Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Rural Economic Development
It is in the self-interest of both food advocates and farmers to solve the problems that have devastated farm-
ing communities. The rise in corporate consolidation in the food industry has driven independent, locally
owned food manufacturers, processors, and distributors out of business. The Main Streets of rural towns
have been boarded up as distant companies siphon the profits from rural America. Independent grain el-
evators; flour and corn mills; small meat processors; fruit and vegetable distribution terminals; and inde-
pendent suppliers of farm inputs such as seed, feed, and machinery are increasingly hard to find. Today the
businesses that do exist are most likely corporations supplying inputs through contracts with large farms.
The mills or slaughterhouses that process the grain and livestock for all of the farmers in surrounding towns
are very large and much farther away.
Economically viable independent farms are the lifeblood of rural communities. The earnings from loc-
ally owned and locally controlled farms generate an economic “multiplier effect” when farmers buy their
supplies locally and the money stays within the community. When these businesses disappear and are re-
placed by just a few larger facilities, rural economies suffer. The earnings and profits from meatpacker-
owned cattle feedlots and hog production facilities are shipped to corporate headquarters instead of inves-
ted locally. Independent slaughterhouses, milk and meat processing firms, locally owned grain elevators,
and local feed and equipment dealers provide employment, investment, and stability to rural communities.
Farm Bills trigger hundreds of millions of dollars of USDA spending on rural development, ranging
from grants to local governments and community organizations to government-backed loans to businesses.
Unfortunately, many past bills have focused funding only on larger projects like broadband Internet access
or businesses that don't help rebuild food systems, like hotels or convenience stores selling processed food.
What has been sorely lacking is investment in agriculture-related industries and infrastructure that
would support the vegetable, grain, dairy, and livestock farmers who need distribution, packing, and pro-
cessing facilities before they can bring their products to market.
Future Farm Bills should focus on leveling the playing field for independent farmers, ranchers, and food
processors and redirecting rural development programs to rebuild missing infrastructure that can serve re-
gional food systems, not corporate supply chains. One way to do that is to dedicate rural development
funding in future Farm Bills to facilitate the growth of small and medium-size independently owned agri-
culture and food enterprises that can reinvigorate local economies and increase the role of local food.
While local food sales are increasing, they are still small in comparison to conventional foods. The stat-
istics speak to the challenge: $4.8 billion in all local food sales compared with $1.2 trillion for all conven-
tional food sales. Yet the rising demand for locally grown food will not lead to sufficient availability. When
consumers and farmers seek to make more local food available in supermarket aisles, they run up against
a few supermarket chains, each with a highly concentrated distribution network that supplies thousands
of stores—a model that is inaccessible for small or midsize independent producers or processors. This is
especially true in the farm states, where millions of acres of commodities are grown. These farmers have a
small “local” market and no way to distribute locally grown fruits, vegetables, or meats.
Judy LaBelle, past president of and now a senior fellow at the Glynwood Institute for Sustainable Food
and Farming, has been working to build a local food system in New York's Hudson Valley for more than
a decade She articulates the challenges of creating an alternative food system: “After decades of govern-
ment and corporate policies that encouraged farmers to 'get big or get out,' we need to rebuild virtually the
entire system all at once. Smaller, independent farmers need the off-farm infrastructure—the processing,
distributing, marketing—that allows them to serve and benefit from growing consumer demand for their
product. We need to change federal policy to truly change the food system so that it serves everyone.”
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