Supporters of local foods should work within the current food distribution system to increase its availability instead of trying to start from scratch, says a new Ohio State University study.

Too often, supporters focus on alternative, direct markets to help farmers increase sales of local foods. But this ignores the reality that 90 percent of all food for home consumption is purchased at grocery stores and similar retail outlets, the researchers said.

Among their findings: Existing small and mid-sized distributors in Ohio are eager to work more directly with farmers to get local foods into the marketplace.

The report, "Scaling-up Connections between Regional Ohio Specialty Crop Producers and Local Markets: Distribution as the Missing Link" is based on one-on-one interviews of retailers and a survey of Ohio fruit and vegetable distributors. Authors are Jill Clark, director for Ohio State's Center for Farmland Policy Innovation in the Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics; and Shoshanah Inwood and Jeff Sharp, of the Social Responsibility Initiative and Ohio State's School of Environment and Natural Resources. The entire report is online at http://cffpi.osu.edu/.

"We knew a lot about farmers and consumers, but we haven't really focused on the details about how food gets from farmers to the retail outlet," said Sharp, who also has appointments with the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center and Ohio State University Extension. "That's what this report tells us. There are distinct pathways food can get from the farmer to the store, and people who are interested in local foods need to be aware of the different distributors that are out there, and which actors are most receptive to expand local markets."

The findings challenge the prevailing thought in many local foods circles, Inwood said.

"A lot of people think we need to rebuild the local foods infrastructure," she said. "But if you're talking about going beyond farmers markets and getting into grocery stores or institutions, like schools or hospitals, we found that there are groups of distributors already in place who are interested in filling those gaps. If you want to be most effective with limited resources, the best way to invest is to make use of what's already available. Don't reinvent the wheel."