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University Partners in Local Foodshed Mapping
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: 08-31-2012
Kathleen McPartland
Public Affairs
530-898-4260
Cathie Benjamin
Geography and Planning
530-898-4755
“The foodshed map answers questions about where the fresh summer vegetables on your plate were grown, who grew them and how they reached your plate,” said Cathie Benjamin, instructional support technician for Geography and Planning. “The lessons of sustainability make us all more aware of the need to know where our food comes from and how it is grown. We are fortunate to be living in the northern Sacramento Valley, because there is such a myriad of food choices.”
The Buy Fresh Buy Local, North Valley (BFBLNV) newsletter, “Eater’s Guide to Local Foods,” is also online. Previously, it was distributed at member businesses.
Local products shown on the foodshed map include seasonal vegetables and fruits, local wine, olive oil, grass-fed beef, goat cheese and pastured chickens grown and manufactured by members of BFBLNV. Many members sell at their farms and at local markets.
“The interactive web map aids direct marketing efforts for local and regional growers and helps the community, in turn, find local farmers and producers,” said Benjamin, who developed the map with assistance from geography student Curtis Page. View the online map at http://geochico.csuchico.edu/bfblnv.
This webmap and many more are now hosted by the Geochico Online mapping consortium at http://geochicoonline.maps.arcgis.com. These maps and other advances in geospatial education at CSU, Chico have been funded in part by a National Science Foundation grant supporting a collaboration between CSU, Chico (with geography and planning professors Jacque Chase and LaDona Knigge as co-principal investigators) and Shasta College (Dan Scollon, principal investigator).
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