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Climate-and-Farm-Friendly Food Systems
Communities can benefit from supporting sustainable local food production from farm to consumer. When food is produced locally, it is easier to get information about production practices and determine their impacts on climate change. “Farms” can include larger-scale commercial producers as well as garden-to-market smaller-scale growers. All can contribute to the local food system and its resilience to climate change.
A food system includes all aspects of food production from the farm to the table, including food waste disposal. A community food system is a food system in which food production, processing, distribution, consumption, and waste management are integrated to enhance the environmental, economic, social, and nutritional health of a particular place. A community food system can refer to a relatively small area, such as a neighborhood, or larger areas – towns, cities, counties, regions, or bioregions.
Food availability relates to how easily accessible quality, nutritional food is to every member of a community. Actions to address climate change impacts of food systems must ensure access to quality nutritious products for all in the community. Food system design can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including those associated with transportation of food from farm to table, and disposal of food waste. Our goal is to help communities provide full-scale access to healthful food and reduce “food deserts” throughout the state while ensuring equal access to such resources for all members of Wisconsin communities.
Transporting food uses energy and fossil fuels. The closer food is produced, the less it must travel to get to a dinner table, decreasing transportation and climate impacts. Local economies benefit from keeping business in the region where community members live, work, and play. Systems that utilize best practices to minimize their climate impacts often exhibit better resilience to changes in weather events and can provide food items to communities throughout time. Climate change is expected to cause more frequent extreme weather events such as flooding or drought that may disrupt food production in some regions. Having food production take place in all communities can help lessen the risk of food shortages due to regional climate-related weather problems.
A food system that supports local farms while minimizing greenhouse gas emissions and storing carbon in the soil to mitigate the impacts of climate change will help build local community climate resilience. Such a food system will strengthen the local economy, revitalize local production, improve quality of life, and protect the environment and human health.
Explore Our Menu
Equity & Environmental Justice
Equity & Environmental Justice – Equity and justice should be included with each part of the menu. As you explore each menu, consider the most vulnerable populations within your community. Be sure to include and prioritize these groups as you develop and plan your efforts.
Equity & Environmental Justice
- Food systems are diverse. While planning for community resiliency it is important to consider and support all participants in the food system including producers, processors, retailers, and consumers, including but not limited to: ethnicities, cultures, socioeconomic statuses, etc.
- Explore food sovereignty efforts:
Education & Information
Education & Information – provide education and information ideas and resources. These are intended to be some of the first steps a community can take to address certain subsections.
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- How do climate change and food and agricultural systems interact?
- Understanding Food and Climate Change: An Interactive Guide
- Tiers of the Food System – provides a guide to different types and scales of supply chains, and explains how they do or do not provide mechanisms to support values such as climate resilience.
- Where local food can be obtained:
- Review Current County Farm Land Use at the County Level:
- Perennial Cover (pasture, woodland, etc.) provides more resilience to extreme climate events.
- Examine if there are watersheds or waterways that are prone to flooding where land-use changes could increase resilience.
- General information about how climate change affects Wisconsin:
- Education and outreach to farmers on sustainable agriculture practices:
- Identify which areas of the community suffer from lack of proper nutrition (i.e. childhood hunger, reliance on food stamps) and target food pantry, food bank, and community kitchen:
- Information about food access and security (e.g., grocery stores, food pantries, food banks, etc.):
Low-Cost Strategies
Low-Cost Strategies – are focused on strategies and accompanying resources that usually will not require intensive staff capacity, fiscal resources, and maybe done through staff decisions.
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- Advertise and support farmers’ markets:
- Hosting them on public property and
- Supporting policies that favor local vendors
- Local Food Marketing Research
- Develop policies to use sustainably produced foods for events hosted by local municipalities.
- Host workshops for community members on sustainable gardening:
- Master Gardener Workshops
- Getting started as a Farmers Market producer
- Include climate-friendly and sustainable farming practices in K-12 education about agriculture:
- CASE STUDY: Plymouth High School: Food Science and Agriculture Center
- Provide professional development for county staff working with farmers on agriculture and climate change adaptation and mitigation:
- Create a food availability map to encourage local accessibility.
- Incentivize communication between production groups in metropolitan, suburban, rural, and tribal areas to promote diversity.
- Include diverse and representative populations, including farmworkers and food system workers (e.g., kitchen staff in restaurants and grocery employees) in planning and implementation of food production policy.
Significant Resource Deployment
Significant Resource Deployment – are “main courses” of strategies that may require more staff capacity, increased fiscal resources, and larger, possibly cohesive decisions.
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- Support peer-to-peer learning about climate-resilient farming and integrate watershed partnerships with agriculture stakeholders:
- Require climate-friendly practices on publicly owned farmland and horticultural areas:
- Encourage grocers to purchase locally produced food items:
- Develop, promote, and host local farmers’ markets:
- Work with local government, tribal, state, federal, and non-profit conservation staff to promote climate-friendly farm management practices:
- Consider tax incentives, easements, formal agreements, and partnerships to support the implementation of conservation and climate resiliency practices.
- CASE STUDY: The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District Working Soils
- CASE STUDY: The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District Greenseams
- Prioritize local, sustainable food purchases when possible:
- Ensure climate actions encourage work with individuals, groups, and organizations that may have different experiences, abilities, cultural backgrounds, and operating styles.
- Seek guidance on how best to engage with diverse groups including indigenous nations and communities of color, who are affected by food and climate inequities:
- Create incentive programs to promote local food availability, especially healthy foods:
- Develop community gardens on public land in neighborhoods, and support community gardens on private land, to promote access to home-grown food for populations without home garden space:
- Work with retailers, including grocers and restaurants, to provide food to food banks, pantries, and kitchens.
- Establish zoning that supports convenient locations and access to food stores for all consumers.
- Establish a food policy council to assess climate impacts and food availability in the community.
Celebrating Successes
Celebrating Successes – are actions and strategies for communities to celebrate and keep the momentum going. They will help address positive outcomes of previous strategies taken and inspire further action.
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- Host events celebrating locally sourced produce (“parties” or “cookouts”).
- Conduct farm demonstrations, garden-to-market tours, and presentations showcasing local food production and climate mitigation and adaptation practices.
- Highlight and celebrate the accomplishments of community members who have implemented conservation practices and climate resiliency measures successfully.
- Enlist the help of Extension agriculture educators in organizing farm tours to demonstrate application climate resiliency strategies:
Grants & Funding
Grant & Funding – help communities support actions through financial means such as grants and other resources.
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- Apply for grants supporting the production and sale of locally sourced food:
- Connect minority, nontraditional farmers who want to implement conservation practices with USDA grants:
- Promote the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS):
- Consider applying for a USDA Grant:
- Help farmer-led watershed groups apply for the Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection (DATCAP) Grants:
- Promote grants for food pantries, community gardening, and associated education programs:
Example In Action: Soil and Water Management
The city of Brodhead, WI partners with dairy to meet water quality requirements
