Scaling up local and regional food systems: Understanding and navigating opportunities and challenges in the Palouse region

Interest in local and regional food systems (LRFSs) as economic development and food resilience strat­egies has grown over several decades. Disruptions caused by climate change, the COVID-19 pan­demic, and international conflicts have illuminated our vulnerabilities and increased motivation to build resilience by “scaling up” local and regional foods. Yet, scaling up LRFSs remains challenging and aspirational in many communities, suggesting a need to further explore their development as con­textualized and hybrid systems. Drawing from a survey of landowners and interviews with produc­ers, resource managers, and others, this study focused on the Palouse bioregion of the U.S. Northwest. This was done to illustrate the com­plexity and potential of scaling up LRFSs in the context of land and water constraints, diverse stakeholders, and multiple, potentially conflicting land-use goals. The results identify points of ten­sion between small-scale produce and large-scale dryland commodity systems, but also identify points of complementarity. Conflict, dialectic, and hybridization can help each scale become more environmentally and economically sustainable. While land access is a barrier, our landowner sur­vey identified over 1,000 acres (405 hectares) potentially available for growing produce for LRFSs. Landowners expressed a diverse set of values and orientations to agriculture, which shapes land access and provides opportunities for differ­ent approaches. Water supply constrains irrigated agricultural development rather than prevents it in this region; however, water-efficient irrigation prac­tices and pond development hold promise for agri­cultural, hydrologic, and habitat improvement. Short food and values-based supply chains for arti­san grains can leverage and support both types of production in the Palouse bioregion, highlighting an area for continued compatible development.