April 2010
In this issue
 Groundbreaking economic study from the Upper Midwest Regional Lead Team points way to more green jobs. Read more... |
- Study: More jobs in produce farming that corn and soybeans
- Workshops to address Carbon Markets for Agriculture
- Hook up with the Niche Meat Processors Network
- Food Safety Report
- Good Food Media Digest
- Add your profile to the NGFN Database
- NGFN Media
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Study: More jobs in produce farming than corn and soybeans
In a groundbreaking study of six Upper Midwest states, the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University reports that fruit and vegetable farming could outweigh conventional, commodity-crop agriculture in jobs and wages.
The study is a result of efforts by the National Good Food Network's Upper-Midwest regional lead team, which includes the Leopold Center, to quantify the economic development potential of helping farms gear up to meet new demand for fresh and local foods. Conducted by Iowa State economics researcher David Swenson, the study concludes that fruit and vegetable production could generate nearly four times as many jobs, and more than six times as much labor income, as corn and soybean production on the same land.
The research project ran two scenarios for increased fruit and vegetable production and marketing among farms in the six states of Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
In the first scenario, increased in-season production of 28 fruits and vegetable crops in those six states could mean about $882 million in sales at the farm level, more than 9,300 jobs and about $395 million in labor income. An estimated 270,025 acres would be needed to produce those crops, roughly equivalent to the average amount of cropland in one of Iowa’s 99 counties. Considering all industrial linkages, corn and soybean production on the same acreage supports 2,578 jobs and $59.12 million in labor incomes.
The second scenario evaluated the economic development potential for increasing fruit and vegetable production and marketing around metropolitan areas in the Upper Midwest with populations of 250,000 or more. For the second scenario, Swenson estimates that increased fruit and vegetable production for the 28 metro markets would result in $637.44 million in farm-level sales and 6,694 farm-level jobs, compared to 1,892 jobs under corn and soybean production. The farmer-retail direct economic impact portion of this activity would generate 6,021 jobs.
“This the first multi-state study in the Midwest to examine potential economic benefits from increased regional fruit and vegetable production and marketing,” said Leopold Center Associate Director Rich Pirog. “Since the same assumptions were made across all of the states in the study, we can examine both state-level and regional potential impacts.”
Special Note: The National Good Food Network is hosting a bonus webinar about this study on May 6, 2010 featuring Rich Pirog. Reserve your spot for the webinar now.
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Workshops to address Carbon Markets for Agriculture
Four daylong workshops in June, at locations across the country, will bring a broad range of stakeholders together to answer key questions about developing carbon markets for agriculture.
Well-established in other economic sectors, carbon markets allow producers of greenhouse gas emissions, such as power plants, to offset negative global warming effects by purchasing carbon credits in support of actions that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, such as reforestation projects.
The four Making Carbon Count workshops, organized by the Sustainable Food Lab, will focus on agriculture's role in these carbon markets, and the rules needed to ensure that carbon trading in agriculture works for the climate, as well as for agricultural producers and potential investors. Questions include:
- What kinds of market tools will be needed in agriculture to bring carbon to market?
- What is the path to market for carbon emission reductions and sequestration?
- How do we quantify the carbon being brought?
The dates are June 3 in Seattle; June 10 in Davis, CA; June 14 in Chicago; and June 17 in the Washington D.C. area. Participants from the agriculture, investment, policy, research, and environmental sectors will learn about carbon market development to date in agriculture and provide input to guide next steps.
View the draft agenda and register now.
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Hook up with the Niche Meat Processors Network
Anyone trying to sell or buy meat outside of highly concentrated industry channels knows that the greatest bottleneck is processing. Few small and mid-size independent processors exist now that four beef packers (Tyson, Cargill, Swift, and National Beef Packing), for example, control 84 percent of the nation's daily cattle slaughter. Those smaller, independent processors that are in business often lack the capacity they need to upgrade or expand.
