Virginia’s food system directly impacts the survival and viability of farms and farmland; the economic development of rural and urban communities; the care, restoration, and resilience of ecological resources such as local waterways; and critical health issues. We use the language of community, local, and regional food systems to broadly define a complex and interconnected set of systems and pathways that comprise sustainable food production, processing, distribution, consumption, and waste management to bring about social, economic, and ecological change that benefits all residents.

Composting is a biological heating process that results in the natural degradation of Composting is a biological heating process that results in the natural degradation of organic resources (such as poultry carcasses) by microorganisms. Composting has been successfully used throughout the United States for nearly two decades to control outbreaks of avian influenza. Composting can be effective with most bird types and poultry house designs.organic resources (such as poultry carcasses) by microorganisms. Composting has been successfully used throughout the United States for nearly two decades to control outbreaks of avian influenza. Composting can be effective with most bird types and poultry house designs.

In 2012, Delegate Delores McQuinn introduced House Joint Resolution 88 and then in 2013 reintroduced House Joint Resolution 646 to request that the Virginia General Assembly review the issue of food deserts in Virginia. The Honorable William Howell, Speaker of the House of Delegates of the Virginia General Assembly, commissioned Alan Grant, dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech, and Jewel Hairston, dean of the College of Agriculture at Virginia State University, to conduct a study of food deserts in the Commonwealth of Virginia.