Survey Seeks to Gather Data on the Local Food Supply Chain in Minnesota

St. Paul, MN: If you’re a Minnesota business sourcing and distributing or serving food, the Statewide Cooperative Partnership for Local and Regional Markets led by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) and the University of Minnesota (UMN) wants to hear from you this fall.

A supply chain survey designed and implemented by the Partnership of more than 40 organizations asks supply chain participants to share their food sourcing and distribution practices. Baseline data about the local food supply chain around the state is a need identified by members of the Partnership, including the Minnesota Grocers Association (MGA) who helped design the survey.

“Grocers are essential to the communities they serve and are incredibly proud of our innovative local partnerships – farm to fork,” said MGA President Jamie Pfuhl. “We appreciate being a part of this collective effort to strengthen local markets and bring dynamic products to our shelves.”

Once collected, data will be analyzed collaboratively by the Partnership to identify market trends and opportunities, support the development of new and existing programs at the MDA, and strengthen recommendations to the Minnesota Legislature to support local and regional food system development.

“We want to build on the partnerships we have with local and regional markets to help farmers, retailers, public institutions, and consumers in Minnesota,” said Agriculture Commissioner Thom Petersen. “This is a real growth opportunity for our ag economy in the coming years, and we need to understand how we can best support it.”

The survey, available now through October 15, is designed to be completed in 20 minutes. To take the survey, go to z.umn.edu/supplychainsurvey.

Individuals can request a brief call to answer the survey questions over the phone. Individuals that complete the survey will be entered to win one of five $200 gift cards.

A grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Federal-State Marketing Improvement Program is funding the three-year Partnership, now in its second year. The Partnership previously gathered background research through a literature review and community dialogue to survey Minnesota farmers about their production and sales.

More information is available at the MDA’s Statewide Cooperative Partnership webpage.