Two new research projects, one in Maryland and one in Minnesota, emphasize the importance of local food production. Both point out how far most Americans are from the source of their food, and how much opportunity exists for local producers. Transport distances A report by Matthew Hora and Jody Tick of the Capital Area Food Bank, looks at the pathways used by fresh produce into the Washington, D.C., area, and also at the productive capacity of the Mid-Atlantic states. It is called From Farm to Table: Making the Connection in the Mid-Atlantic Food System.

The authors cite the often-quoted statistic that food travels an average of 1,300 miles from farm to table. That figure, they say, is from a 1969 Office of Civil Defense report that analyzed the impact of a nuclear attack on American agriculture. The study measured only certain commodities, not including fresh produce, and used questionable statistical models. To come up with a figure that applies to fresh produce, the authors recorded the origin of produce sold at the Jessup Terminal Market in Maryland in 1997, as reported by USDA’s Market News Service. They found that the average pound of fresh produce distributed through the Jessup terminal market traveled an average of 1,685.5 miles from the state of origin. One of the variables affecting shipping distances was the ability of the eastern U.S. to produce the crop, and the differing travel distances for fruits (2,416 miles) and vegetables (1,596 miles) reflect the general reliance upon the West Coast and Florida for most fruits, including regional specialties such as apples and peaches. Vegetables that are produced in volume in the Mid-Atlantic region, such as greens, often had relatively short travel distances (387 miles), while other vegetable crops had relatively long travel distances throughout the year, including tomatoes (2,786 miles), romaine lettuce (2,749 miles) and asparagus (2,482 miles), the report said. Fewer producers on the production side, the report looks at the declining numbers of farms producing fruits and vegetables.

Nationwide, the number of fruit-growing farms dropped 14% from 1982 to 1997, and those growing vegetables declined 22%. In the Mid-Atlantic, fruit farms declined 23% and vegetable farms 16%. Although the overall numbers of farms decreased in the region, the number growing vegetables increased in North Carolina, Virginia, Delaware and Pennsylvania. The Mid-Atlantic region represents only 4.2% of the national acreage devoted to fruit and vegetable production. With relatively few produce growers in the region and the highest concentration of consumers in the nation, opportunities exist for produce growers who can effectively compete in the produce business, the report says. The full report has been published in an attractive and readable format, with many charts, graphs, and photographs. It’s invaluable to anyone in the Mid-Atlantic doing policy work or educating consumers, and much of the data applies nationwide. From Farm to Table is 86 pages and costs $17.50 from Capital Area Food Bank, Health & Food Systems Department, 645 Taylor St., NE, Washington, DC 20017; 202-526-5344. Minnesota farming In contrast to the Washington, D.C., area, where so little land is in agricultural production, southeast Minnesota is heavily agricultural. Seven counties produced $866 million worth of food in 1997. But most of that food went elsewhere, out of the region, and area residents spent $506 million buying food, only $2 million directly from farmers. The existing economic structures through which food products are bought and sold extract about $800 million from the region’s economy each year, write authors Ken Meter and Jon Rosales in their report, Finding Food in Farm Country. All this money, currently earned by southeast Minnesota residents, is spent in ways that weaken the capacity of the region to build wealth for its citizens. This is a significant loss, an amount equivalent to ten percent of all household income earned by the region’s 303,000 residents. The region’s farms earned $866 million on agricultural products, but that was $80 million less than it cost to grow them.

More troubling, the report says, nearly half of these production costs were devoted to purchasing inputs from distant suppliers, or paying loan interest to distant creditors who do not reinvest in their community – a loss of an estimated $400 million each year. As a result, farmers pay for a process that weakens their own power over the resources required to produce food. The report examines the potential for Community Supported Agriculture in farm communities. It explores the development of Sunflower Fields Farm CSA, a multiple-producer CSA in northern Iowa. Michael and Linda Nash found that their rural neighbors in their county of 15,000 people were not growing food for themselves, primarily because they were working two or more jobs to sustain their farms. Sunflower Fields CSA started with 22 families in 1997 and has grown to 160 families.

The authors estimate that the 120,000 households in their region could support about 600 CSAs the size of Sunflower Fields Farm. They also estimate that each CSA could potentially receive $78,000 for fruits and vegetables, $107,000 for meat and poultry, and $500,000 for eggs, flowers, baked goods and other value-added products. That comes to $3,425 a year, or an average of $65 a week each household would spend on fruits, vegetables, meats, eggs and other farm products. Local food systems will not happen magically, the authors note. Public intervention in partnership with private investors will be required. Such work will take long-term dedication to building sustainable locales. The full report Finding Food in Farm Country is available online at www.igc.org/crossroads/ff.pdf .