Abstract
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.