The Regional Food Systems Working Group used a collaborative process to develop a working definition for a regional food system:
A regional food system supports long-term connections between farmers and consumers while helping to meet the health, social, economic and environmental needs of communities within that region. Producers and markets are linked via efficient infrastructures that:
- promote environmental health;
- provide competitive advantages to producers, processors and retailers;
- encourage identification with a region's culture, history and ecology; and
- share risks and rewards equitably among all partners in the system.
