This report by the Urban Sustainability Directors Network is a roadmap for food sector innovation & investment. The report breaks down types of tools by asset categories for planning and implementing a food sector project.

This report by the Urban Design Lab, Columbia University conducted this comprehensive assessment of the potential for urban agriculture in New York City (NYC). This project is the first large-scale analysis of its kind for NYC. The aim of this...

This Global Green study examines the potential for urban agriculture to revitalize Youngstown, Ohio. Youngstown has experienced significant economic challenges and population reductions over the past thirty years, resulting in large quantities of...

The San Francisco Department of the Environment partnered with Presidio Graduate School’s Team Lively’Hood to assess the viability of commercial urban agriculture (CUA) in the City of San Francisco. The financial analyses highlighted the key...

This report from PolicyLink gathers information from farmers, advocates, and policymakers to better understand the operational, financial, and social challenges associated with urban agriculture. It highlights the creative solutions that are being...

Launched in 2008, the Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin (BLBW) competitive grant program is designed to strengthen Wisconsin's agricultural and food industries. By reducing costs in marketing, distribution, and processing, Wisconsin's food products and local...

As part of the CDFA & USDA Rural Finance Partnership, a Project Marketplace will be created. This informational video helps explain the partnership and marketplace.

The White House Rural Council and six federal agencies selected 26 communities to participate in Local Foods, Local Places, a federal initiative providing direct technical support and expertise to community partners integrating local food systems...

Biocycle magazine released this series of articles on the conversion of brownfield sites to community gardens and urban farms. The articles highlight the success of several pilot brownfield redevelopment programs launched by multiple cities.

Themes discussed in the publication are making markets work for rural and agricultural finance, forging agricultural finance innovations, reducing costs of rural outreach, managing risks, attracting private sector investors and much.

This document is by the USDA Rural Development and is a monthly document about cooperatives. The document recognizes the important role that cooperatives play in strengthening the economy, providing greater economic opportunity, and creating member...

The Alaska Environmental Protection Agency provides a handbook regarding the redevelopment procedures, assistance, and funding guidelines for the state. The handbook pinpoints specific response programs by location and touches on different...

The third installment of the CDFA-Stifel Rural Community Development Finance Solutions Webcast Series focused on how food systems investments can be used to drive other markets, benefitting the economy of small and rural towns throughout America.

LiveWell Colorado hosted this discussion on diverse options for funding and financing healthy food retail in communities across the state. Guest speakers provide information on some programs and how to apply.

Mark Barbash of the Finance Fund discusses the steps needed to create a healthy food financing program, as well as its importance for the state of Ohio.

Tony Logan, State Director of Ohio Rural Development for the USDA, explains the importance of local and regionalized food systems, in addition to different finance mechanisms through the USDA that benefit local and regional stakeholders.

This brochure introduces the FreshWorks Fund, which is designed to provide financing to supermarket operators, local food distributors and other food innovators who seek to expand access to healthy food in California.

This report from The Food Trust, made possible by a grant from the Ohio Regional Convergence Partnership and Finance Fund, presents findings on healthy food access along with demographics and public health research in order to stimulate the creation...

This report from The Food Trust highlights the need for increasing access to healthy, affordable foods in low-income areas of New Jersey, and provides a series of recommendations including additional loan capital and other publicly-funded incentives.

The Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund, “Farm to Plate Strategic Plan,” provides details on funds and financing, along with emerging models for Vermont's food system.

This paper outlines the opportunities for growth and investment opportunities in the local foods supply chain for philanthropic and profit-seeking investors.

This report documents the reasons for the hole between the capital needs of the smaller-scale agriculture sector and access to capital, and strategies to create successful lending relationships between the two.

This report was commissioned by the Local Economies Project of the New World Foundation in 2013 to assess the challenges and opportunities of financing local food infrastructure in the New York and Hudson Valley regions.

The Institute for Sustainable Communities provided this sustainable food systems resource guide. It is intended to help local, state, and regional practitioners do their jobs better by exploring key challenges and elevating effective models and...

This City Practice Brief from the National League of Cities provides examples of cities enabling urban agriculture, increasing access to healthy food, and reducing waste in order to have a sustainable food system.

This guide describes the process by which a small group of local food advocates began creating an investment fund in the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts. This guide aims to help communities across the United States create their own...

This report by the Springcreek Foundation aims to provide a framework through which investors can play a critical role in the establishment and maintenance of regional sustainable food systems in the United States.

The Healthy Food Financing Handbook by The Food Trust is intended to be a resource for community and economic development organizations seeking to increase the availability of nutritious foods and revitalize neighborhoods.

Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund shares their 'Farm to Plate' strategic plan to support food system entrepreneurs by assessing existing programs for applicability and researching emerging models that could bolster growth.

The Appalachian Regional Commission commissioned this report to examine innovative projects that demonstrate benefits to rural and underserved communities. The case studies encompass energy, healthcare, manufacturing, and local food systems.

The Appalachian Regional Commission released this report which is an assessment of food system infrastructure, access to capital for entrepreneurs, education, and regional capacity in the Appalachian region.

This report published by Urban Sustainability Directors Network, is a guidance document for cities to develop investment strategies to increase innovations in their local food systems. The project includes asset inventory, tools and strategies, and...

The City of Chicago along with SB Friedman released this report which explores the economic impact of urban agriculture. The report provides the context of urban agriculture, scale and sources of demand for local food, successful business models,...

The most prevalent and pressing trends in development finance are presented in this article by Catherine Feerick of CDFA. Feerick provides an update on the SSBCI program as well as emerging approaches to local food systems finance. This article...

The CDFI Fund‘s Capacity Building Initiative for Financing Healthy Food Options track was created to prepare community development financial institutions (CDFIs) to effectively deploy financial resources to healthy food projects benefitting...

The Louisville Local Food Demand Analysis is a comprehensive, qualitative and quantitative analysis of demand for local food in Louisville Metro/Jefferson County, Kentucky. Seed Capital Kentucky, a non-profit with the mission to catalyze the success...

The Pennsylvania Dept. of Community & Economic Development produced this year-end report covering private activity bonds subject to volume cap in the state. Issuance and carryforward are reported for industrial development, exempt facilities,...

These case studies of projects financed through multiple Ohio Port Authorities were presented at the Bricker and Eckler LLP and The Ohio Manufacturers' Association meeting on Port Authority Finance Options for Manufacturers and Developers. The...

This is report 1 of 5 of the Michigan Good Food Work Group Report Series and was developed with leadership from the C.S. Mott Group for Sustainable Food Systems at Michigan State University, the Food Bank Council of Michigan and the Michigan Food...

This is report 2 of 5 of the Michigan Good Food Work Group Report Series and was developed with leadership from the C.S. Mott Group for Sustainable Food Systems at Michigan State University, the Food Bank Council of Michigan and the Michigan Food...

In this document produced by the Office of Chief Counsel (Income Tax & Accounting) you will find the approved 2011 Aggie Bond Limit for first time farmers as well as various other 2011 adjusted revenue items.

The following study analyzes the impact of the 16-county Northeast Ohio (NEO) region moving a quarter of the way toward fully meeting local demand for food with local production. It suggests that this 25% shift could create 27,664 new jobs,...

This is report 5 of 5 of the Michigan Good Food Work Group Report Series and was developed with leadership from the C.S. Mott Group for Sustainable Food Systems at Michigan State University, the Food Bank Council of Michigan and the Michigan Food...

Over the course of the study period, the Market Ventures, Inc. and Karp Resources team studied the city’s existing food economy, the present state of Kentucky agriculture, and current initiatives at the local and state level. Through its research...