A national network of assistance has emerged, however, to provide those businesses and their customers -- livestock producers and meat buyers -- with the help they need to grow.
The Niche Meat Processor Assistance Network formed in 2007 to link people and organizations working to support small to mid-size meat processors. The Network's goal is to strengthen and expand processing capacity, nationwide, for niche meats -- broadly defined and including locally grown, certified organic, grass-fed, naturally raised, and certified humane -- to promote rural development and agricultural opportunities.
In addition to regular communication and technical assistance, the Network also posts resources at its Extension-based Web site, including information about:
- Meat processing rules and regulations
- Mobile slaughter and processing unites
- Plant design and construction
- Business development and case studies
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Food Safety Report
Each month, Steve Warshawer, food safety coordinator for the National Good Food Network, writes a regular column on the status of new and changing food safety regulations. A farmer and food distributor, Steve is focused on the challenge of developing food safety rules that work for food producers as well as food regulators.Legislative Update
The Congressional Easter recess has brought a flurry of activity at the staff level as Senate Bill 510 is being prepared for open debate. The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) continues to press its points of concern. Some of these concerns, such as language describing wildlife impact on food safety are being addressed in the language of the bill. But the major concerns are being directed toward amendments that will be offered by several senators. NSAC is trying to get these Senators to present as a “group of 8” for additional strength in their presentation. The consensus among Senate leadership is that the bill should be presented and passed with no debate or amendment, just as HR2748 was last summer. Supportive senators are promising to push for discussion and amendment. More...
NGFN Draft Response to FDA
Wallace Center staff and consultants have written a draft response to the FDA (PDF) request for public comment on “fairness and scale appropriateness in food safety regulation”, which aims to take an “above the treetops” view of several important issues around food safety that are in the process of being addressed “on the ground”. We welcome comments on this draft document, at contact@ngfn.org.
GAP Harmonization Initiative
The Technical Working
Group (TWG) continues to meet regularly and is preparing a presentation
to the Steering Committee, a group of major buyers and producers who
launched the harmonization process based on their desire to end
pointless competition and redundancy in food safety standards. This
presentation will occur at the United Fresh Produce Association
annual meeting in Las Vegas on April 19th. By the end of the most recent TWG meeting in Orlando, Florida, hosted by
Darden Restaurants, members had completed a first draft of harmonized
standards on two-thirds of the 60 topic areas that were identified among
the 12 GAP standards being considered. The TWG predicts that it will
complete the full draft standard by the end of its June meeting in
Houston. More ...
NGFN Food Safety Conference Calls and Updates
Each second Tuesday of the month (April 13, May 11, June 8, etc.) I lead a Food Safety Conference Call. You are encouraged to participate. Call details are always posted to ngfn.org/foodsafety. If you receive NGFN general updates, and would like to also like to receive a reminder about the food safety call, and other food safety news from NGFN, update your e-mail settings by looking for the appropriate link on the latest NGFN e-mail. If you are not yet on any Wallace Center mailing lists, you may sign up here.
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Good Food Media Digest
THE POLITICS OF FOOD
- High Price for Soybeans Trigger Largest Historic Acreage
The USDA’s “prospective plantings” report expects farmers to plant 78.1 million acres of soybeans and 88.8 million acres of corn (second largest acreage since 1946) due to the high prices for the crops, combined with reduced winter wheat acreage.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/01/business/01crop.html - Decrease of Slaughterhouses Not in Tune with Rise of Small Farmers
The need for more small scale slaughter facilities is a hot topic for small farmers and the USDA recognizes this concern. Building new slaughterhouses can be an expensive and political endeavor.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/28/us/28slaughter.html 
Rodale Institute Launches “Demand Organic” Campaign
Rodale’s campaign hopes “to raise awareness about the benefits of organic food and foarming and to recruit your help in advocating for an organic world.”
Source: http://www.rodaleinstitute.org/demand_organic_about- Upcoming Debate: Organic Food as Marketing Hype?
