As you drive through this part of the country, what you see nowadays is corn. Then more corn. Then still more corn. I used to drive on a regular basis from Madison, Wisconsin to Toledo, Ohio and quite frankly there were few moments in the entire trip when a cornfield was not within view. That is not corn-on-the-cob-for-dinner corn. That's corn to feed cattle and corn to export and corn to be broken down into various components. For those unfamiliar with the situation, the movie "Food, Inc." is a good place to start.
With that in mind, note these comments in an article in the Wisconsin State Journal this week:
The Midwest is known more for growing corn than cauliflower, but if its farmers raised the fruit and vegetables eaten in the Heartland, they could create thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in income, according to a recent study.Let me repeat the most striking statistic in a larger font:
The study from Iowa State University looked at what would happen if farmers in six Midwestern states - Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin - raised 28 crops in quantities large enough to meet local demand. It found that if an ample supply of produce could be grown regionally, it would spur $882 million in sales, more than 9,300 jobs and about $395 million in labor income...
Growing enough food to meet regional demand also wouldn't take much land, Miller said: "That's one of the wild things about it _ you can grow a lot on a few number of acres. Anyone who has a garden knows this."
How few acres? One of Iowa's 99 counties could meet the demand for all six states, said Rich Pirog, associate director for the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State.
The study included apricots, asparagus, mustard greens, bell peppers, onions, broccoli, peaches, cabbage, pears, cantaloupe, plums, carrots, raspberries, cauliflower, snap beans, collard greens, spinach, cucumbers, squash, eggplant, strawberries, garlic, sweet potatoes, kale, tomatoes, watermelon and lettuce - both leaf and head.
Crops such as pumpkins, apples and cherries weren't included in the study because the Midwest already grows enough of them to meet local and regional demand. Corn, as well as soybeans, are considered grains, not produce...
The advent of commodity payment programs in the 1930s, the development of refrigerated trucks and the interstate highway system, and a hodge-podge of other policies encouraged farmers to grow crops where it could be done most efficiently.
It won't be easy now for farmers to switch to other crops, Swenson said. Expertise in the Midwest tends to be in livestock or commodity crops such as corn and soybeans, not produce. The states don't have policies to encourage expanded fruit and vegetable production, and many consumers don't think much about where their produce is grown...
One of Iowa's 99 counties could meet the demand for all six states
The farmland in just ONE county could provide all the veggies needed by the people of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, Indiana, and Illinois.
And still we ship our carrots thousands of miles. Incredible.
Support your local farmers' market.
Corn is the "big oil" of agribusiness, and also receives the largest share of government farm subsidies.
ReplyDeleteAMEN, brother.
ReplyDeleteIt's incredible to me how great the intersections are between science, food, ecology, and human society.
The more biodiversity there is in our local food systems and food-producing landscape, the less need there are for carcinogenic pesticides and chemical fertilizers, the more space there is for biologically diverse native wildlife and plants, and the more chance there is to personally know (and invest in) the neighbors that grow the food that sustains us and the ones we love.
Healthy food is not (should not be) limited to the wealthy, nor should the joys of a food-producing garden be limited to those in rural areas.
But those 9300 jobs would be hard, backbreaking low wage jobs. Are Iowans up to it or will we have to recruit from south of the border?
ReplyDeleteYep. Can I tell you about a local food conference I attended last month that had tons of YOUNG people who were starting up farms or taking them over enthusiastically? Can I also tell you about a whole subculture of folks (young and otherwise) who really believe in farming as a great lifestyle in terms of community with nature, raising children in a "toxin-free" place (or at least one not drenched in pesticides), and commitment to a healthy, active lifestyle? Can I further tell you about the Organic Farming Certification Program at Michigan State University, and the CS Mott School of Sustainable Food Systems (also at MSU) that are taking off in force, because of the passion of YOUNG wanna-be farmers and local foodies, and the strong support of the higher-ups?
ReplyDeleteThese farmers-to-be know they're getting into low-paying, physically difficult work, but they do it because they love the land, they believe in good food, strong communities, and the need to steward our land responsibly.
One of Iowa's 99 counties could meet the demand for all six states ...
ReplyDeleteNot year round it couldn't. People have gotten very used to having fresh vegetables of whatever sort all year round. Thus unless you freeze or otherwise preserve them, you will need a source of veggies during the rest of the year.
While I agree that fresh vegetables grown locally is a good idea, I also like the luxury of having them year round.
Nobody is stopping farmers in Iowa from starting vegetable farms. Go to it. Perhaps there aren't that many for some economic reason.
It's all economics innit?
ReplyDeleteRichard hit on one of the main points that comes up in local food conversations here in the Midwest, "Local food is great, but we have a pretty limited growing season here".
ReplyDeleteThere are a number of government programs getting started (and this is something I don't know a ton about, not being a farmer myself, but hearing from farmers who are "in-the-know") to help farmers with the costs of building and running greenhouses and hoophouses (the cheaper, unheated version of a greenhouse, usually made of PVC or metal framing and a sturdy plastic cover). And they're not talking cute, little houses you stick on the side of your house; they're talking greenhouses and hoophouses sized to the scale of industrial agriculture. Not acres, but large enough for farmers to make a living selling local produce outside of its regular growing season.
There's a whole list of blogs written by farmers in the "local food" scene throughout the nation at the American Farmland Trust's website: http://www.farmland.org/actioncenter/no-farms-no-food/friends-of-farmland.asp
It is all economics. And consumer choice :)
ReplyDelete