September 2017 — NC Growing Together has partnered with the Piedmont Triad Regional Council (PTRC) to host a GIS update of the North Carolina Local Food Infrastructure Inventory. NC Growing Together originally established the Inventory in 2014 as a tool for food and farming businesses to understand the competitive landscape and find business partners.
The Inventory is a mapped data set of businesses that serve as intermediary steps in local food supply chains, including value-added processors, fresh produce wholesaler/distributors, multi-farm CSA’s, food hubs, community kitchens, incubator farms, and cold storage locations. By hosting the map, PTRC ensures public access to the map after the NC Growing Together initiative ends. The GIS update also allows users to download map layers and add them to other GIS maps.
“Creating the infrastructure inventory was a collaborative process. We couldn’t have done it without the support of Cooperative Extension agents, county and city planners, and regional council of government staff across the state,” said Emily Edmonds, NCGT Extension & Outreach Program Manager.
“Showing the location of food system infrastructure gives regions a tool to demonstrate the agricultural sector’s impact on local and regional economic development. The data from the infrastructure map will be useful in developing strategies to improve transportation and marketing of agricultural and food products, providing critical information for planning and development,” said Matthew Dolge, Executive Director of the Piedmont Triad Regional Council.
Citizens and supply chain actors are welcome to submit updates and additions to the map, using the contact email address and forms provided on the information page.
The NC Local Food Infrastructure Inventory can be accessed at http://arcg.is/1zyWXv
For more information, contact NCGT Project Manager Rebecca Dunning at rebecca_dunning@ncsu.edu or 919-389-2220.
This article originally appeared in the September 2017 NC Growing Together Newsletter.