Creating a viable and profitable local food system is both a traditionally conservative and a revolutionary act.  Why revolutionary?  Because a local food system requires seismic changes to long established business practices that prize large economies of scale, and the almost universal “belief” that lowest price is the sole, or most important, determiner of consumer choice. 

Why traditionally conservative?  Local food system development relies on entrepreneurship at the ground floor of a particular community.  It represents self-reliance, individual responsibility, hard work, and risk.   The irony is that many of those who proclaim conservatism misguidedly support policies and practices that destroy the very foundation of conservatism and community.

Therefore, it is a political act to prioritize local food.  The issues encompass classic tensions:

1. •Centralized vs. Decentralized
   

2. •The One vs. The Many
   

3. •Federal vs. State
   

4. •Price vs. Value
   

5. •The State vs. The Individual
   

At the core, it takes people, the right people, who will commit to the establishing community through local food.  It is easy to pontificate philosophy, government policies, etc.  What is hard is finding the people, farming the ground, raising capital, business plan development, and otherwise interacting with the industrial food system.