Agricultural Development Is Economic Development: Kentucky State Parks Local Food Purchasing Case Study

First paragraph: In April 2004 I was appointed director of food service for the Kentucky (KY) State Park system and charged with improving its 21 restaurant operations — qualitatively, physically, and financially. Kentucky's state park system is one of the largest in the nation, especially in its number of food service operations. The operations included 17 full-service resort park restaurants scattered widely across the state in primarily rural areas, as well as three state employee cafeterias located in Frankfort and the café at the KY Artisan Center in Berea....