Food has become an essential component in community development practice. Whether in reference to building a local or regional food system or addressing food insecurity, food has become a focus in community development approaches in many localities. Farmers markets, community gardens, farm-to-school programs, and other food-centered initiatives have been used to foster community development processes across a spectrum of desired outcomes. The surging interest in food for fostering community development draws attention to numerous applications, ranging from grassroots efforts to formal programs sponsored by the public or nonprofit sectors. These efforts are often in conjunction with local private businesses, helping create micro-businesses and supporting the small farm movement. Some regions are even considering economic development strategies of "food clusters" to promote speciality food businesses and supporting programs.
This volume explores the relationships between food and community, and the various approaches for development through a selection of chapters illustrating a wide range of applications.
This book is a compilation of articles published in the journal Community Development.
1. Introduction Gary Paul Green and Rhonda G. Phillips
2. Localizing
Linkages for Food and Tourism: Culinary Tourism as a Community Development
Strategy Gary Paul Green and Michael L. Dougherty
3. Everyday Meanings of
"Local Food": Views from Home and Field Marcia Ostrom
4. Rethinking local
business clusters: the case of food clusters for promoting community
development Davis F. Taylor and Chad R. Miller
5. The influence of community
capital toward a community's capacity to respond to food insecurity Jessica
Crowe and Justin Smith
6. Investing in the social fabric of rural and urban
communities: a comparative study of two Alabama farmers' markets Abel Duarte
Alonso and Martin A. O'Neill
7. "Growing Wellness": The Possibility of
Promoting Collective Wellness through Community Garden Education Programs
Michelle L. D'Abundo and Andrea M. Carden
Gary Paul Green is a professor in the Department of Community & Environmental Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a community development specialist at the University of Wisconsin-Extension. His teaching and research interests are primarily in the areas of community and economic development.
Rhonda G. Phillips, Ph.D., AICP, CEcD is Associate Dean for Barrett, The Honors College and a professor at Arizona State Universitys School of Community Resources & Development. Her research and service outreach includes assessing community well-being and quality-of-life outcomes. She teaches courses on local food systems and community development.
