Goal 7 – Prosperity
Improving Opportunities for Sustainable Food System Careers
Building a food system that better serves Dane County requires more than increasing production or improving access. It requires ensuring that the economic benefits of a thriving local food system flow back to the people doing the work. Shared prosperity can be achieved by creating pathways into food systems careers that are sustainable, well-compensated, and enrich the lives of the farmers, business owners, and workers that make local food systems possible. This approach will not just create a healthier, more productive workforce but also a thriving economy.
A food system in which workers earn living wages, entrepreneurs have genuine pathways to ownership, and businesses are accountable to their communities rather than to distant shareholders is not just more equitable, it is more resilient, more innovative, and more capable of weathering economic pressures. These strategies provide a counterbalance to consolidation: a deliberate investment in the people and ownership structures that promote a food economy that is local, democratic, and places community first.
Strategies
1. Reduce Barriers to Successful Food Business Entrepreneurship
There are a variety of up front costs required to develop a food cart, brick and mortar store, restaurant, product line, or other food business. While rent and labor costs are to be anticipated, there also can be other accumulating costs for business startup, taxes, technology needed for inventory control, and so on. When possible, programs should be developed to reduce the barriers to entry and help more entrepreneurs get started.
Actions
- Support innovative business plans that account for fair wages while keeping customers aware of the true costs of consumption.
- Develop no-interest or forgivable loans and grant programs to offset startup fees for first-time food business owners.
- Help new businesses navigate the competitive commercial rent marketplace in Dane County by encouraging creative partnerships such as lease-sharing ventures, rental of commercial kitchen space in faith-based institutions, or connecting businesses to more affordable spaces in rural Dane County.
- Expand finance, marketing, and product development programming for small-business owners and entrepreneurs.
2. Improve Labor Conditions and Wages in Food Service and Agriculture
The true cost of producing and serving food involves more than the agricultural inputs. Hours of work involved in production and sale of food also factor into its retail price. Unfortunately, if priced too high it will displease customers but if it is priced too low, workers are not compensated fairly and businesses may be understaffed. This leads to employers finding it difficult to provide paid time off for illness, childbirth, or personal need. It also leads to producers applying environmentally costly inputs like pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers to boost farm yields and reduce manual labor costs. Creating sustainability in food system careers requires that these competing pressures are addressed. This will improve the long-term health of farmworkers and reduce foodborne illness, as employees would be less likely to go to work when sick. Reducing inputs to the minimum necessary will reduce potential health and environmental impacts for employees and consumers.
Actions
- Provide living wages and benefits for farm laborers, food service workers, school food service, and other full- or part-time roles.
- Share impacts of overuse and incorrect application of chemical inputs such as pesticides on human health among farm-owners in the region.
- Expand programs that support farmworker housing in Dane County.
- Increase access to affordable healthcare, child care, paid family medical leave, and similar programs.
- Help employers and employees navigate “benefit cliffs” to set employees up for long-term financial success.
- Increase awareness of innovative ownership models like worker cooperatives, employee ownership and profit-sharing models that can be mutually beneficial for businesses and employees.
3. Develop Sustainable Career Pathways in Food Systems
Despite other employment trends, there is typically a consistent demand for workers in food system roles. Some prospective workers may require vocational training to develop valuable and relevant skills. Training opportunities for programs like FEED Bakery and Madison College’s culinary arts program expand opportunities for people to enter different types of food service work. Investing in these opportunities will allow businesses to find and retain quality employees while giving those employees the skills needed to grow within an organization.
Actions
- Invest in vocational training, youth employment opportunities, and other professional development for agricultural and food service workers.
- Expand access to training and certificate programs in culinary arts, agricultural sciences, and related fields at the high school, technical school, and university levels.
- Improve access to health care, childcare, paid time off, and other employment benefits.
- Build personal finance programming for agricultural and food service workers and connect workers to community resources.
4. Strengthen the Food Economy for Farmers, Small-Business Owners, and Their Employees
Farmers and food businesses contribute greatly to the economic and cultural fabric of Dane County. Their continued business viability is essential for ensuring a sustainable food economy and healthy food system. As Dane County continues to grow, so too does the potential customer base for these businesses. Building new ways to connect farms and businesses with potential customers and markets will create new pathways for sustainable business growth.
Actions
- Support value chain coordination across the supply chain from farming to composting activities.
- Invest in shared information technology that supports efficiencies in distribution, routing, and logistics including online marketplaces, ordering platforms, route optimization and distribution logistics, and enterprise resource planning software.
- Support opportunities for networking and resource sharing between food system actors with similar roles (e.g., farmers market managers).