You're In My Food Shed

There is no doubt that the percentage of regionally grown and processed food consumed locally can be significantly increased, cost competitively. It can work. The question then, is do we want to do it?

Is it worth the effort? According to Census Bureau Data for 2003-2004, the average household in the South spends $5,142 for groceries each year. The population for the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill MSA is 1.2 million people. That’s 467,000 households, at the Census Bureau’s calculated average of 2.57 people per household.

So Triangle residents spend $2.4 billion on groceries every year. Meeting just 15% of that demand from regional sources translates into $360 million in sales for local producers/suppliers.

This total actually grows significantly when food sales in all the rural communities from which the food comes is also factored in. For example, meeting 15% of just Moore County’s grocery purchases translates into $24.6 million in annual sales.

Why do it? There are many positive benefits, for people in both the rural and urban communities, from significantly increasing the percentage of food consumed in Triangle that is grown and/or processed in the surrounding North Carolina Foodshed, including:

Economic Development – Farmers who are struggling with post-tobacco agriculture will have a stable, long-term market for a wide variety of produce, meat and dairy. Moreover, under a “local” food system, the farmers’ percentage of each consumer food dollar will greatly exceed the paltry 19% that farmers currently receive. Many additional jobs will be created in rural and urban communities for processing the local food commodities into value added products. In the cities, not only are there numerous employment opportunities in distribution, sales and delivery of food, many of these jobs are suitable for marginalized populations (low income, students, etc.).
Food Security - In designing a regional food system, particularly alternative distribution mechanisms, it is easy to address the needs of those who do not have access to sufficient healthy food, either for lack of money or absence of grocery stores in their low income neighborhoods. From a national perspective, post-9/11 surveys of our national food system have pointed out how fragile and vulnerable the US food system is, both to natural disasters and terrorist attacks. Decentralizing and localizing the Triangle’s food system will increase the long-term food security for everyone in the area.

Preserving a Culture - Farmers want to farm because it is a culture, lifestyle and a tradition that has often been passed down in their families for generations. Ensuring the economic viability of farms is also the most efficient economic development path as it utilizes the farmers’ existing desire, knowledge and infrastructure, rather than retraining them for non-farm jobs, and investing time and money in new infrastructure. Moreover, the preservation of the rural character of their community is a top priority for most rural residents, including non-farmers. For example, it is listed as the top priority in Moore County’s, citizen-based, Land Use Plan. Even city dwellers derive great benefit from having large rural, open space areas to visit in close proximity to their hectic urban lives.

Be a Leader in New American Agriculture – Over the next decade, a number of existing factors (oil prices, rural poverty, terrorism, food insecurity, trade deficit) will certainly slow, if not reverse, what has been the inexorable trend of centralization/globalization. Interest is already growing in community food systems as a model for a revitalized New American Agriculture. The Triangle has the opportunity to become the first US metropolitan area to implement a fully integrated, sustainable community food system. In addition to the benefits noted above, being such a leader would mean greatly increased high value tourism (many people coming to learn the what’s and how’s) and increased exports of knowledge and equipment that will be developed for a regional scale system.

For further information contact:
Fenton Wilkinson - Integrity Systems
fentonwilk@earthlink.net