What are local, healthy foods, and the food system that supports them, worth? This report presents one way to answer that question. Its analysis is purposefully focused on specific subsectors of the food system and their real and potential direct contribution to economic output and employment. In this sense, the report presents a conventional look at some of the economic value of local food systems and concludes that the local food system contributes to the New Hampshire economy and that it could contribute much more.

The report points to significant direct economic potential of local agriculture and food manufacturing that could be realized in the Granite State. Proposing the achievable goal of increasing the contribution of these two sectors’ contribution to the state’s economy by 25%, this analysis shows that significant employment benefits within a strategic public food policy environment could be achieved.