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Cities Developing Urban Agriculture Codes

Urban agriculture has become increasingly popular in recent years as a way to deal with vacant properties, revitalize neighborhoods, and provide job skills and nutrition to local residents struggling with poverty and a lack of access to fresh produce.

In Austin, Texas, a working group of the Sustainable Food Policy Board is meeting to clarify and update city code related to urban farms, livestock, size of farm, employees and dwellings, according to the Austin Chronicle.

The working group has been holding public sessions to gather input from urban farmers and community members about pending updates to the urban farm ordinance.

In April 2013, the Flint Farmers' Market reported that the Detroit City Council adopted the city's first urban agriculture zoning ordinance recognizing agriculture as a legitimate land use and setting standards for it.

Other cities working to update or create urban agriculture codes include Boston, Massachusetts;
Fort Collins, Colorado; and Portland, Oregon.

For more information, see USDA's National Ag Library webpage on Urban Agriculture.

Home » Markets & Industries » Food » Distributing

Photo Courtesy of U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office.

AgMRC-Developed Materials

Supermarket Challenges and Opportunities for Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Producers and Shippers, University of California, 2004.

Other Information

Are Food Brokers Right for You? Oklahoma State University. Also see Sample Brokerage Agreement.
Benchmark Sales - A leading foodservice broker servicing New England and Upstate New York.
Distributing Your Product, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.
The GMA 2010 Benchmark Report, Grocery Manufacturers of America Inc.
Good Source Solutions - A leading distributor of secondary food products to niche and special application markets, such as schools and corrections. More than 3,500 customers in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Utah.
Gordon Food Service - This company is North America's largest family-owned broadline foodservice distributor. It serves customers in 10 states and throughout Canada.
Marketing and Fresh Produce in a Consolidating Food Distribution System (video), Roberta Cook, University of California, Davis - Dr. Cook discusses special characteristics of the produce industry and how it is responding to changes in the overall food distribution system. She covers industry size and structure, per capita consumption trends, broad demand trends, major challenges and future trends.
Martin Bros. Distr. Co. - Distributor in the upper Midwest.
Reinhart FoodService - The nation's third largest independent foodservice distributor.
Smart Distribution Strategies - A Review of Some Northeast Distribution Businesses and Their Strategies, Cornell University, 2006.
Sysco - The leading food distributor with 161 locations and 420,000 customers.
Trends in the Marketing of Fresh Produce and Fresh-cut Products, Roberta Cook, Agricultural Issues Center, University of California, Davis, 2007.
U.S. Foodservice - It has 78 distribution centers nationwide and supports more than 250,000 foodservice customers. A list of locations appears on the Web site.

Links checked May 2012.

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