Economic Development That Works: Local Food

[Madeline]

The Cleveland Foundation gave a grant to Michael Shuman, author of The Small-Mart Revolution: How Local Businesses Are Beating the Global Competition (Berrett-Koehler Publishers) to study the economic development possibilities of locally grown food. Shuman released his study today, and his findings include....

* This area has a major institutional commitment to local food already, and leveraging that could take the 1% of locally grown food consumed to 25% within a decade.

* That 25% level would create 27,000 new jobs, enough to employ 1 out of 8 unemployed people in the region.

* The increase would also increase state and local tax collections by $126 million per year.

Increasing the level of locally grown, locally produced food would provide lots of healthier, fresher food in food deserts where there is limited access to stores. It would likely bring down obesity and diabetes, as well as reduce unemployment and welfare costs. And it would have some impact on carbon emissions tied to food transportation.

Shuman proposes to use vacant city lots as farmland, as well as expanding farming in local rural areas.

Expanded local-food system can benefit Cleveland, study shows | cleveland.com

I think this is genius and Shuman's book is now on my "must read" list. Off the top of my head, I wonder how far he proposes to take keeping livestock inside the city; what thought he gave to theft and vandalism losses; who would bear the brunt of lost peoperty value if a lot or acreage is rezoned for farming, etc. This cannot work if the advocates are too pollyanna about the planning, but Cleveland is hardly replete with glassy-eyed optimists.

Your thoughts?

 

[Revere]

What are they planting this time of year in Cleveland?

 

[iamwhatiseem]

I saw a report where more taxpayer money was given to the $trillion Agri-Business than anytime in the history of this country.
They provide meat with shit in it (literally) and we give them direct taxpayer monies to do it...while they make VERY nice profits.

 

[Madeline]

What are they planting this time of year in Cleveland?

I wondered about that as well, Revere. NE Ohio is in Zone 5 for Plant Hardiness. We have severe winters and possibly shorter growing seasons that other parts of the country....but I assure you, it is more'n possible to grow virtually anything on offer at a farmer's market here, except for citrus.

The question of winter seems to me more interesting as to livestock than as to plants. How anxious is anyone going to be to live next door to Bessie the cow when it is 20 degrees below outside? How would her keeper get to her to feed and water her during a blizzard?

But I think these problems could be addressed; after all, this used to be a nation of predominately rural, predominately farming communities....including NE Ohio.

 

[Revere]

These utopias the greenies dream about are really over the top.

 

[Madeline]

I saw a report where more taxpayer money was given to the $trillion Agri-Business than anytime in the history of this country.
They provide meat with shit in it (literally) and we give them direct taxpayer monies to do it...while they make VERY nice profits.

Ohio's largest products produced are milk and pigs. The pig farms downstate are ginormous polluters and very poorly regulated. Who wouldn't pay more for locally grown, humanely treated meat that has been fed and dressed in a more sanitary fashion? At the very least, such microfarms could supply the growing local demand for gourmet meats. (For whatever reason, Cleveland has been experiencing growth in very high-end restaurants, even five star quality ones. Hard to believe, but nonetheless true.)

 

[Revere]

I saw a report where more taxpayer money was given to the $trillion Agri-Business than anytime in the history of this country.
They provide meat with shit in it (literally) and we give them direct taxpayer monies to do it...while they make VERY nice profits.

Ohio's largest products produced are milk and pigs. The pig farms downstate are ginormous polluters and very poorly regulated. Who wouldn't pay more for locally grown, humanely treated meat that has been fed and dressed in a more sanitary fashion? At the very least, such microfarms could supply the growing local demand for gourmet meats. (For whatever reason, Cleveland has been experiencing growth in very high-end restaurants, even five star quality ones. Hard to believe, but nonethelss true.)

Because it will double your price when the economies of scale are taken away.

These are thinly veiled attempts to get you to eat less livestock, period.

 

[Conspiracist]

First off Maddie, they are going to attempt to this in bad 'hoods.... I can't imagine it being profitable.

 

[Revere]

It's the same old shit. All they want to do is shove companies who are successful because they do things really well and deliver a product at a price consumers like, over a cliff.

 

[Madeline]

I saw a report where more taxpayer money was given to the $trillion Agri-Business than anytime in the history of this country.
They provide meat with shit in it (literally) and we give them direct taxpayer monies to do it...while they make VERY nice profits.

Ohio's largest products produced are milk and pigs. The pig farms downstate are ginormous polluters and very poorly regulated. Who wouldn't pay more for locally grown, humanely treated meat that has been fed and dressed in a more sanitary fashion? At the very least, such microfarms could supply the growing local demand for gourmet meats. (For whatever reason, Cleveland has been experiencing growth in very high-end restaurants, even five star quality ones. Hard to believe, but nonethelss true.)

Because it will double your price when the economies of scale are taken away.

These are thinly veiled attempts to get you to eat less livestock, period.

Mebbe so, and in that case it is being presented dishonestly because the whole thrust of the work is economic development, not some foodie campaign. But Ohioans are among the most obese people in the US and it is true, a diet higher in veggies will almost always lead to weight loss. We can certainly tolerate economic development that has health benefits to our residents.

I wonder, did you mean locally grown fruits and veggies will not work, or just locally grown livestock?

