About / Our Mission
Our Mission
Abundant Montana is the go-to resource for local food in Montana.
What’s Our Goal?
We envision a resilient and reliable Montana food system where all Montanans can access and enjoy locally-grown, nutrient-dense, and culturally-appropriate foods. Our goal is to have more Montana food on all Montana plates. In collaboration with partner organizations, our goal is that one-third (33%) of the food Montanans eat is grown in Montana by 2033.
What We Do
We are growing a more resilient and reliable Montana food system by…
Building Consumer Demand
We run multimedia education campaigns that educate Montana individuals and institutions about why local food matters and where to find it so there is an increased and reliable demand for Montana-grown food.
Building Market Channels
We provide media promotion, digital marketing technical assistance, and foster business-to-business connections for Montana food and farming businesses to increase their in-state sales channels so producers have reliable markets to sell their products in Montana.
Building Community Knowledge & Networks
We facilitate whole-community efforts that increase knowledge, resources, and relationships so communities can design local food systems that work for them because strong, food secure communities are the heart of a resilient and reliable Montana food system.
The Problem
In the three generations since World War II, our country’s food sources have become centralized, industrialized, chemicalized, and globalized, to the detriment of our nation’s health and food security. In Montana, industrialization and globalization has meant consolidating farms, surrendering diversity in favor of monocropping, and growing mainly for export into the global supply chain. The result? In 1950, 70% of the food Montanans ate was grown in Montana. By 2004, that number was less than 8%. Today, it is down to 3%.
The COVID-19 pandemic showed us that importing 97% of our food from disruptible, non-local supply chains puts Montana’s food security at risk. Increasingly unpredictable weather in Montana and globally is underscoring that risk.
Chemical agriculture has unintentionally harmed soils, wildlife, water, and human health. Farm consolidation has meant the loss of family farms and the rural communities that support them.
The biggest worry is: as local butchers, bakers, dairies, diversified family farms, and other community food resources have disappeared, so has our connection to our food. As a culture, our definition of nourishing food has faded, and in three generations, we have unintentionally relinquished our fundamental right to choose what nourishes us best.
In 1950, 70% of the food Montanans ate was grown in Montana. By 2004, that number was less than 8%. Today, it is down to 3%.
The Solution
We want all Montanans to know their food and have the resources to choose nourishing, Montana-grown food, while understanding the value of that choice for their own health, the health of their families, and the health of their communities, today and for generations to come.
What does a local food system mean to us?
It means a community of people resourced to access health-giving, Montana-grown foods.
It means a community of people resourced to access health-giving, Montana-grown foods, including foods from Montana businesses that value stewardship agriculture practices, foods grown in backyards and community gardens, and foods fished, hunted, and foraged in the wild.
Stewardship agriculture practices are farming and ranching practices developed with the intention of stewarding the land, animal, and human resources that create nourishing foods for community consumption. These climate-healthy and regenerative practices improve soil health, increase life and biodiversity on the land, use renewable energy, honor our reciprocal relationships with the land and all beings, and support thriving social and financial conditions for all.
A local food system is created by people valuing the farmers and ranchers who practice stewardship agriculture, and intentionally choosing to purchase their food from these producers, or actively choosing to grow, raise, forage, or hunt for their own food with these principles in mind. They take action as a community to ensure all community members have equitable and fair access to food grown with consideration of these principles, for the nutritional, economic, and social health of the community.
Our mission is to promote a more sustainable Montana for all. We are committed to growing a resilient and reliable Montana food system where all Montanans can enjoy health-giving, culturally relevant, Montana-grown foods, today and for generations to come.
What’s Our Story?
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