The New American Foodshed is a large and relatively unexplored territory of local and regional markets now opening up for farm, ranch, and related entrepreneurs. It encompasses a growing number of food marketing channels that are developing within regions, for regions, and among regions as consumers and communities put new values into their purchases and investments.

The Field Guide to the New American Foodshed site is designed to help those entrepreneurs and their advisors find and use relevant business development information from this new territory of local and regional food markets. The Field Guide to the New American Foodshed provides:

• A birds-eye view of the New American Foodshed and its components.
• Case studies of farms, ranches, and related businesses that have been successful in foodshed markets.
• A Decision Tree framework for exploring the case studies as a new business.
• One-Page Planning tools to take the first step in business planning.

The purpose of the Field Guide is to illustrate how local food systems work in the everyday world of business and economics. Specifically, it is designed to identify different foodshed-related business models “in the field” and help entrepreneurs and their advisors investigate relevant business structures and strategies. 

The Field Guide was inspired by the mission of USDA's "Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food" initiative to strengthen local and regional food systems.  The Farm Credit Council and the National Good Food Network followed the lead of "Know Your Farmer" by applying their expertise to build this website that seeks to educate and promote opportunity for young, beginning, and small farmers in foodshed-related businesses.