- how to build a relationship with area producers,
- what your supply chain will look like when sourcing local,
- stewarding your relationship with producers, and
- making the numbers work for your business.
Author, Jeff Hake, built this guide from his own experiences as a producer and food business owner. He also used interviews he held with some of our region’s experts in sourcing local.
The content of this guide is also offered in an interactive course format as our Local Food Purchasing Course.
Table of Contents
- Introduction: The opening of the guide helps you understand how local compares to our larger globalized food system. You will learn the language used when discussing local food procurement.
- Understanding Seasonality: The seasonal nature of local ingredients can be difficult to reconcile when building a menu for your business. This section explores a general schedule for plant and animal agriculture during each season and looks at the season specifics of various food groups.
- Knowing Your Producer: Much of the value of local food springs from relationships with producers. This section defines strategies for finding producers and then cultivating those new relationships.
- Creating Your Supply Chain: A beneift of sourcing local is putting yourself in the driver’s seat when it comes to your business’s supply chain. This section looks at the various considerations a business owner should make when building a relationship with a producer, including how to: coordinate availability check-ins, work with multiple farms, develop agreements and contracts, etc.
- Moving Food from Farm to Kitchen: While building relationships and understanding seasonality are two important pieces to sourcing local, having the food delivered to your kitchen marks the point in which you have sourced local for your menu. This section dives into the development of delivery schedules and the quality of delivered ingredients.
- Making the Numbers Work: The cost of locally grown, raised, and produced is food is frequently cited as the number one reason why the public does not consume it more often. This section explores ways you can make the pricing and cost work for your food business.
- Celebrating Your Producers: Now that you are beginning to utilize local ingredients in your menu, it is important to consider the ways you can connect consumers purchasing your products to the story of their food. This section will share ways you can celebrate the producers to keep customers engaged and wanting to continue supporting local.
- Wrapping it Up: Final thoughts on local food procurement.
Additional Resources
Reading the guide or participating in the online course will provide you with the most detailed information on sourcing local ingredients for your business. Utilize some of these additional resources found in the guide to begin your journey into local food procurement.
- Season Extension Infographic: Understand Illinois specialty crops and when they are most likely in season.
- Illinois MarketMaker: Find producers in Illinois.
- Food Safety for Agriculture Resources: Check out United States Department of Agriculture food safety resources for producers.
- Marketing Resources: Explore resources on marketing your farm and food business.
Funding provided in whole or in part by the Illinois Specialty Crop Block Grant Program and the Illinois Department of Agriculture. Additional funding provided in whole or in part by the Illinois Farm Bureau.
