February 17, 2025 • 21 mins
In this episode of Inside IALR, Value Chain Coordinator Mitchell Doss highlights a new initiative aimed at strengthening Southern Virginia’s local food ecosystem. Funded by a Tobacco Commission grant, Mitchell’s work focuses on helping farmers broaden their reach to new markets while ensuring communities gain greater access to fresh, local produce and products. Hear how Mitchell’s journey—from IALR intern to horticulture researcher—shapes his approach to connecting producers, institutions, and consumers for an economically vibrant and sustainable future.
In this episode:
- What a Value Chain Coordinator does
- The importance of robust local food networks for economic growth
- Current gaps and opportunities in Southern Virginia’s food system
- Strategies for driving collaboration between farmers, buyers and communities
- Details on upcoming workshops and opportunities to get involved
For more information on Mitchell’s work and how you can connect, visit IALR.org/valuechain.
The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research serves as a regional catalyst for economic transformation in Southern Virginia. Our services, programs and offerings are diverse, impactful and far reaching.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Caleb Ayers (00:09):
Welcome to another episode of Inside IALR.
Thanks for joining us today.
So today we're here to talkabout sort of a new
up-and-coming program here atthe Institute for Advanced
Learning and Research, one thathas been launched thanks to a
Tobacco Commission grant.
We have Mitchell Doss, who ishere as our value chain
coordinator.
So, mitchell, thanks for beinghere.
Mitchell Doss (00:27):
Thank you for having me.
Caleb Ayers (00:28):
So, to start, I've talked to you a little bit about
kind of what you're working on,what you're doing here.
You've been here since July andyou've been on a previous
podcast.
Your experience goes wellbeyond the last eight months.
But tell us a little bit aboutkind of how your journey before
you got into this currentposition.
Mitchell Doss (00:44):
I always have a hard time picking where to start
, but the story starts in Gretna, virginia.
I went to Gretna High Schooland, being in Pennsylvania
County, we really were allowedto apply to the Academy for
Engineering and Technology, orGovSchool.
So that's what got me.
My first introduction to theInstitute was attending the
Academy of Engineering andTechnology and through that
program it offered me aninternship with Dr Lohman here
(01:05):
at the Institute, I think around2015, 2016, which really kind
of started me on the path downscience in the field of science,
still not really knowing what Iwant to do.
So after high school I attendedRandolph College where I
studied environmental sciencewith double minor in engineering
and data science.
In engineering and data science,while at Randolph I interned at
(01:25):
the Institute once more withSamantha Smith in the Distilling
Research Department where wewere working with drone, doing
drone flights and surveyingvineyards and farmlands and that
was more optics kind of goingalong with the smart table stuff
, and then that finished.
That was around 2019.
So I finished up college in2021, came and worked here a
year as a through Virginia Techas a research specialist for the
(01:49):
Controlled EnvironmentalAgriculture Innovation Center.
After working there a year theygave me the opportunity to
proceed with my master's atVirginia Tech.
So, from 2022-2024, I wasstudying horticulture with a
focus on potassiumconcentrations in hydroponic
lettuce, as well as utilizingthe smart tables to do plant
(02:11):
imaging and robotics.
And then, when I was finishingthat up in 2024, this position
became open and while I wasdoing my thesis, I applied to it
and was given the opportunity,and I guess the rest is history
and I've just been working andlearning my new responsibilities
.
Caleb Ayers (02:27):
Yeah, I think you are the poster child for IOM,
for career pathways.
We love to talk about those.
We love to talk aboutinternships.
You are the poster child forall of that.
Mitchell Doss (02:36):
I appreciate it.
Caleb Ayers (02:37):
I try my best but I appreciate them having faith in
me to assume that position ofpost-trial if something ever
happens to you and you ever getfired or something bad happens,
we're gonna have to do a lot ofscrubbing on our website.
Oh no, daniel's probably gonnacut that out, it's okay.
Mitchell Doss (02:54):
Don't keep it in there.
Caleb Ayers (02:55):
It adds character I'm feeling good, feeling good
today.
Off just reading the titlevalue chain coordinator to me
that means very little.
I don't really understand whatthat means, just by the title, I
think it's.
So tell us a little bit aboutkind of what big picture, kind
of what is?
What are you trying to do, whatis your role and what are you
trying to do?
Mitchell Doss (03:14):
Well, that's a great question.
I think the value chaincoordinator position name is so
vague because it's kind ofanswering a vague question.
It's a multifaceted,multi-faceted process, a problem
with multi-faceted solutions.
So you know, you can applydifferent solutions to the
problem at hand, but mine mainlywith the food system, because I
know there's different valuechain coordinations with
different, I guess, job sectors,but mine is currently trying to
(03:39):
create a local food system thatis not only robust and
efficient but profitable.
We're really looking out forthe farmers.
We want to introduce them to, Iguess.
Well, they currently have amarketplace, of course, because
they're successful farmers, butwe want to bridge the gap
between, I guess, diversemarketplaces so that we can
(04:00):
allow the farmer to introduceits locally grown produce to a
new or different marketplace attheir price point and at the
same time gain greater accessfor the consumer to that locally
produced, local produce.
And that's pretty much the bigpicture and there's many ways
(04:25):
you can go about it, but that'sreally just trying to promote
the local farmer.
