CONCLUSIONS

Due to the inability to gain insight into the origin of the produce, dairy and meats stocked in Econofoods and Cub Foods, the evidence needed to make a conclusive statement on the percentages of locally produced foods in the Northfield Food System was not acquired. Although attempts are made at both retailers to provide locally produced goods, it is unclear to what extent and how thoroughly such attempts are pursued. What is known is that decision-making process of product acquisition for Econofoods and Cub Foods are not done at a local level, leaving to question the importance of issues such as the local economy and food security in making such decisions. In this sense, it is clear that the Northfield Food System is under the umbrella of the global food system.

Much of what I learned about the Northfield Food System came through my interview with Stuart Reid of Just Food. Although fulfilling only a segment of the food system, Just Food does provide an understanding of how the food system has become integrated with local and global producers. Despite making the availability of locally produced goods its main priority, Just Food still is dependent on producers outside of the Midwest. This is partly a response to issues of seasonality in a northern climate, as well as a reaction to loss of local food security due to the centralization of food production. One main difference that the Northfield Food System may have when comparing it with other community food systems is the existence of an avenue for finding local foods if a consumer desires to do so.

Thus by extension, I believe it can be said with near certainty that the Northfield Food System relies heavily on the global food system to meet its consumer demand. That is not to say that local producers have been left behind, but their role in the Northfield Food System fulfills only a portion of food production. The exact portion of the food production will likely remain unknown until food origins become publicly available from all food retailers. My attempts to conduct research were by no means to be inclusive of the entire Northfield Food System, rather a representative sampling of food retailers. Greater knowledge would be gained by looking into the annual sales of food retailers, and expanding the list of food retailers to include restaurants, convenience stores and specialty food markets such as farmer's markets. However, the same problems I came across would likely reemerge with the reluctance of many businesses in disclosing such information.

Also, it is still unclear how greatly the dependence on the global food system has affected the local economy. Future research is needed to be able to understand how the changes in the food retail market have changed the local economy. To do so, speaking with local farmers and businesses would be helpful. However, such data may be so greatly dispersed that it is too difficult to put into quantifiable terms, leaving the influence of the global food system on the Northfield economy unknown.