F3 Local which is anchored by UC Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR), has conducted a needs assessment among small farmers and food entrepreneurs to better understand the technical assistance, infrastructure, regulatory, market-access, and business-development needs across Fresno, Kings, Madera, Merced, and Tulare counties. The goal is to inform programming and to support an economically viable local food system in the Central San Joaquin Valley.
Who it Serves
This survey gives insight to service providers in the Central Valley with insight into what the most urgent supports are needed by local food and farming entrepreneurs. Helping them craft solutions via funding priorities, workshops, and technical assistance.
What can other service providers do?
- Create a shared referral map and warm-handoff process among service providers.
- Clarify roles: conventional business advising can cover accounting, planning and management; F3 Local/food-system partners can emphasize food/ag regulations, production, infrastructure and markets.
- Develop common multilingual tools - startup checklists, permit guides, labeling/food-safety resources and business templates - so clients receive consistent information.
- Coordinate market-access, capital and infrastructure referrals rather than sending entrepreneurs to disconnected programs.
- Use peer learning and one-on-one follow-up for businesses that need practical implementation support
What can policy makers and funders do?
- Support a food/ag business navigator to help entrepreneurs interpret and move through regulatory processes.
- Invest in shared infrastructure: kitchens, processing/packing capacity, cold storage, equipment, and other high-cost assets including through the F3 Lending Library.
- Pair flexible grants or capital access with technical assistance, especially for compliance, equipment and early scaling.
- Strengthen regional procurement, buyer connections and reliable market opportunities for small producers and vendors.
- Fund follow-up outreach/data collection that reaches under resourced counties
Key Features
The assessment had three primary goals:
- To deepen our understanding of local food entrepreneurs and their businesses;
- Identify how their needs and challenges vary by type of activity; and
- Develop actionable recommendations for F3 Local, other service providers, policymakers, and funders working to strengthen the Central Valley food system.
Data was collected through an online survey between April and July 2025 and made available in English, Spanish, Hmong and Punjabi. Recruitment was conducted primarily through partner networks using snowball sampling, supplemented by outreach at farmers markets and community events.
The central finding of the need assessment is that financing alone will not address the barriers that the food businesses have identified in the survey. Growth requires a combination of business guidance, regulatory navigation, infrastructure, market access, and capital.
What can we learn from the needs assessment?
- Provide more differentiated technical assistance: Services should reflect both business model and stage of development.
- Include regulatory navigation within all technical assistance services: Permitting, licensing, food-safety rules, labeling, inspections, and compliance are recurring business development barriers, not peripheral issues.
- Connect technical assistance to infrastructure and markets: Training alone cannot solve lack of commercial kitchens, equipment, production space, distribution options, or buyers.
Build pathways rather than isolated workshops: Early-stage respondents in particular need interconnected help with business planning, permitting, capital, infrastructure, and customers.
Project Lead
- University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR), F3 Local
Contact
Reach out if you would like to collaborate on the next steps for supporting local food entrepreneurs. Email Gaelle Chanlot at gchanlot@ucanr.edu
Download the Report
Learn more about the findings and recommendations by downloading the full F3 Local Needs Assessment report.