Caleb Ayers (04:28):
So promote the local farmer and make sure that
basically give them, provideopportunities for them to have
access to more markets and thengive consumers access to more
local products.
Mitchell Doss (04:38):
Exactly yeah, because in today's world you can
pretty much achieve a lot ofthings through different
perspectives and the way thecurrent system is going.
You saw with COVID, a lot ofsupply chains shut down and we
got cut off from a lot of foodand the shipments we're making.
When we were in the air, wewere producing this food and it
(05:01):
just wasn't staying in the area.
So I guess it's justintroducing more facets to keep
things local, I guess.
So, yeah, that's probably thebest, I guess, realm of what the
job is Right.
Caleb Ayers (05:14):
I know when I talked to you a few months ago,
just kind of talking about whatyou do here, it was very much
you were in the kind of justexploring the area, researching,
talking to producers, talkingto people who run these kinds of
um, I guess, related businessesand related um, related uh
systems.
So talk to me about so far kindof what, what you've seen, what
(05:35):
you've found, what are the?
Yeah, what, what have you foundso far?
Mitchell Doss (05:39):
Great question.
So, being boots on the ground,like the food system is already
in the area, like's a, it'spretty much an ecosystem.
It's going to be thereregardless.
It's just how healthy it is.
Um, so mainly my area falls inthe southern virginia region.
But I mean, we're not opposed toworking outside the southern
virginia region but, uh, withinthe region there's already food
auctions in place, such as, uh,foothills farmers auction and,
(06:01):
um, southern was a foot, yeah,southern virginia produce
auction.
One's based in Franklin Countyand the other one is based in
Charlotte Courthouse.
And then there is 4P Foods,which is kind of a little bit
larger of a production.
They're based in more NorthernVirginia but they work with
farmers as far as SouthernVirginia and North Carolina.
And then there's some programsout in Roanoke.
(06:22):
There's an institution calledLEAP and and they work with 4P
Foods and they kind of serve theRoanoke area as kind of a food
hub.
So it's really kind of takingin what's in place right now,
trying to see the gaps or thepuzzle pieces that we can put in
to connect those alreadyestablished resources to our
already established farmers.
(06:43):
But one thing I guess with thewhole thing, uh, referencing
gaps, um, I really got me anopportunity to really study what
my, my, uh, I guess my positionis, because I'm coming not from
this field, um, so it wasreally really nice to really get
the idea of what the initialgap was, which is how the
farmers um are so big like they,they are focused, they are um
(07:05):
best at being farmers in today'sworld.
They're having to marketthemselves and sometimes they
just don't have the time orresources.
And then when you look atinstitutional buyers, sometimes
they get overwhelmed by thesheer amount of farmers or if
they're looking for a specialtycrop.
So there's a gap between thatright there, which is not
something you really want in alocal area or in any area.
So that's a gap that I feellike I've really noticed.
(07:28):
And I guess a secondary one thathas kind of popped up, that's
kind of built on what I've seenrecently it's a smaller one is
that some of the food systemsthat are already in place are
actually really associated withreligious, I guess, groups, a
lot with the Mennonites andAmish and German Baptist Church.
(07:48):
So that's going to be someinteresting stuff to look toward
in the future because, like Isaid, there's already food
systems in place.
So if it's not broke, don't fixit.
But when you want to changefood you've got to change
everything, everything.
And if you're coming from anarea that has a lot of not only,
I guess core values involvedwith it, it might be a little
(08:09):
bit of a uh, a little bitinteresting perspective and I
look forward to kind of seeingwhat, how it works.
But that's some stuff I've seenso far um with with, I guess,
more so in the local systemright?
Caleb Ayers (08:19):
well, I mean, what you're talking about is
identifying gaps and you'resaying that there's already a
system in place, so it's notlike you have to come in and
blow everything up and changeeverything or add in a bunch of
new things.
Mitchell Doss (08:29):
Exactly.
Caleb Ayers (08:31):
I would imagine a lot of what you're doing is
trying to connect these existingresources.
Mitchell Doss (08:36):
Yes, exactly At the same time you're connecting
but also you are creating new,because some of these local
systems are such on a smallscale that they can't really
serve a larger area.
So I can't really serve alarger area.
So I'm I can't really name offall the counties that I'm
involved with off the top of myhead, but you know, if you're
somewhere in franklin countyit's gonna and you service that
franklin county area as a smallfood auction.
It's gonna be kind of hard to.
I don't know, I wouldn't saykind of hard.
(08:57):
I'm sure there's logistics youcan figure out with trucking and
stuff, but it's just they, notmuch they can service around the
Halifax area.
So what can we do to get theHalifax farmers and consumers
getting goods from the FranklinCounty area?
We might not be able to.
So what can we mimic in onearea to another that bolsters
the entirety of the food systemon, I guess, a more zoomed out
(09:18):
scale versus local, like smallscale local.
Caleb Ayers (09:21):
The list of localities I pulled it up here
from the sweet the notes you hadgiven me is Bedford County,
brunswick County, CampbellCounty, charlotte County,
danville, franklin County,halifax County, henry County,
martinsville, mecklenburg County, patrick County, pennsylvania
County, prince Edward County.
Yeah, so that's a pretty largegeographic footprint.
