Assessing the Economic Contribution of the Local Food System: A Case Study for Tennessee

Local food systems are often viewed as development pathways for local economies due to their ability to create a multiplier effect in an economy through a significant contribution to Output and job creation. There is limited information for these impacts for Tennessee; therefore, this study identified the distribution of selected food systems in Tennessee and measured the gross economic contributions of Tennessee’s local food system using IMPLAN’s input-output model. The distribution of direct-to-consumer marketing channels across the state showed that Farmer’s market is the most populous channel. Results from the analysis showed that L.F.S. is a crucial component of Tennessee\u27s economy, with an estimated total economic contribution of $37.5 billion. The region\u27s local food system directly employs over 99,000 people, has an income multiplier of 2.56 and a value-added multiplier of 2.06. This study also created two models of a local food system: agricultural producers and another model that consists of agricultural producers and processors. The econometric analysis of both models showed that the model that contained agricultural producers and processors had a higher economic contribution in Output, employment, labor income, and value-added. Findings show that L.F.S. has significant positive contributions to the total state output, employment, and labor income in Tennessee. Therefore, a strengthened local food system is an avenue for further economic development in the region of Tennessee

Economic Contributions of the Local Food Systems in Tennessee

Local food systems (LFS) are often viewed as development pathways for local economies due to their ability to create a multiplier effect in an economy through a significant contribution to output and job creation. There is limited information on these impacts for Tennessee. Therefore, this study measures the gross economic contributions of Tennessee’s local food system using IMPLAN’s input-output model. Results show that LFS is a crucial component of Tennessee’s economy with an estimated total economic contribution of $37.5 billion. The region’s local food system directly employs more than 99,000 people and has an income multiplier of 2.56 and a value-added multiplier of 2.06