Rhode Island Food System Snapshots

The Fact Sheets are intended to give Rhode Islanders a better sense of the current impact the food system has on individual communities, and a better understanding of the network of businesses, agencies, organizations and institutions that make up our local food system. A food system encompasses all of the processes involved in feeding people: it includes the production, harvesting, and processing of food; its distribution and marketing; its consumption (whether at home, in schools and institutions, or in restaurants); and ultimately, the recycling or disposal of food waste. The fact sheets present a dynamic “snapshot” of the local food system, and we hope they will stimulate discussion about growing the local food system and using data to track and measure progress. This is a first attempt to pull together data from a range of sources, however, so we invite corrections or additional information that will help us more accurately represent Rhode Island’s local food system.