Tough Conversations that Make Local Food Work

About this episode

Dana DiPrima and Jeanne Blasberg discuss the challenges of making local food sourcing work in practice.

What does it actually take to make local food work — not just in theory, but in real life? In this episode of One Bite is Everything , host Dana DiPrima speaks with Jeanne Blasberg, a former Boston-based author who made a dramatic life pivot: purchasing a 500-acre farm outside Madison, Wisconsin and working to build a regenerative agricultural system connected directly to a fast-casual restaurant chain, Forage Kitchen. What began as a personal search for purpose quickly evolved into a hands-on exploration of one of the most important questions in our food system: If consumers say they want local food, why is it still so hard to deliver? Together, Dana and Jeanne explore the hidden friction between farms and restaurants — from menu consistency and pricing pressures to logistics, seasonality, and infrastructure gaps that make local sourcing more difficult than most people realize. This conversation goes beyond the romantic idea of “farm to table” and into the operational reality of what it takes to produce nutrient-dense food, build viable farm businesses, and create supply chains that work for both farmers and foodservice operators. Along the way, they discuss: • Why local food…

People in this episode

Host: Dana DiPrima

Guest: Jeanne Blasberg

Topics covered

• local food
• regenerative agriculture
• farm to table
• food systems
• restaurant sourcing

Keywords

• local food
• regenerative agriculture
• farm to table
• sourcing
• food systems
• restaurant partnerships
• supply chains

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Forage Kitchen

Places: Madison, Wisconsin, Boston

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