Mitchell Doss (09:38):
It is, and it's all about location, especially
with logistics and the valuechain coordination.
You got to coordinate thelogistics, so it's more or less
finding solutions that helpeverybody.
But sometimes you know you'vegot to think outside the box,
and that's what I guess theposition is all about.
You know these systems are inplace, but sometimes you need a
different perspective.
Caleb Ayers (09:58):
And I know you're about seven, eight months in, so
you're still trying to figureout all the pieces of those
different systems.
Mitchell Doss (10:04):
Yes.
Caleb Ayers (10:05):
Are there any kind of next steps?
Mitchell Doss (10:07):
you're seeing goals you're setting for
yourself as far as what's comingnext For sure, I mean, you can
always learn more With such adiverse, I guess, topic in food
systems.
You could always learn more,always connect with more people.
So that's always a step, I feellike.
But we're actually planning outa first like a farmer workshop.
(10:27):
It's going to be called theSouthern Virginia Region Food
Initiative.
I think right now we're aimingfor.
April is the date.
It's a date in April and this isjust an opportunity for us to
invite some of the farmers inour area, or I mean within, I
guess, driving distance of theInstitute Everybody's welcome,
of course and people involvedwith the food system to really
(10:48):
have a chance to meet at theInstitute, see what the
Institute's about, but also seewhat my position's about, and as
well as voice their opinions onwhat they're currently doing
and what they hope can change,or what they can do is also
collaborate with other farmers,because it's not just about the
collaboration with the Institute.
If we can bring two peopletogether in the area, that
benefit off one another but Ican't help them, well, that's
(11:09):
just as beneficial as if I couldhelp them, if you see what I'm
saying.
So that's a really big step I'mreally looking forward to
because I get to see what thefarmers want, and then I can
take the information that thefarmers give to me and really
start connecting toinstitutional buyers or even
school systems or just differentfacets for food, and say, hey,
(11:29):
we have these farmers that areinterested in revitalizing and
changing the food system.
Do you want to be a part of itand what do you need?
Because I feel like you couldeither start with the
institutions first or thefarmers, but I'm really excited
to start with the farmers firstbecause I feel like that's the
most important member of the Iguess, the food web ecosystem.
Without the farmers youwouldn't really have anything.
(11:52):
So that's why I'm choosing tostart there and that's probably
the next step.
That can really be a big dominothat causes a later domino is
the fall and shift into place.
Caleb Ayers (12:02):
Yeah.
So basically, what you'resaying is you're doing a lot of
work connecting with thosefarmers and then you have that
in mind that you'll be trying toI would imagine you're building
some of these relationshipsalready too, but you have that
in mind to start connectingthose farmers with institutional
buyers, like that.
Mitchell Doss (12:16):
That's yeah, so you're self-playing yeah, and
that's the thing with this isall about creation of the
relationship, and that's athat's in today's world.
That's rough enough as it is,because so many people have
different viewpoints, but thething is is we just want to make
sure that they're heard andthat we are here to help and
that we can bring about a change, and we want to start with them
(12:37):
to do that.
So it's been a wonderfulopportunity.
Caleb Ayers (12:42):
I love how diverse this place is and there's so
many random things that don'tseem like they connect together
have a link together.
How do you see what you dofitting into our mission of
economic transformation?
How does creating effectivefood systems and value chains
fit into the mission of economictransformation for Southern
Virginia?
Mitchell Doss (13:01):
That's a great question.
Well, the Institute's missionto serve as an economic catalyst
for the area, to drive economicgrowth and transformation, it
really aligns with my workbecause we're directly
contributing to the economicsustainability of local farmers.
So that's producing a lot morerevenue in the agriculture and
(13:23):
you know, spending local moneyon local produce keeps kind of a
closed-loop system, you knowthe money staying in the area.
So I feel like with theincreased revenue growing
agriculture, I guess marketplaceit's, it's.
It's only a matter of time wheneconomic transformation and
growth follow that.
So I do feel like it alignsvery closely because at the same
(13:44):
time, you know we have economicdevelopment here at the
institute, we also have research.
I'm kind of somewhere in themiddle because you know, I know
my research stuff.
I can tell you what's like kindof cutting edge or what.
You know, what we found incertain crops and you're
switching over to.
If you want to switch fromfield crops to hydroponics, I
can offer that kind of researchbackground and you know economic
development.
You know, if I'm havingtroubles like with, I guess,
(14:06):
understanding business sides,because I don't really have a
business background, I can kindof go to them and be like, hey,
how can we help this guy out?
He's trying to expand or tryingto get markets in this area and
they might be able to offer mesome information.
So it kind of goes off a littlebit more of how diverse we are.
So we can meet diversechallenges with, I guess,
diverse solutions with a diverseteam.
Caleb Ayers (14:32):
Yeah, I agree 100% with what you just said and I
think it's cool Tally's used theword a lot like we're a
convener and a connector.
I've heard that phrase said alot and what you're doing is
also that it's literally justlike bringing people together to
try to figure out what thesolution is.
You're bringing the farmers,you're going to be bringing the
industrial side, you're going tobe bringing these different
organizations who are involvedin this all to the same table,
trying to figure out how, youknow, how do we solve these
problems?
How do we and, like you said,you're you know, if it's not
broke, don't fix it, but how dowe improve these things?
