Abstract

Developing Local and Regional Food Systems: A Study of Indiana
Track: Agriculture
Authors: Indraneel Kumar, Andrey Zhalnin

Developing local and regional food networks is a sustainable development approach, which can engage citizens, businesses, as well as the institutions. This session will present databases, spatial analysis, and interactive mapping tools to support the local and regional food-networks in Indiana. The GIS databases and tools are intended to serve "Indiana Flavor, a program developed by Purdue Extension and Purdue Center for Regional Development (PCRD) with funding support from the Indiana State Department of Agriculture. The presentation will show how GIS is used to study supply and demand of the food-systems, movement of food products, foodsheds, distribution of population with respect to food-destinations, and local, organic, and fresh food resources in Indiana. It will include mapping of freight datasets to study movement of food products; mapping of logistics resources; locational analysis of farmers markets, specialty stores, and restaurants; and experiences with developing the online mapping tools.