Southern Illinois University Carbondale OpenSIUC Research Papers Graduate School 2012 Illinois Local Food Systems: A Geospatial Analysis Abu S. Khan [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/gs_rp Recommended Citation Khan, Abu S., "Illinois Local Food Systems: A Geospatial Analysis" (2012). Research Papers. Paper 307. http://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/gs_rp/307 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at OpenSIUC. It has been accepted for inclusion in Research Papers by an authorized administrator of OpenSIUC. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ILLINOIS LOCAL FOOD SYSTEMS: A GEOSPATIAL ANALYSIS by Abu Sadat Moniruzzaman Khan B.Sc. University of Dhaka, 1994 M.Sc. University of Dhaka, 1996 M.Sc. Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand, 2005 A Research Paper Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Masters of Science Department of Geography and Environmental Resources in the Graduate School Southern Illinois University Carbondale December 2012 RESEARCH PAPER APPROVAL ILLINOIS LOCAL FOOD SYSTEMS: A GEOSPATIAL ANALYSIS By Abu Sadat Moniruzzaman Khan A Research Paper Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Masters of Science in the field of Geography and Environmental Resources Approved by: Duram, Leslie A. Professor Graduate School Southern Illinois University Carbondale November 5, 2012 ii AN ABSTRACT OF THE RESEARCH PAPER OF ABU SADAT MONIRUZZAMAN KHAN, for the Master of Science degree in GEOGRAPHY AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES, presented on NOVEMBER 5, 2012, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. TITLE: ILLINOIS LOCAL FOOD SYSTEM: A GEOSPATIAL ANALYSIS MAJOR PROFESSOR: Prof. Leslie A. Duram Recently, more attention has been paid to studies of local food systems that are specific to a particular place as a potential solution for providing healthy food, reducing carbon emissions, and promotion of local agriculture sustainability. In the United States, the demands of locally produced foods have increased substantially in recent years. There are several reasons for this increase, including long-distance food transportation’s contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, the community food-security movement, and the increase of negative environmental problems related to large scale agriculture, etc., have contributed to the shift of attention from global food systems to local ones. Moreover, the development of local food systems would promote the local economy. Therefore, without specific knowledge and in-depth understanding of the region and various factors involved with the spatial distribution of local food systems, we may not be able to get maximum benefit. The overall objective of this research is to identify the suitable locations for local food system in Illinois. To fulfill the objective, this research applied spatial analysis techniques e.g. autocorrelation, hotspot analysis, radial basis functions, and overlay methods. On the basis of several agroecological and socioeconomic factors, the study found that counties that are most suitable for the local food systems in Illinois are Cook, Will, Kane, McHenry, DuPage, Lake, Peoria, and Winnebago. The findings of this research will help federal and state level policy makers, local food professionals, researchers, and farmers to establish sustainable local food systems. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract……………………………………………………………………… iii List of Tables………………………………………………………………… v List of Figures……………………………………………………………….. vi 1 Introduction………………………………………………………………….. 1 2 Literature Review…………………………………………………………… 3 2.1 Definition of Local Food Systems (LFS)……………………………….. 3 2.2 Local Food Marketing Mechanisms…………………………………….. 4 2.3 GIS Applications in Local Food Research………………………………. 5 2.4 Factors Influences Local Food Systems………………………………… 6 3 Research Questions…………………………………………………………. 8 4 Materials and Methods……………………………………………………… 9 4.1 The study area…………………………………………………………… 9 4.2 Data Sets and Procedure…………………………………………………. 11 4.3 Brief Description of the Factors Influencing LFS………………………. 11 4.4 Spatial Analysis………………………………………………………… 14 4.5 Local Food Systems Suitability Analysis……………………………… 16 5 Results ……………………………………………………............................. 20 6 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………… 39 References…………………………………………………………………… 41 Appendix……………………………………………………………………. 45 iv LIST OF TABLES 4.1 Agroecological and socioeconomic factors for development of local food systems (LFS) and the data sources………………………………………… 11 4.2 Score and Suitability class…………………………………………………… 17 4.3 Factors, relative importance and weight…………………………………….. 18 5.1 Different factors and their concentration in different counties……………… 24 5.2 Factors, relative importance and weight……………………………………. 