Mitchell Doss (14:53):
How do we improve these?
Caleb Ayers (14:54):
things.
Um, that's really cool.
Um, what have been some of theand I know, like you know, like
you said, I'll know a lot ofwhat you're doing right now is
kind of preliminary work,figuring out what needs to be
done what the Well?
Mitchell Doss (15:11):
personally for me it's just not to sound vague,
but I don't have much backgroundin this other than I know
plants and I can talk to adiverse array of people I've
been proud of myself to feellike I'm actually contributing
to this new responsibility.
So I've been proud to take on anew research topic, a new realm
(15:36):
of thinking.
So that's been a proud process.
But honestly, I'm just proud ofthe whole message, or the end
goal.
It's really admirable because Ifeel like the farmers are
really overlooked a lot andthey're one of the most
important foundations for ourcommunity.
If you have a really boomingagriculture system in your area,
it's almost like everythingfollows.
(15:57):
Um.
So as as much as I'd like to uhsay I've, I've instituted, uh,
like, uh, raised farmer'srevenue by X amount, I can't say
that I've done that yet, butI'm learning and I have the
desire to be impactful, so I'mvery proud of that.
But I'm also very proud ofpeople's willingness to reach
(16:20):
out, because, you know, I justsend a research.
I find part of a food systemthat seems interesting, like,
for example, the auctions.
I couldn't really find idealcontacts for those, so I just
started reaching out, like hey,who can I talk to?
Like, if you're an extensionagent and agents stuff, who can
(16:42):
I talk to that manages this?
And uh, sometimes I get emails,sometimes I get numbers.
I don't really like textednumbers because sometimes you
know how'd you get this number?
You could get a lot ofanimosity with it, but um,
they've been.
It's been really positivefeedback.
When I reach out to people andthey're like man, well, yeah,
you're a fellow person who wantsto see this food system expand
and grow, like, I'll be happy toshow you around our facility,
I'll be happy to let you meetsome farmers and, hey, come on
(17:02):
back, I can give you a tour ofthe area.
So it's really.
It's been surprising to me,because usually when you try to
bring about change, some peopleare a little bit stubborn or a
little bit hardheaded with it,but people seem to be really
opening up about it.
So that's another aspect I'mproud of it's people's
willingness to like, acknowledgethat we could be better, and
(17:23):
they're willing to work alongwith it.
So I think it's slowly, I thinkslowly I've gathering stuff and
I think eventually, once wehave this workshop, it's just
gonna just explode or it's gonnatake off.
At least that's what I'm hoping, I think.
I think it's gonna turn intosomething pretty cool so you're
talking about?
Caleb Ayers (17:36):
you know connecting with people and all that you
know going about connecting withdifferent.
You know producers and thingslike that.
Who are the types of peoplethat you're looking to connect
with now and how can they get intouch with?
Mitchell Doss (17:47):
you?
That's a great question.
Um, honestly, anybodyassociated with the food system
and and honestly at this point,well, probably not at this point
, but eventually consumers, um,I have been reaching out to, I
guess, major players in the foodsystem game, such as food hubs,
food auctions, places where uhfarmers go to this, I guess,
sell, or uh sell their goods, um, but I guess now, once we have
(18:13):
that workshop, we'll have inputfrom farmers and then we can
start reaching out or receiveword from institutional buyers,
nonprofits, and then eventually,moving on from that, even on
the single scale, like a smallscale consumer, because a lot of
these food systems introducelike subscription programs such
(18:34):
such as, uh like food farmerbuy-in, so like a certain farmer
will have this crop and he'llput up front cost and have a
certain amount of people put upmoney for it and you get a cut
of that harvest.
Um to just local, just likeweekly or bi-monthly food, uh,
like food drops or um, and thatthat's, that's something that
could be implemented in thefuture.
So I guess just um, and therejust, and there has been
(18:58):
research to say that people wantmore local produced food.
But I guess it's nice toassociate a name with a face and
like, hey, so-and-so, justemailed me expressing interest
in this, possibly in the futuregetting a subscription program
on the consumer scale.
That way I can hey, that way Ican, hey, that way I can
communicate to the farmer.
(19:18):
Hey, I've been receiving wordlately that people are really
interested in subscriptionprograms like is that something
you'd be interested in?
To in, in and um.
So I guess anybody that has anyinsight, input, uh, or has any
uh value or or recommendations,I'm open to hear anything
because, like I said, you wantto change food, you've got to
change everything, and everybodyoffers a different, diverse
(19:40):
perspective.
So you could say something thatI hadn't even thought about or
so-and-so, I hadn't even thoughtabout.
That changes the whole game,not to be vague.
But I feel like it's such awide variety of solutions that I
feel like I don't want tosingle anybody out.
I don't want to say no, justthe farmers, talk to me.
I'll talk to anybody about it,because I feel like it's so
(20:02):
impactful for the area thatanybody can get into it.
I mean, anybody can make theirvoice heard about what they're
eating and consuming or whateverthey're producing.
Or if you want to shift up andchange what you're producing
because we have connections withthe cea, you know, with the cea
center being here, um, you know, with dr south, if you want to
(20:23):
change from being a field cropto hydroponics or you want to
expand from solely field crops,hydroponics, we can.
You know we have, like you said, diverse people that can help
you on the way.
