We've written quite a bit over the last couple of years about local food and the revolution in value-added agriculture in Vermont.
While small-scale, local agriculture is becoming a growing part of the Vermont economy, federal agricultural policy still favors the big commodity farms. An article in the July 6 issue of The American Prospect, “Slowed Food Revolution,” by Heather Rogers, points out the uphill battle small farms face.
“Holistic and organic growers shoulder far higher production costs than their conventional counterparts when it comes to everything from laborers to land,” writes Rogers. “Without meaningful support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, their longevity hangs in the balance.”
In the meantime, she continues, “the USDA showers billions on industrial agriculture. Growers who've gone the chemical, mechanized route have ready access to reasonable loans, direct subsidy payments and crop insurance, plus robust research, marketing and distribution resources.”
While the USDA and the Obama administration are moving in the direction of doing more to help the local food movement, supporting industrial-scale agriculture remains a priority at the federal level. The financial and political clout of agribusiness in Washington ensures that.
However, as with so many other public policy issues, the most support for local agriculture is at the levels of local and state government.
At his Vermont News Guy site, Jon Margolis reports on the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund (www.vsjf.org). The fund, created by the state legislature, is about to release a draft proposal on what the farm and food sector in the state might look like in 10 years.
This report is part of VSJF's Farm to Plate Initiative, which collected input from more than 1,000 Vermonters over the past year at eight regional summits, 24 focus groups, a statewide summit, and six day-long working sessions.
According to the VSJF website, the goal is “to create a strategic plan for agricultural economic development to achieve the overarching goals of strengthening our local food system and stimulating economic development in Vermont's farm and food sector.”
That measure will “create jobs in the farm and food economy, improve access to healthy local foods, and expand local and regional markets for Vermont products.”
Deputy Director Janice St. Onge told Margolis that she doesn't think Vermont will ever have a totally self-sufficient food system, but that “some components can move toward being self-sufficient” and that self-sufficiency could be economically valuable for the state.
According to the VSJF, jobs throughout the entire Vermont food system represent 20 percent - or 54,334 - of all private-sector jobs and are connected to 31 percent - or 9,166 - of all private establishments.
Consumers are more and more interested in knowing where their food came from and in supporting the people who made it. This interest in producing and consuming locally grown food has made local agriculture more economically viable.
The story of Hardwick, the little town in the Northeast Kingdom has become a national example of how local food can revive a struggling economy.
In and around Hardwick are four major businesses. Jasper Hill Farm, which makes world-class cheeses, has become a hub for cheesemakers around the state who are looking for a place to age their product. Pete's Greens is a year-round organic farm with a large following. High Mowing Seeds is a leading retailer of heirloom and organic seeds. Vermont Soy is making organic soy products.
These businesses, and the success they have had, helped to expand the Vermont Food Venture Center, a shared-use kitchen incubator for value-added and specialty food producers that also provides business consulting services. The center recently broke ground on a new $3.1 million, nearly-15,000-square-foot facility in Hardwick, partially funded by with federal economic stimulus money and a grant from the USDA's Rural Development program.
The food businesses in the Hardwick area have collaborated, shared ideas and capital, and have grown together as a result.
Granted, organic farming makes up about 4 percent of the nation's agricultural system. But there is room for growth, and the creative ways that farmers in Vermont are building a new agricultural economy offer a model for the rest of the nation to follow.