BRATTLEBORO — Which states are most committed to locally-sourced food? According to the 2015 Localvore Index, the top four localvore states (in order) are Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire and Oregon.
These four states also topped the 2014 Index, which is compiled annually by Strolling of the Heifers.
“The purpose of the index is to stimulate efforts across the country to use more local food in homes, restaurants, schools and institutions,” said Orly Munzing, founder and executive director of Strolling of the Heifers.
This year's index incorporates newly available information from the Census of Agriculture, which included data on the dollar volume of direct-to-the-public food sales by farmers, including sales at farmers' markets, community-supported agriculture operations (CSAs), farm stands and online sales. The census, compiled every five years by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, was conducted in late 2012 but data was not made available until mid-2014.
The index also took into account the number of farmers' markets, the number of CSAs, the number of food hubs - all compared on a per-capita basis - and the percentage of each state's school districts with active farm-to-school programs.
Beyond the top four states, Massachusetts moved into fifth place (from 11th in 2014). Rounding out the top 10 were Wisconsin, Montana, Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.
“Today, less than 2 percent of our national population makes a living farming - the gap between consumers and the origins of the food they eat has never been more vast,” said Chuck Ross, Vermont Secretary of Agriculture, Food, and Markets.
“Here in Vermont, farmers, consumers, and local food advocates are working, every day, to strengthen the connection between the food we eat and the people who produce it. It's important work. It creates economic opportunity, preserves our working landscape, and provides healthy food for our communities.”
“What the index really reflects is the fact that the various policies at the national and state levels that encourage local food programs are having measurable results,” Munzing said.
“At the federal level, there's the Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food program which helps promote farmers markets and provides grants for farm-to-school and farm-to-institution programs.
“Many states also have active programs to encourage local food consumption, and Vermont's Farm-to-Plate network is a national leader in this respect. All these programs are good for farmers, good for consumers, and they help to build stronger communities."
Commenting on the changes to the index this year, Strolling of the Heifers Marketing Director Martin Langeveld said, “The new direct sales data included in the index from the Census of Agriculture shows that in states where farms are more diversified - including all the New England states - and where you see fewer large, monocultural commodity-producing farms, the per-capita direct-to-consumer sales levels are higher."
Langeveld added, “Direct sales by farmers to consumers count for 50 percent in the weighting of the index because it's a more accurate measurement of the actual volume of local food sales than any of the other metrics we use. We hope that the USDA and state departments of agriculture will continue to expand the measurement of local food sales by farmers, such as sales to food stores and institutions, in order to continue to increase the benefits of local food consumption."