Field Notes
Stories and resources for re-linking the food chain.
Small Farm Tech: Food’s Past and Future at Work
from Daniel Matthews' article on Triple Pundit It’s easy to think of the small farm as a bastion of The Way Things Used to Be. And it’s comforting. But the reality of small, organic farms is that they are constantly seeking new ways to do more with technology. They’re...
read more
Local Orbit CEO Erika Block Discusses Supply Chains in Detroit, Chicago and LA
Food, farming and technology organizations are gathering at a number of events this fall to discuss the future of the way we eat. CEO Erika Block is participating in several of these conversations around the country, sharing Local Orbit’s perspective on building the New Food Economy.
read more
Relocalizing Food Supply Chains with Tech & the Power of Story
Human brains are wired for story; this is what makes us human and enables us to learn, communicate, remember and act. In “Wired for Story,” Lisa Cron writes “Story, as it turns out, was crucial to our evolution—more so than opposable thumbs. Opposable thumbs let us hang on; story told us what to hang on to.”
read more
Erika Block Speaks About Local Ag Innovation at Grow Riverside
Erika’s presentation illustrates how the consumer demand for local food is growing despite distribution challenges and the recession. She introduces the concept of a shifting landscape whereby restaurants, hospitals and governments are creating initiatives to increase their local buying power. Erika also shares Local Orbit’s vision for relinking the food chain.
read more
BALLE Webinar: Join Us for a Discussion About Relocalizing Food Systems
We are looking forward to joining the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) in hosting a free Webinar about innovative models for admin-ajaxrelocalizing food systems later this month. On April 22, Erika Block and Noah Fulmer will lead a discussion about regional food distribution systems and a review of local models that are active throughout the country.
read more
To Sustain Agriculture in Drought-plagued California, Look to Michigan’s Developing Local Distribution Infrastructure
California just can’t catch a break when it comes to water. As the New York Times noted recently, thousands of California Central Valley acres now feature dusty fields where tomatoes and melons once grew. Without any water, fields are simply being left fallow.
read more
Grow Riverside: Innovations in Southern California Agriculture
March 19 and 20, on the heels of Local Orbit’s Hub Camp in Los Angeles, is the inaugural Grow Riverside: Citrus and Beyond! conference, focusing on innovations in the traditionally agricultural Inland Empire.
read more
Don’t Let These Three Bottlenecks Slow Down Local Food Growth in Your Community
Most of the people launching these startups have little “traditional” food distribution experience. They are mission-driven and focused on keeping food dollars in their communities. Local Orbit has made its mark creating online marketplaces for local food distribution startups. In the process, the company is been in a unique position to work with entrepreneurs developing a wide variety of business models in 12 states. There are common bottlenecks that Local Orbit found were slowing down its customers:
read moreOnly a Few Days Left! New FDA Rules Affect Small Farms: Make Your Voice Heard by Nov 15
There are only a few days left to make your voice heard on proposed FDA regulations that will affect small farms all across the
United States. These changes could ultimately, directly affect the emerging regional and local foods systems that we are working to build by placing undue regulatory burdens on small farms.
Erika Block Speaking at 2013 National Farm Viability Conference
The viability of our local farms is reaching critical importance. The reason is simple, America’s farms provide an unparalleled abundance of fresh, healthy food, but they are rapidly disappearing. America is losing more than an acre of farmland every minute.
read moreIt’s the Growing Season – In the Fields and Across Local Economies
It doesn’t get much better: long summer days + talented food producers delivering fresh, quality goods to local restaurants, caterers and hospitals – within a day of harvest. The result: diners who know exactly where their food comes from, while local businesses and trading networks expand.
read more
From Front to Field: Resources for Veterans Interested in Sustainable Agriculture
This topic hits close to home. My sister is an active member of the US military, currently serving an 11-month tour of duty in Afghanistan. When her tour is over, she will complete her remaining 11 months of service in the US, and then start a new chapter without the uniform.
read more
Rebuilding the Food System: Russ Parsons on How to Move Beyond the Shouting to Constructive Conversation
The Facts About Food and Farming: Let’s not join one of the armed camps deeply suspicious of one another shouting past each other.
read more
4 Photography Tips for Stellar Product Images
Product photos are a way to help your customers visualize the products they are ordering for their restaurant or foodservice operation.
read more
USDA Low Interest Microloan Program Offered to New Farmers
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has introduced a new microloan program that provides emerging farmers with the low-interest start-up capital they need to operate and grow their businesses. “The new microloan program is aimed at bolstering the...
read more
“Rerouting Farm to Fork” Panel Discussion at IACP Conference in April
Erika has curated a panel of food system innovators and thinkers, including Lucy Norris of the Northwest Agriculture Business Center, Thomas Nelson of the Capay Valley Farmshop, Robert Puro of Seedstock, and Matt Rothe, a Fellow at Stanford’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design and Food Systems Laboratory.
read more
Restaurants & Institutions Don’t Order on Social Media Sites: Online Marketing Tools That Get Down to Business
If you find navigating through the sea of online marketing tools daunting, you’re not alone. Even after working in marketing for ten years, I still struggle to keep up as new platforms are added and existing platforms change.
read more
Supercharging Supply Chains: How Local Orbit is Changing the Face of Local Food
his is a reposted excerpt originally published on the Design for Social Innovation blog and written by Josh Treuhaft. He does a nice job summarizing Erika’s recent talk at the School of Visual Arts, as part of Design for Social Innovation’s lecture series: All the Ways to Live a Good Life.
read more
White House Calls for “New Innovation Ecosystem” in Agriculture Report
In a report setting the agricultural agenda for President Obama’s second term, the President’s Council of Advisors for Science and Technology (PCAST) calls for the federal perspective on agriculture to be “reimagined” as an “innovation ecosystem”, emphasizing a new vision for science and technology in agriculture and agricultural research in the 21st century.
read more
Erika Block Discusses Local Orbit, the New Food Economy & Business Design at Two Events in New York
Local Orbit Founder & CEO, Erika Block, is in New York this week. On Monday she’ll be talking about the transformative role of technology in local food economies at the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group’s Annual Conference. On Thursday she’ll be speaking as part of a new series of talks at the School of Visual Arts: “All the Ways to Live a Good Life.”
read more