What is a food system?

A food system is the sum of all activities required to make food available to people. It is comprised of the following elements: production, distribution, processing, consumption, and waste. A sustainable food system keeps all elements as close to home as possible, thus minimizing costs and waste.

A summary of food system elements in Indianapolis

1. Production: Any regional agricultural and urban agriculture production intended for local consumption (not commodity sale) such as area farmers (preferably within Indiana); Urban Farm Project (Purdue Extension Marion County); Capital City Garden Project (Purdue Extension Marion County); and community and home gardens.

2. Processing: Community/commercial kitchens to create value-added products (such as pasta sauce created by Homestead Growers made available for sale through markets and area retailers; home canning, and food preservation.

Indianapolis needs co-op or commercial kitchens for rental in and around the city. Please contact the Web site administrator if any are currently available.

3. Distribution: Farmers' markets, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA); subscription services; area retailers; schools and universities; hospitals; restaurants; and food pantries. (See the resources page for local food sources.)

When you purchase food, do you know if that food was produced locally? Ask around, the answers might surprise you.

4. Consumption: Community food security is defined as "a situation in which all community residents obtain a safe, culturally acceptable, nutritionally adequate diet through a sustainable food system that maximizes community self-reliance and social justice." (Hamm, M. W., & Bellows, A. C. (2003). Community food security and nutrition educators. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 35(1), 37–43.)

Would you describe Indianapolis a food-secure city? Do all Indianapolis neighborhoods have equal access to high-quality, culturally-appropriate food?

5. Waste: Waste recovery provides a way to "close the loop." Minimal packaging means less waste, trash, and pollution. Packaging that can be recycled, such as glass, helps close the loop. Excess edible food can be redistributed to area food pantries. Organic waste can simply be composted to enrich soil, which leads to enhanced production. Remember the three "Rs": Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

How much food is wasted at your house? How much of your trash is from food packaging? What does it mean to adhere to a principle of "zero waste?" Find out more about zero waste at http://www.grrn.org/zerowaste/zerowaste_faq.html

Learn more about food systems

A Primer on Community Food Systems, Cornell University

A Food Systems Assessment for Oakland, Calif.: Toward a Sustainable Food Plan Executive Summary. Oakland Mayor's Office of Sustainability. See Executive Summary.

Impediments to local food systems
See March 1, 2008, New York Times Op-Ed article, My Forbidden Fruits (and Vegetables) by Jack Hedin.