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Food Routes Network
CAIA and FoodRoutes Network (FRN) have worked together to integrate their respective web sites: foodroutes.org and communityfood.com. The combined mission of these two websites is to serve the information, networking, marketing and purchasing needs of sustainable food-and-farming activists, community-food enterprises, farm-and-ranch cooperatives and associations, and the food-concerned public. Together the two sites aim to provide accurate and up-to-date information on sustainable food and farming, searchable directories for locally grown food and sustainable agriculture resources, and opportunities to purchase on-line.
FoodRoutes Network (FRN), a non-profit organization dedicated to providing strategic communications and evaluation tools and information to on-the-ground advocates who are working to build awareness of and support for sustainable farming and local food systems. Our strategic communications programs include foodroutes.org, national polling research, message development, "buy local" campaign development, and implementation strategies for state and local food system policies funded by the Farm Bill.
The goal of this website is to provide timely information, resources and market opportunities for the food and farming community, community-based nonprofits, the food concerned public, policy makers and the media. FRN is also working with Ocean Group, developers of the foodroutes.org and localharvest.org web sites, to develop a county-level mapping technology that will allow groups to build local markets by integrating online farm and business directories into their websites.
National polling research and message development is generating valuable information on food buyer attitudes and insight into the thinking and opinions of two groups vital to the success of sustainable farming and local food systems: the farmers who produce our food and those who buy it.
FRN works in partnership with community-based organizations across the country to help these groups increase their capacity to design, launch, and implement successful "buy local" food campaigns and market education initiatives. Specifically, this assistance is targeted toward strengthening partner organizations' ability to plan effective campaigns by drawing on innovative message research and communications tools. Evaluation of the effectiveness of these campaigns will provide valuable lessons and tools for other organizations interested in launching similar campaigns.
Another objective of FRN is to communicate with the general public about the "multiple benefits" beyond food production which sustainable agriculture contributes to communities and the environment. FRN is collaborating on "multiple benefits" research and will work with other NGOs to educate the public about these benefits and develop state and local policies which support sustainable farming systems.
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