Northeast Regional Food Business Center Glossary

 Aggregator 

  • An individual or business entity that collects and distributes food and agricultural products from multiple sources. 

Agricultural Business  

  • A business that encompasses farming and farming-related commercial activities; includes farms, processors, and value-added manufacturers that source products raised and grown in the Northeast region. 

Agricultural Products 

  • Any agricultural commodity or product, whether raw or processed, including any commodity or product derived from livestock that is marketed in the United States for human or livestock consumption. 

Direct-to Consumer 

  • Sales at farmers’ markets, on-farm stores or farm stands located on the operation, roadside stands or stores located off the farm, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), online marketplace, and other markets in which the producer sells directly to the end customer (e.g., U-Pick and mobile markets). 

Distributor 

  • Individuals and business entities engaged in activities related to the process of making a product or service available for use or consumption by a consumer or business, using direct means, or using indirect means with intermediaries. 

Entity 

  • A for-profit or non-profit business or organization that one or more people form to conduct business. 

Farm 

  • A for-profit, non-profit, or cooperative establishment that grows food. 

Farmer’s Market 

  • A collection of two or more farm vendors selling agricultural products directly to customers at a common, recurrent physical location. 

Food Hub 

  • A centrally located facility with a business management structure facilitating the aggregation, storage, processing, distribution, and/or marketing of locally or regionally produced food products. 

Food System 

  • Complex clusters of interconnected people and organizations that include all steps from food production to consumption along with food loss and waste reduction and recovery. Local and regional food systems refer to clusters where production, aggregation, storage, processing, distribution, consumption, and food recovery and recycling happen in the locality or region where the final product is marketed to consumers. 

Historically Underserved Farmers and Ranchers 

  • Members of these groups have been historically underserved by, or subject to discrimination in, Federal policies and programs. Four groups are defined by USDA as “Historically Underserved,” including farmers or ranchers who are: Beginning; Socially Disadvantaged; Veterans; and Limited Resource. 
  • Beginning:  Those who have operated a farm or ranch for 10 years or less, either as a sole operator or with others who have operated a farm or ranch for 10 years or less 
  • Socially Disadvantaged: Those who are a member of a group whose members have been subject to racial or ethnic prejudice because of their identity as members of a group without regard to their individual qualities. This includes American Indians or Alaskan Natives Asians Blacks or African Americans Native Hawaiians or other Pacific Islanders Hispanics. For an entity, at least 50 percent ownership in the farm business must be held by socially disadvantaged individuals. 
  • Veteran: Those who served in the United States Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, or Coast Guard, including the reserve component thereof; was released from service under conditions other than dishonorable; and: Has not operated a farm or ranch, or has operated a farm or ranch for not more than 10 years; or Who first obtained status as a veteran during the most recent 10-year period. A legal entity or joint operation can be a Veteran Farmer or Rancher only if all individual members independently qualify. 
  • Limited Resource: those with direct or indirect gross farm sales not more than the current indexed value in each of the previous two years, and Who has a total household income at or below the national poverty level for a family of four, or less than 50 percent of county median household income in each of the previous two years. A Self-Determination Tool is available to the public and may be completed at: lrftool.sc.egov.usda.gov. 

Institution/Institutional Consumer 

  • A buyer such as a university, college, hospital, hotel, or other company/organization that purchases large quantities of food, often through a distributor but also through other avenues, including directly from producers. These buyers may be distinguished from a grocery store or restaurant because the buyer may announce bids for contracts by following certain procedures and are likely to serve food in a cafeteria setting. 

Local Products 

  • Place-specific clusters of agricultural producers of all kinds–farmers, ranchers, fishers–along with consumers and institutions engaged in producing, processing, distributing, and selling foods.  

Manufacturing 

  • The transformation of raw food and agricultural commodities into products for intermediate or final consumption by applying labor, machinery, energy, and scientific knowledge. 

Market Development 

  • Businesses identifying, pursuing, and cultivating new market opportunities for their existing products. Technical Assistance may be provided to food and farm businesses to assist them in this process of identifying and accessing new market opportunities and helping them market and differentiate their product to support success in a newly developed market. 

Middle-of-the-Supply-Chain 

  • The network of people and entities involved in creating a product and delivering it to the consumer, from when the product leaves the site of production to its last stop before the product reaches the end consumer. 

Mid-Sized Business 

  • An operation with a gross income of $500,000 or less. 

Network  

  • A group or system of interconnected individuals or organizations; may be formal (e.g., named, codified in statute, meeting on a regular basis) or informal. 

Northeast Region 

  • The geographic area represented by Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont. 

Partnerships and Collaborations 

  • Two or more entities aligning efforts or working together in a shared activity or towards a shared goal . 

Producer 

  • A person raising, harvesting, or growing agricultural products that are nationally legal 

Regional  

  • Food and agricultural commodities grown in the Northeast United States, including  Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont and the District of Columbia. 

Rural 

  • An area with fewer than 5,000 people. 

Small Business 

  • An operation with a gross income of $250,000 or less 

Stakeholder 

  • An individual or group that has an interest in any decision or activity of an organization 

Supply Chain 

  • The processes that all food products go through, from production to consumption; logistics and activities involved in distributing a product 

Technical Assistance 

  • Needs-based project assistance provided through one-on-one training or guidance, group workshops and training, peer-to-peer support, and other guidance and resources.
  •  Topics addressed through technical assistance can include, but are not limited to:  
    • Developing or maintaining a direct-to-consumer enterprise 
    • Accessing institutional customers 
    • Using new strategies to improve local/regional food processing, distribution, aggregation, or storage 
    • Value chain coordination 
    • Market development 
    • Navigating and managing financial resources from third parties 
    • Minor business development, including financial literacy and accounting (including farm financials) 
    • Business plan development 

Underinvested Communities 

  • Populations sharing a particular characteristic as well as geographic communities, that have been systematically denied a full opportunity to participate in aspects of economic, social, an civic life; such as Black, Latino, and Indigenous and Native American persons, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and other persons of color; members of religious minorities; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) persons; persons with disabilities; persons who live in rural areas; and persons otherwise adversely affected by persistent poverty or inequality. 

Urban 

  • An area with at least 2,000 housing units or a population of at least 5,000. 

Value-Added Production 

  • A change in the physical state or form of the raw product in a manner that enhances its value, such as milling wheat into flour or making strawberries into jam. For the purposes of the Northeast RFBC, value-added production must involve products raised or grown in the  Northeast region.  

Value Chain 

  • A supply network in which agricultural products move from production through consumption in a local or regional market due to the cooperation and aggregation of small or mid-size business inputs; strategic business relationships that emphasize organizational interdependence (different competencies), trust, and transparency; and equitable distribution of responsibilities and rewards across the chain.