Um, so, if so, if you reach out, I may not be able to help you,
but I can put you in contactwith somebody who might.
Caleb Ayers (20:38):
So that's the whole thing I'm willing to hear
anybody, absolutely, and forthose who are interested in
learning more, you can visit ourwebsite.
It's IALRorg backslash valuechain and there will be all the
information about the work thatMitchell's doing in this effort
to sort of you know, grow andimprove the food system here in
Southern Virginia.
Mitchell, thanks for being here.
(21:00):
Really, of course, thank youfor having me.
Welcome to another episode of Inside IALR.
Thanks for joining us today.
So today we're here to talkabout sort of a new
up-and-coming program here atthe Institute for Advanced
Learning and Research, one thathas been launched thanks to a
Tobacco Commission grant.
We have Mitchell Doss, who ishere as our value chain
coordinator.
So, mitchell, thanks for beinghere.
Mitchell Doss (00:27):
Thank you for having me.
Caleb Ayers (00:28):
So, to start, I've talked to you a little bit about
kind of what you're working on,what you're doing here.
You've been here since July andyou've been on a previous
podcast.
Your experience goes wellbeyond the last eight months.
But tell us a little bit aboutkind of how your journey before
you got into this currentposition.
Mitchell Doss (00:44):
I always have a hard time picking where to start
, but the story starts in Gretna, virginia.
I went to Gretna High Schooland, being in Pennsylvania
County, we really were allowedto apply to the Academy for
Engineering and Technology, orGovSchool.
So that's what got me.
My first introduction to theInstitute was attending the
Academy of Engineering andTechnology and through that
program it offered me aninternship with Dr Lohman here
(01:05):
at the Institute, I think around2015, 2016, which really kind
of started me on the path downscience in the field of science,
still not really knowing what Iwant to do.
So after high school I attendedRandolph College where I
studied environmental sciencewith double minor in engineering
and data science.
In engineering and data science,while at Randolph I interned at
(01:25):
the Institute once more withSamantha Smith in the Distilling
Research Department where wewere working with drone, doing
drone flights and surveyingvineyards and farmlands and that
was more optics kind of goingalong with the smart table stuff
, and then that finished.
That was around 2019.
So I finished up college in2021, came and worked here a
year as a through Virginia Techas a research specialist for the
(01:49):
Controlled EnvironmentalAgriculture Innovation Center.
After working there a year theygave me the opportunity to
proceed with my master's atVirginia Tech.
So, from 2022-2024, I wasstudying horticulture with a
focus on potassiumconcentrations in hydroponic
lettuce, as well as utilizingthe smart tables to do plant
(02:11):
imaging and robotics.
And then, when I was finishingthat up in 2024, this position
became open and while I wasdoing my thesis, I applied to it
and was given the opportunity,and I guess the rest is history
and I've just been working andlearning my new responsibilities
.
Caleb Ayers (02:27):
Yeah, I think you are the poster child for IOM,
for career pathways.
We love to talk about those.
We love to talk aboutinternships.
You are the poster child forall of that.
Mitchell Doss (02:36):
I appreciate it.
Caleb Ayers (02:37):
I try my best but I appreciate them having faith in
me to assume that position ofpost-trial if something ever
happens to you and you ever getfired or something bad happens,
we're gonna have to do a lot ofscrubbing on our website.
Oh no, daniel's probably gonnacut that out, it's okay.
Mitchell Doss (02:54):
Don't keep it in there.
Caleb Ayers (02:55):
It adds character I'm feeling good, feeling good
today.
Off just reading the titlevalue chain coordinator to me
that means very little.
I don't really understand whatthat means, just by the title, I
think it's.
So tell us a little bit aboutkind of what big picture, kind
of what is?
What are you trying to do, whatis your role and what are you
trying to do?
Mitchell Doss (03:14):
Well, that's a great question.
I think the value chaincoordinator position name is so
vague because it's kind ofanswering a vague question.
It's a multifaceted,multi-faceted process, a problem
with multi-faceted solutions.
So you know, you can applydifferent solutions to the
problem at hand, but mine mainlywith the food system, because I
know there's different valuechain coordinations with
different, I guess, job sectors,but mine is currently trying to
(03:39):
create a local food system thatis not only robust and
efficient but profitable.
We're really looking out forthe farmers.
We want to introduce them to, Iguess.
Well, they currently have amarketplace, of course, because
they're successful farmers, butwe want to bridge the gap
between, I guess, diversemarketplaces so that we can
(04:00):
allow the farmer to introduceits locally grown produce to a
new or different marketplace attheir price point and at the
same time gain greater accessfor the consumer to that locally
produced, local produce.
And that's pretty much the bigpicture and there's many ways
(04:25):
you can go about it, but that'sreally just trying to promote
the local farmer.
Caleb Ayers (04:28):
So promote the local farmer and make sure that
basically give them, provideopportunities for them to have
access to more markets and thengive consumers access to more
local products.
Mitchell Doss (04:38):
Exactly yeah, because in today's world you can
pretty much achieve a lot ofthings through different
perspectives and the way thecurrent system is going.
You saw with COVID, a lot ofsupply chains shut down and we
got cut off from a lot of foodand the shipments we're making.
When we were in the air, wewere producing this food and it
(05:01):
just wasn't staying in the area.
