Explore Local: About Us

 
 
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Vision

Explore Local is a trusted partner in a vibrant local market system.

Mission

We facilitate the sustainable growth of a local market system through research, education, collaboration and alliance-building with local market stakeholders.

Target Audience

Producers and those who provide benefits to the producer in a local market system.

Strategic Plan

The Explore Local Initiative is currently implementing our 3-year strategic plan. Our plan includes 4 overarching outcomes which are further broken down into strategies for achieving those outcomes and specific projects. Some of the projects we are currently working on include:
  • Local Food System Needs Assessment Project: Review and clarify the local food system policy issues and policy directions.
  • Fruit and Vegetable Business Case Project: Collect the third year of data to be used to develop industry business cases.
  • Local Food Supply Chain Research Project: Collect data on local market sectors to be used to help benchmark the local market industry for Alberta.
  • Knowledgeable Bank of Producer Project: This project houses most of the extension activities offered by the Initiative. Knowledge is extended to the industry through a variety of delivery methods. Upcoming events are found on the Events page; factsheets and other resource materials are found on the Resources page.
  • Food Information and Sales Tracking System: Pilot a sales and inventory tracking system with local market operators marketing meat, horticulture and value added projects.
  • Explore Local Food Safety Project: Increase the awareness by producers and small processors of the legislative requirements that they need to meet when producing and marketing their food products through a series of factsheets and workshop presentations.
  • Culinary Tourism: Working with industry and other government partners to develop and implement a culinary tourism strategy for Alberta.
  • Poultry Abattoir Project: Test pilot mobile poultry abattoir to determine efficiencies and effectiveness. Develop the business case for an alternative processing option for poultry.
  • Distribution Project: Facilitate the creation of more effective and efficient distribution systems for moving local product to the market place.
  • Proactive Industry Relations Project: Develop a process to facilitate the building of local market alliances.
Accomplishments
We are excited to share our accomplishments with you from the 2010-11 fiscal year.
Download our brochure to learn more about the Initiative.

Local Food System Model

The Explore Local Initiative has developed a model of a local food system. The graphic shows how food moves through the various supply chains from producer to consumer with varying levels of complexity across all the chains. This model supports the vision of the Initiative.

If you would like to receive regular updates from the Explore Local team or sign up for our quarterly e-newsletter, please contact us at explorelocal@gov.ab.ca.

Some Explore Local projects are funded by Growing Forward, a federal-provincial-territorial initiative.		  
 
 
 
For more information about the content of this document, contact Eileen Kotowich.
This information published to the web on May 4, 2011.
Last Reviewed/Revised on December 23, 2011.