In my “Long Tail” post a few days back, I discussed the opportunity/need for a different approach to local food. At the time I wrote that I was already working on an answer, but I wasn’t yet sure if it was time to acknowledge it publicly. But after talking it over with a few people and looking for other sites trying a similar approach, I decided it was time to do it. I’m going to build this thing.
A quick recap of where current models are lacking: All current food guides or directories list farms and restaurants, but not the produce. It is an old model, a yellow pages type model. It isn’t real time, it’s not comprehensive. Local food seems a natural for online. It’s ”nichy”, valuable, time -sensitive, and has a fairly coherent built-in community despite highly fragmented information on pricing and availability.
To more fully flesh out the concept:
One site that allows shoppers to see what farmers actually have available and buy or pre-order online.
A method for chefs and caterers to manage their supply of fresh, local produce in the quantities that they require.
Community based content with profile pages for local farms and restaurants, message boards, and blogs on food and farming.
Personality and Community are at the center of the concept. Consumers will come to the site because it is the most reliable way to source local foods, but meeting the farmers and chefs and food journalists will keep it interesting, and suggest new food ideas, thus reinforcing the
I’ll break down a lot of the individual concepts in later posts. Participation, benefits, business models, and marketing strategies are all evolving. I’ll start with what I know to be the core of the concept.
Community-building: For this thing to fly, it has to develop a community of people that love it. I know there is a community of people that love local food here in Ventura. If this site captures that love, and helps to build it, I will have succeeded.
Openness: I want openness to be in the very DNA of this venture. That’s why I am chronicling the development of the site in its own blog. I’ll have some good ideas, and a lot of bad ones… I hope that by posting them, I can have help telling the difference.
Good information: From the beginning, I will try to be sure that I offer good information, not simply more information.
And the name?
Croparazzi.com : Sort of a play on the celebrity farmer phenomena, a bit whimsical.
-or-
Nichefork.com: Rhymes with the iconic farm implement, but “niche” and ”fork” combine to give a foody vibe.
I have registered both, but I am using Croparazzi as a working name. More on that later, also. Track this project’s progress at croparazzi.wordpress.com, and start looking for the “larval stage” site at www.croparazzi.com
Tags: croparazzi, food, local food, locovore, nichefork