So I guess it's justintroducing more facets to keep
things local, I guess.
So, yeah, that's probably thebest, I guess, realm of what the
job is Right.
Caleb Ayers (05:14):
I know when I talked to you a few months ago,
just kind of talking about whatyou do here, it was very much
you were in the kind of justexploring the area, researching,
talking to producers, talkingto people who run these kinds of
um, I guess, related businessesand related um, related uh
systems.
So talk to me about so far kindof what, what you've seen, what
(05:35):
you've found, what are the?
Yeah, what, what have you foundso far?
Mitchell Doss (05:39):
Great question.
So, being boots on the ground,like the food system is already
in the area, like's a, it'spretty much an ecosystem.
It's going to be thereregardless.
It's just how healthy it is.
Um, so mainly my area falls inthe southern virginia region.
But I mean, we're not opposed toworking outside the southern
virginia region but, uh, withinthe region there's already food
auctions in place, such as, uh,foothills farmers auction and,
(06:01):
um, southern was a foot, yeah,southern virginia produce
auction.
One's based in Franklin Countyand the other one is based in
Charlotte Courthouse.
And then there is 4P Foods,which is kind of a little bit
larger of a production.
They're based in more NorthernVirginia but they work with
farmers as far as SouthernVirginia and North Carolina.
And then there's some programsout in Roanoke.
(06:22):
There's an institution calledLEAP and and they work with 4P
Foods and they kind of serve theRoanoke area as kind of a food
hub.
So it's really kind of takingin what's in place right now,
trying to see the gaps or thepuzzle pieces that we can put in
to connect those alreadyestablished resources to our
already established farmers.
(06:43):
But one thing I guess with thewhole thing, uh, referencing
gaps, um, I really got me anopportunity to really study what
my, my, uh, I guess my positionis, because I'm coming not from
this field, um, so it wasreally really nice to really get
the idea of what the initialgap was, which is how the
farmers um are so big like they,they are focused, they are um
(07:05):
best at being farmers in today'sworld.
They're having to marketthemselves and sometimes they
just don't have the time orresources.
And then when you look atinstitutional buyers, sometimes
they get overwhelmed by thesheer amount of farmers or if
they're looking for a specialtycrop.
So there's a gap between thatright there, which is not
something you really want in alocal area or in any area.
So that's a gap that I feellike I've really noticed.
(07:28):
And I guess a secondary one thathas kind of popped up, that's
kind of built on what I've seenrecently it's a smaller one is
that some of the food systemsthat are already in place are
actually really associated withreligious, I guess, groups, a
lot with the Mennonites andAmish and German Baptist Church.
(07:48):
So that's going to be someinteresting stuff to look toward
in the future because, like Isaid, there's already food
systems in place.
So if it's not broke, don't fixit.
But when you want to changefood you've got to change
everything, everything.
And if you're coming from anarea that has a lot of not only,
I guess core values involvedwith it, it might be a little
(08:09):
bit of a uh, a little bitinteresting perspective and I
look forward to kind of seeingwhat, how it works.
But that's some stuff I've seenso far um with with, I guess,
more so in the local systemright?
Caleb Ayers (08:19):
well, I mean, what you're talking about is
identifying gaps and you'resaying that there's already a
system in place, so it's notlike you have to come in and
blow everything up and changeeverything or add in a bunch of
new things.
Mitchell Doss (08:29):
Exactly.
Caleb Ayers (08:31):
I would imagine a lot of what you're doing is
trying to connect these existingresources.
Mitchell Doss (08:36):
Yes, exactly At the same time you're connecting
but also you are creating new,because some of these local
systems are such on a smallscale that they can't really
serve a larger area.
So I can't really serve alarger area.
So I'm I can't really name offall the counties that I'm
involved with off the top of myhead, but you know, if you're
somewhere in franklin countyit's gonna and you service that
franklin county area as a smallfood auction.
It's gonna be kind of hard to.
I don't know, I wouldn't saykind of hard.
(08:57):
I'm sure there's logistics youcan figure out with trucking and
stuff, but it's just they, notmuch they can service around the
Halifax area.
So what can we do to get theHalifax farmers and consumers
getting goods from the FranklinCounty area?
We might not be able to.
So what can we mimic in onearea to another that bolsters
the entirety of the food systemon, I guess, a more zoomed out
(09:18):
scale versus local, like smallscale local.
Caleb Ayers (09:21):
The list of localities I pulled it up here
from the sweet the notes you hadgiven me is Bedford County,
brunswick County, CampbellCounty, charlotte County,
danville, franklin County,halifax County, henry County,
martinsville, mecklenburg County, patrick County, pennsylvania
County, prince Edward County.
Yeah, so that's a pretty largegeographic footprint.
Mitchell Doss (09:38):
It is, and it's all about location, especially
with logistics and the valuechain coordination.
You got to coordinate thelogistics, so it's more or less
finding solutions that helpeverybody.
But sometimes you know you'vegot to think outside the box,
and that's what I guess theposition is all about.
You know these systems are inplace, but sometimes you need a
different perspective.
Caleb Ayers (09:58):
And I know you're about seven, eight months in, so
you're still trying to figureout all the pieces of those
different systems.
Mitchell Doss (10:04):
Yes.
Caleb Ayers (10:05):
Are there any kind of next steps?
