A local leader, public official, or planner generates an idea and prepares to launch it into action. It soon becomes clear that a key ingredient is missing: the support and ideas of the impacted community. This scenario is not uncommon and is often associated with a plan that will fail.

A food system describes all the components including production, processing, distribution, sales, purchasing, preparation, consumption, and waste disposal pathways. A community-focused food system is a collaborative network that integrates and encourages sustainable food production, processing, distribution, consumption and waste management in order to enhance the environmental, economic and social health of a particular place.

Amy’s Garden has been growing and selling great organic produce and cut flowers since 1995. What began as an ambitious backyard garden quickly blossomed into a full-time farming career for husband and wife team Amy Hicks & George Ferguson. Nowadays, with the help of a dedicated team of seasonal employees they grow an amazingly diverse selection of specialty vegetables, small fruits and cut flowers on their organic farm in historic Charles City county, VA.

The Story of the Food Value Chain video -- Do you know where your food comes from? The food value chain is often not very transparent or easy to define. This short food value chain video about the potato chip explains the relationships and values needed and aligned to make a full circle farm-to-table connection.