36 5.3 Total weight classes, suitability classes and counties in Illinois……………. 38 6.1 Certain conditions for development of LFS in Illinois…………………….. 39 v LIST OF FIGURES 4.1 Study area…………………………………………………………………… 10 5.1 A) Farmers market distribution pattern, B) Farmers market hot spot analysis………………………………………………………………………. 21 5.2 Spatial autocorrelation report of farmers’ markets and CSAs………………. 22 5.3 A) CSAs distribution pattern, B) CSAs hot spot analysis………………….. 23 5.4 A) Vegetables harvested acres, B) Vegetables farms, C) Vegetables diversity……………………………………………………………………… 25 5.5 A) Population density, B) Income distribution pattern, C) Poverty distribution, D) Illinois urban areas…………………………………………. 27 5.6 A) Illinois topography, B) Precipitations distribution………………………. 29 5.7 Location of farmers’ markets and 20 miles buffer zone of interstate highway 31 5.8 Relationship between vegetables acres harvested and the topography……… 32 5.9 Relationship between vegetables acres harvested and precipitation………… 33 5.10 A) Illinois metropolitan counties, B) High HH income counties and FMs distribution.……………………………………………. …………………… 34 5.11 A) Farmers markets hot spot, B) CSAs hot spot in Illinois…………………. 35 5.12 A)Suitability model: counties with total weights, B) Suitable locations of “Local Food Systems” in Illinois”…………………………………………. 37 vi CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION In Illinois, approx. 26,775,100 acres of land area is farmland, which includes some of the most fertile soils on earth (USDA, 2011). Only a few places on earth possess such an extraordinary and very productive combination of soil types, soil fertility, and climatic condition. At least 64 varieties of vegetable crops are commercially grown in Illinois because of very favorable soil and climatic conditions. Illinois is a leading producer of corn, soybeans, jack-o- lantern pumpkins, horseradish, and hydroponic peppers. The agricultural economy of Illinois is generating commodities valued at more than $9 billion a year (USDA, 2011; Illinois Ag Connection. 2009). In 2007, approx. 71,371 acres of land was used for the vegetables production, which accounted for 0.26 percent of the total farmland (USDA, 2009). The USDA reported that 1,377 farms harvested vegetables for sale whereas 1047 farms directly sold fresh vegetables to the fresh vegetables market 1. In Illinois, most of the fruits and vegetables consumed by the consumers travel an average of 1,500 miles (IDOA, 2009). Other than locally grown fresh vegetables, state’s annual expenditure for food is around $48 billion. The “Illinois Local and Organic Food and Farm Task Force” reported that if these produces could be grown in the state, local farms could generate $20 to $30 billion in economic activity, which also could generate thousands of new jobs. The Task Force emphasized that this revenue and jobs could help to build a strong local economy (IDOA, 2009). This data proves that local food system is very important for the state and local economy. In Illinois, 287 farmers’ markets and 302 community supported agriculture (CSAs) are being 1 The farmers markets, farm stand, Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs) are known as fresh vegetables market or local food market. 1 operated (USDA, 2010). But, most of the local food markets are concentrated around the Chicago area. Recently, the Illinois governor signed a landmark legislation in order to build strong local food systems (Illinois Stewardship Alliance, 2011). The new law is especially designed to promote the development of local food marketing mechanisms (e.g. development of farmers market). However, many researchers emphasized that local food systems are very complex, where many agroecological and socioeconomic factors are involved. Therefore, without specific knowledge and in-depth understanding of the region and various factors involved with the spatial distribution of local food systems, we may not be able to get maximum benefit from the new policy. Thus, the main objective of this research is to identify the suitable locations for local food systems in Illinois. The research was focused on the assessment of important agroecological and socioeconomic factors that influence the suitable locations of local food systems in Illinois (e.g. farmers’ markets, CSAs, fresh produce farms, etc). Based on the findings of various research studies and literature, this research selected some agroecological and socioeconomic factors as they play important role in identifying the suitable locations of local food system. The geospatial analysis was conducted on these factors. The agroecological factors studied in this research are: topography, soil, precipitation, water, crop diversity and temperature. The socioeconomic factors considered in this research