Local Flavor
Mississippi State University Extension has a long history of educating farmers, citizens, and public officials on strategies to improve the local food supply. Local Flavor is a new Extension initiative that brings Extension faculty and agents together to support the development of Mississippi’s local foods industry.
Local foods development is complex and requires expertise in multiple agricultural, community, and economic development arenas. Local Flavor connects those searching for information about food safety, agricultural production, business development, economics, and policy with resources across the state.
Local Flavor celebrates Mississippi’s culture, agricultural resources, and entrepreneurial spirit, while striving to provide Mississippians with improved access to healthful, locally grown food.
Welcome to Local Flavor! Choose your area of interest, and let’s get started celebrating Mississippi’s local foods and farms.
Publications
News
Coastal wetland conservation and restoration projects along the Mississippi Gulf Coast and beyond are running into a distinct challenge: there often aren’t enough locally sourced native plants readily available to complete these efforts.
The Mississippi State University Extension Service is meeting this problem head-on by enlisting plant enthusiasts to grow and sell these marsh plants. The effort is organized as the Native Plant Producer Network, or NPPN, and it was started in 2023.
Mississippi appears to have a decent-sized pecan crop this year, but quality may have been reduced by the dry summer.
James Callahan, president of the Mississippi Pecan Growers Association, said the organization estimates Mississippi has about 18,000 acres of pecans in production with 400 growers.
Success Stories
National Rice Month doesn’t just offer rice producers an opportunity to celebrate—it gives them the chance to enjoy the cooked and served finished products, too! There was something for everyone in Merigold on the third Thursday of September at the annual rice celebration in Bolivar County: Rice Fest.
The Excellence in Tourism Leadership Program is training volunteers, employees, and board members involved in Mississippi’s tourism sector and related organizations as they build networks with fellow tourism professionals.
Bricks to Clicks provides free, low-cost, and easy-to-use marketing resources to help small businesses grow their audiences and income. Free marketing resources include a website course, one-on-one coaching, webinars, podcasts, a blog, and a bimonthly newsletter. With these marketing resources, business owners can get personalized guidance backed by decades of marketing experience to drive online awareness and engagement to increase sales.
