* - Updated 8/6/2012

As the local food movement scales up and consumers demand information about where their food comes from, more grocers and institutions are seeking wholesale access to local produce. To make the connection between producers and retail sellers, distribution networks are taking on an increasingly important role in the local food system. More and more, farmers are becoming part of values-based supply chains and  ‘food hubs’ to pool their product with that of other farmers and move food more easily to market and complete the chain from farm to fork (*). 

New reports released by the UC Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (SAREP) show that, while food hubs help close...