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Abstract
Numerous studies have measured the economic
impact of increased consumption of locally grown
foods. As many advocates have set goals for increasing
consumption of locally grown foods to a specific
percentage, the missing piece of information is, what
is the current percentage of locally grown food being
consumed in a given city, state or region. To date, no
credible set of methods has been used to measure
the percentage of food consumption that is locally
grown. In this paper, we apply previously developed
methods to measure how much food is currently
eaten and would be eaten if USDA Dietary Guidelines
were followed. We also propose a set of methods
to measure how much of current food consumption
currently comes from Vermont. The methods include
a set of interviews and surveys of major food buyers
and distributors, triangulated with USDA data to scale
up results to statewide levels. The methods will be
vetted by a team of national experts and be tested in a
Vermont pilot study, refined, and finally made available
to scholars nationwide for replication. Results will
inform changes to current systems which will facilitate
future efforts to track local food consumption.