 

[Revere]

Everything. This country feeds the world exactly because it does the opposite of what those greenies want to do.

 

[Conspiracist]

Everything. This country feeds the world exactly because it does the opposite of what those greenies want to do.

I agree... If this was a feasible plan, it would have been instituted long ago. Do you think Shuman is the first guy to think of growing veggies in the hood?

 

[iamwhatiseem]

I saw a report where more taxpayer money was given to the $trillion Agri-Business than anytime in the history of this country.
They provide meat with shit in it (literally) and we give them direct taxpayer monies to do it...while they make VERY nice profits.

Ohio's largest products produced are milk and pigs. The pig farms downstate are ginormous polluters and very poorly regulated. Who wouldn't pay more for locally grown, humanely treated meat that has been fed and dressed in a more sanitary fashion? At the very least, such microfarms could supply the growing local demand for gourmet meats. (For whatever reason, Cleveland has been experiencing growth in very high-end restaurants, even five star quality ones. Hard to believe, but nonethelss true.)

I buy 100% of our meat at a local butcher shop.
I wouldn't buy a cocktail weiner from a grocery chain - and neither should anyone else. Unless of course they want sodium nitrates, red dye, animal antibiotics, mercury, animal feces and salt water by the gallons as a side dish.

 

[Madeline]

Everything. This country feeds the world exactly because it does the opposite of what those greenies want to do.

I agree... If this was a feasible plan, it would have been instituted long ago. Do you think Shuman is the first guy to think of growing veggies in the hood?

Why do you feel it is not feasible, Conspiracist? Because it has not been done before? (In fact it doubtless has been; I'd imagine most people had a veggie garden in the 19th and long into the 20th centuries if they had access to land.)

 

[loosecannon]

These utopias the greenies dream about are really over the top.

You are an idiot.

The local food industry is growing by leaps and bounds with primarily retired folks and micro greenhouse farms producing year round fresh veggies in almost every part of the nation.

They focus on fresh food that must otherwise be imported in the winter and on higher end products like kiwi fruit and greens, strawberries and exotic veggies that are grown in smaller quantities for higher profit margins. They have several advantages over global commodity agriculture in that they have fresher produce within product ranges that value fresher food and that they eliminate transportation, distribution and retail mark ups. They also focus on organic food which warrants premium prices, and farmers markets all over the US have ramped up to serve both a rapacious public appetite for their wares and also serve the micro farms need to locate customers.

It is an extremely sound business model.

Which really makes one wonder why you posted 7 uninformed and very derogatory dismissals of what is already a successful business model.

Do you hate America, or just prefer us outsourcing our agribusiness to Chinese who regularly poison their food products?

Or are you just ideologically adverse to capitalism?

Serious questions, please answer them honestly or fuck off and die.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Oddball]

Economic Development That Works: Local Food

When you can grow oranges in North Dakota and wheat in poor sandy soil, y'all be sure to get the word out.

 

[loosecannon]

Everything. This country feeds the world exactly because it does the opposite of what those greenies want to do.

I agree... If this was a feasible plan, it would have been instituted long ago. Do you think Shuman is the first guy to think of growing veggies in the hood?

You stupid son of a bitch! It WAS instituted long ago! IN fact THAT was the foundation of this nation until the great depression!

Then agribusiness began buying family farms during every bust cycle and agricorps began predatory practices to separate even more farmers from their lands. Banks conspired to assist agribusiness in corporatizing farms.

But times have changed and microfarms are again a viable small business model with a huge record of success.

here are 4.6 million hits to acquaint you with the industry:

Google

word up, mutherfucker!

 

[loosecannon]

Economic Development That Works: Local Food

When you can grow oranges in North Dakota and wheat in poor sandy soil, y'all be sure to get the word out.

You can grow oranges in SD now. In fact you can economically harvest tomatoes in January in SD now. People are doing it!

I dunno shit about wheat and sandy soil.

 

[usefulcommunity]

No need to insult one another's intelligence; we can debate a public policy without name-calling.

It's tricky to raise enough local food to make a viable business. I didn't say impossible, but quite difficult. However, I think it's still good policy to turn vacant land into community gardens. Vacant land just stagnates the market for land wherever it is located. It sends the message "no one wants to buy me." So let's do something productive, even if it doesn't provide a very substantial economic development benefit.

Feeding ourselves is worthwhile, even if there's no food left to export to other communities, which seems to me to be the likely result of most urban agriculture ventures and programs I've seen discussed.

 

[loosecannon]

During the waning days of the Soviet Union more than half the food produced in that Union was produced on 2% of the land in people's spare time.

Sure if you are raising Chickens, pigs, wheat, corn soy it is extremely difficult to compete with mechanized farming.

But fresh veggies and fruits are far more expensive and are farmed by hand here in the US and in nations from which we import them. All micro farms are limited to growing those items that provide them a niche advantage over distant competitors.

Fortunately quite a few of those exist, like organic food, fresh fruits and veggies, exotic foods like mushrooms, higher value gourmet foods etc. And then there is always the option to go the value added route and package pesto, olives, sauces etc, like the highly successful Paul Newman line has.

And of course marketing directly to the end user is an advantage unto itself.

This is a thriving, existing viable industry. Do try this at home.