OUR FOOD SYSTEM · IN PLAIN LANGUAGE
A food system is a set of relationships.
“Food system” sounds technical. It isn't. It just means all the people, places, decisions and journeys involved in getting food from soil to a plate — and the relationships between them.
Below is a plain-language sketch of how those parts fit together. It is a sketch of how food systems work generally, not yet a map of Northumberland's own.
Seven stages, one line
Food moves through roughly seven stages. In practice they overlap and loop back on each other, but as a way of seeing the whole thing at once, a line is honest enough. Each stage below carries its own plain-language description, so the diagram is fully readable as text.
- Land Soil, farmland, water — and the question of who is able to get access to it.
- Growing The farms, growers and livestock producers actually raising food in the county.
- Processing and aggregation Washing, packing, cutting, cooking, freezing, storing — and bringing supply from several producers together so a larger buyer can use it.
- Distribution Moving food from where it is grown to where it is needed, at a cost that works for everyone involved.
- Buyers Shops, restaurants, schools, hospitals, long-term care homes, food-access programs and other institutions.
- Kitchens and households Where food is cooked, shared and eaten — at home, in community programs, in institutions.
- People Everyone in the county who eats, and everyone whose work makes that possible.
What runs across every stage
Some things don't sit at one point in the line. They act on all of it at once — which is why a change in one place so often shows up somewhere else entirely.
- Infrastructure Buildings, equipment, cold storage, vehicles, roads.
- Policy Planning rules, procurement rules, economic development, municipal coordination.
- Knowledge Skills, training, research, and knowing who to call.
- Community Relationships, trust, volunteers, and organizations that convene people.
- Food access Whether people who need good food can actually get it.
- Education Schools, colleges, apprenticeships, and public understanding of food.
- Waste, compost and soil What happens to what isn't eaten — and whether it returns to the land.
Building Northumberland's own map
A food-system mapping study of the county is underway — building a clearer picture of the farms, organizations, businesses, institutions, infrastructure, relationships and gaps here.
The Centre for Healthy Communities at Loyalist College is leading this work, with Community Power Northumberland and the Northumberland Can Feed Northumberland Steering Committee. See current research and engagement on Progress.
If you are part of Northumberland's food system, help us build the map by telling us where you fit, what you see, and what you think we need to understand.