Mitchell Doss (10:07):
you're seeing goals you're setting for
yourself as far as what's comingnext For sure, I mean, you can
always learn more With such adiverse, I guess, topic in food
systems.
You could always learn more,always connect with more people.
So that's always a step, I feellike.
But we're actually planning outa first like a farmer workshop.
(10:27):
It's going to be called theSouthern Virginia Region Food
Initiative.
I think right now we're aimingfor.
April is the date.
It's a date in April and this isjust an opportunity for us to
invite some of the farmers inour area, or I mean within, I
guess, driving distance of theInstitute Everybody's welcome,
of course and people involvedwith the food system to really
(10:48):
have a chance to meet at theInstitute, see what the
Institute's about, but also seewhat my position's about, and as
well as voice their opinions onwhat they're currently doing
and what they hope can change,or what they can do is also
collaborate with other farmers,because it's not just about the
collaboration with the Institute.
If we can bring two peopletogether in the area, that
benefit off one another but Ican't help them, well, that's
(11:09):
just as beneficial as if I couldhelp them, if you see what I'm
saying.
So that's a really big step I'mreally looking forward to
because I get to see what thefarmers want, and then I can
take the information that thefarmers give to me and really
start connecting toinstitutional buyers or even
school systems or just differentfacets for food, and say, hey,
(11:29):
we have these farmers that areinterested in revitalizing and
changing the food system.
Do you want to be a part of itand what do you need?
Because I feel like you couldeither start with the
institutions first or thefarmers, but I'm really excited
to start with the farmers firstbecause I feel like that's the
most important member of the Iguess, the food web ecosystem.
Without the farmers youwouldn't really have anything.
(11:52):
So that's why I'm choosing tostart there and that's probably
the next step.
That can really be a big dominothat causes a later domino is
the fall and shift into place.
Caleb Ayers (12:02):
Yeah.
So basically, what you'resaying is you're doing a lot of
work connecting with thosefarmers and then you have that
in mind that you'll be trying toI would imagine you're building
some of these relationshipsalready too, but you have that
in mind to start connectingthose farmers with institutional
buyers, like that.
Mitchell Doss (12:16):
That's yeah, so you're self-playing yeah, and
that's the thing with this isall about creation of the
relationship, and that's athat's in today's world.
That's rough enough as it is,because so many people have
different viewpoints, but thething is is we just want to make
sure that they're heard andthat we are here to help and
that we can bring about a change, and we want to start with them
(12:37):
to do that.
So it's been a wonderfulopportunity.
Caleb Ayers (12:42):
I love how diverse this place is and there's so
many random things that don'tseem like they connect together
have a link together.
How do you see what you dofitting into our mission of
economic transformation?
How does creating effectivefood systems and value chains
fit into the mission of economictransformation for Southern
Virginia?
Mitchell Doss (13:01):
That's a great question.
Well, the Institute's missionto serve as an economic catalyst
for the area, to drive economicgrowth and transformation, it
really aligns with my workbecause we're directly
contributing to the economicsustainability of local farmers.
So that's producing a lot morerevenue in the agriculture and
(13:23):
you know, spending local moneyon local produce keeps kind of a
closed-loop system, you knowthe money staying in the area.
So I feel like with theincreased revenue growing
agriculture, I guess marketplaceit's, it's.
It's only a matter of time wheneconomic transformation and
growth follow that.
So I do feel like it alignsvery closely because at the same
(13:44):
time, you know we have economicdevelopment here at the
institute, we also have research.
I'm kind of somewhere in themiddle because you know, I know
my research stuff.
I can tell you what's like kindof cutting edge or what.
You know, what we found incertain crops and you're
switching over to.
If you want to switch fromfield crops to hydroponics, I
can offer that kind of researchbackground and you know economic
development.
You know, if I'm havingtroubles like with, I guess,
(14:06):
understanding business sides,because I don't really have a
business background, I can kindof go to them and be like, hey,
how can we help this guy out?
He's trying to expand or tryingto get markets in this area and
they might be able to offer mesome information.
So it kind of goes off a littlebit more of how diverse we are.
So we can meet diversechallenges with, I guess,
diverse solutions with a diverseteam.
Caleb Ayers (14:32):
Yeah, I agree 100% with what you just said and I
think it's cool Tally's used theword a lot like we're a
convener and a connector.
I've heard that phrase said alot and what you're doing is
also that it's literally justlike bringing people together to
try to figure out what thesolution is.
You're bringing the farmers,you're going to be bringing the
industrial side, you're going tobe bringing these different
organizations who are involvedin this all to the same table,
trying to figure out how, youknow, how do we solve these
problems?
How do we and, like you said,you're you know, if it's not
broke, don't fix it, but how dowe improve these things?
Mitchell Doss (14:53):
How do we improve these?
Caleb Ayers (14:54):
things.
Um, that's really cool.
Um, what have been some of theand I know, like you know, like
you said, I'll know a lot ofwhat you're doing right now is
kind of preliminary work,figuring out what needs to be
done what the Well?
Mitchell Doss (15:11):
personally for me it's just not to sound vague,
but I don't have much backgroundin this other than I know
plants and I can talk to adiverse array of people I've
been proud of myself to feellike I'm actually contributing
to this new responsibility.
