A new report examining the potential impact of greater local food sourcing reveals that strategic investments in localized food systems can foster economic growth, create quality local jobs, and generate revenues while advancing goals of resilience, equity, and sustainability.

In this report, “Greater Good: The Economic Case for More Local, Resilient, and Equitable Food Systems,” the Center for Good Food Purchasing and advisors at Econsult Solutions, Inc, quantify the economic footprint of six diverse study regions – Austin, Texas; Chicago, Illinois; Denver, Colorado; Gainesville, Florida; New York City, New York; and San Francisco, California – and use industry-standard economic modeling to project their ability to drive economic growth and generate quality jobs through an increase in localization of the agriculture and food sector in those regions.

In addition to detailing the opportunity for a high return on investment through more localization, the report highlights illustrative jobs and initiatives promoting local preferences, racial equity, sustainability, and economic resilience. Case studies in the report describe alignment with the USDA’s priority areas for high-quality job creation, with positive outcomes in supply chain sectors including production, processing, aggregation/distribution, and markets/consumers.

The full report is available here, and an executive summary is available here.

For more information on this report, please contact Lauren Taniguchi, Communications Manager, at ltaniguchi@goodfoodpurchasing.org.