So I've been proud to take on anew research topic, a new realm
(15:36):
of thinking.
So that's been a proud process.
But honestly, I'm just proud ofthe whole message, or the end
goal.
It's really admirable because Ifeel like the farmers are
really overlooked a lot andthey're one of the most
important foundations for ourcommunity.
If you have a really boomingagriculture system in your area,
it's almost like everythingfollows.
(15:57):
Um.
So as as much as I'd like to uhsay I've, I've instituted, uh,
like, uh, raised farmer'srevenue by X amount, I can't say
that I've done that yet, butI'm learning and I have the
desire to be impactful, so I'mvery proud of that.
But I'm also very proud ofpeople's willingness to reach
(16:20):
out, because, you know, I justsend a research.
I find part of a food systemthat seems interesting, like,
for example, the auctions.
I couldn't really find idealcontacts for those, so I just
started reaching out, like hey,who can I talk to?
Like, if you're an extensionagent and agents stuff, who can
(16:42):
I talk to that manages this?
And uh, sometimes I get emails,sometimes I get numbers.
I don't really like textednumbers because sometimes you
know how'd you get this number?
You could get a lot ofanimosity with it, but um,
they've been.
It's been really positivefeedback.
When I reach out to people andthey're like man, well, yeah,
you're a fellow person who wantsto see this food system expand
and grow, like, I'll be happy toshow you around our facility,
I'll be happy to let you meetsome farmers and, hey, come on
(17:02):
back, I can give you a tour ofthe area.
So it's really.
It's been surprising to me,because usually when you try to
bring about change, some peopleare a little bit stubborn or a
little bit hardheaded with it,but people seem to be really
opening up about it.
So that's another aspect I'mproud of it's people's
willingness to like, acknowledgethat we could be better, and
(17:23):
they're willing to work alongwith it.
So I think it's slowly, I thinkslowly I've gathering stuff and
I think eventually, once wehave this workshop, it's just
gonna just explode or it's gonnatake off.
At least that's what I'm hoping, I think.
I think it's gonna turn intosomething pretty cool so you're
talking about?
Caleb Ayers (17:36):
you know connecting with people and all that you
know going about connecting withdifferent.
You know producers and thingslike that.
Who are the types of peoplethat you're looking to connect
with now and how can they get intouch with?
Mitchell Doss (17:47):
you?
That's a great question.
Um, honestly, anybodyassociated with the food system
and and honestly at this point,well, probably not at this point
, but eventually consumers, um,I have been reaching out to, I
guess, major players in the foodsystem game, such as food hubs,
food auctions, places where uhfarmers go to this, I guess,
sell, or uh sell their goods, um, but I guess now, once we have
(18:13):
that workshop, we'll have inputfrom farmers and then we can
start reaching out or receiveword from institutional buyers,
nonprofits, and then eventually,moving on from that, even on
the single scale, like a smallscale consumer, because a lot of
these food systems introducelike subscription programs such
(18:34):
such as, uh like food farmerbuy-in, so like a certain farmer
will have this crop and he'llput up front cost and have a
certain amount of people put upmoney for it and you get a cut
of that harvest.
Um to just local, just likeweekly or bi-monthly food, uh,
like food drops or um, and thatthat's, that's something that
could be implemented in thefuture.
So I guess just um, and therejust, and there has been
(18:58):
research to say that people wantmore local produced food.
But I guess it's nice toassociate a name with a face and
like, hey, so-and-so, justemailed me expressing interest
in this, possibly in the futuregetting a subscription program
on the consumer scale.
That way I can hey, that way Ican, hey, that way I can
communicate to the farmer.
(19:18):
Hey, I've been receiving wordlately that people are really
interested in subscriptionprograms like is that something
you'd be interested in?
To in, in and um.
So I guess anybody that has anyinsight, input, uh, or has any
uh value or or recommendations,I'm open to hear anything
because, like I said, you wantto change food, you've got to
change everything, and everybodyoffers a different, diverse
(19:40):
perspective.
So you could say something thatI hadn't even thought about or
so-and-so, I hadn't even thoughtabout.
That changes the whole game,not to be vague.
But I feel like it's such awide variety of solutions that I
feel like I don't want tosingle anybody out.
I don't want to say no, justthe farmers, talk to me.
I'll talk to anybody about it,because I feel like it's so
(20:02):
impactful for the area thatanybody can get into it.
I mean, anybody can make theirvoice heard about what they're
eating and consuming or whateverthey're producing.
Or if you want to shift up andchange what you're producing
because we have connections withthe cea, you know, with the cea
center being here, um, you know, with dr south, if you want to
(20:23):
change from being a field cropto hydroponics or you want to
expand from solely field crops,hydroponics, we can.
You know we have, like you said, diverse people that can help
you on the way.
Um, so, if so, if you reach out, I may not be able to help you,
but I can put you in contactwith somebody who might.
Caleb Ayers (20:38):
So that's the whole thing I'm willing to hear
anybody, absolutely, and forthose who are interested in
learning more, you can visit ourwebsite.
It's IALRorg backslash valuechain and there will be all the
information about the work thatMitchell's doing in this effort
to sort of you know, grow andimprove the food system here in
Southern Virginia.
Mitchell, thanks for being here.
(21:00):
Really, of course, thank youfor having me.
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