ABC News Correspondent, John Donvan, is moderating a panel debate regarding Organic being a marketing hype or not on April 13, 2010 from 5:45-6:30 at the NYU Skirball Center in New York City. The debate will be shown on Bloomberg TV as well as NPR.
Source: http://intelligencesquaredus.org/
NEW FARMERS OF FOOD
- Farmer “Boot Camp”
The Farmer Incubator provides technical assistance about everything from business plans to land and feed costs. This innovative series of classes are attracting new farmers to the area, and “people are finding it a physically and intellectually stimulating career choice.”
Source: http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100324/NEWS/3240320 - The American Lawn: To Mow or To Sow?
With Americans becoming more aware of unequal food access and increasing obesity levels, here is one idea that could help increase the amount of fresh affordable food.
Americans have about 20 million acres of residential lawn. An intensively managed acre of garden can feed 50 families for half a year, or 25 families year-round. So year round, 10 million acres of lawn can feed 250 million families, or roughly the population of North America.
Source: http://www.kjonline.com/opinion/DENIS-THOET-Sacrificing-half-your-lawn-allows-you-to-help-feed-worlds-hungry.html
ACCESS AND NUTRITION OF FOOD
Packed and Ready to Go: New chart identifies the amount, and type, of packaged food that Americans eat compared to the rest of the world.
Americans eat 31 percent more packaged food than fresh food, and they consume more packaged food per person than their counterparts in nearly all other countries... Some Europeans eat a similar amount of packaged food per capita as Americans, but much of it is bakery bread and dairy products, rather than things like frozen toaster pastries and artificial nondairy creamer.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/04/business/04metrics.html- Virtual Grocery Stores Hope Solve Problem of Food Access
In Baltimore, Maryland the city officials launched the new Virtual Supermarket Project, which uses the internet access of the public libraries to help citizens order their groceries online with free delivery. This has enabled citizens who do not have regular food access a reliable method of shopping.
Source: http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2010-03-18/health/bal-md.hs.supermarket18mar18_1_food-deserts-healthful-grocery-stores
GRANT AND PROPOSAL OPPORTUNITIES WITH FOOD
- Agricultural and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) Request for Applications (RFA) Webinars
Webinars focused on each AFRI RFA are now posted to the NIFA website to provide an introduction and overview of the RFA Program Areas. Please note that these webinars are not meant to replace carefully reading the RFA, which are available of the NIFA website and on Grants.gov.
See: http://nifa.usda.gov/funding/afri/afri_webinars.html - USDA, DOE and NSF agree to Joint Climate Change Prediction
A joint research program between the US Department of Agriculture, Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation will be releasing Requests for Proposals of nearly $50 million “to develop climate system models that provide insights on climate variability and impacts on ecosystems” in the Fiscal Year 2010.
Source: http://www.nifa.usda.gov/newsroom/news/2010news/03221_climate_change.html - Community Food Security Coalition’s 14th Annual CFSC Conference
CFSC Conference, “Food, Culture & Justice” will be help in New Orleans Octover 17-19 and they are currently accepting proposals for workshops and networking sessions. To submit a proposal please go to: http://communityfoodconference.org/14e/. The deadline is April 30th. Read the full Request for Proposals.
CHILDREN AND FOOD
- Farm to School Efforts Double in Minnesota
“The number of Minnesota school districts purchasing fresh food from local farms more than doubled in the previous 15 months,” revealed a survey by the Minnesota School Nurtition Association (MSNA) and the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. This progress and survey can help serve as a guide for how to increase local food consumption in schools.
Source: http://iatp.typepad.com/thinkforward/2010/03/farm-to-school-numbers-upand-rising.html - Child Nutrition Bill Advances in Senate
The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 was passed by the Senate Agriculture Committee, which could “commit an additional $4.5 billion to child-nutrition programs over the next 10 years and implement the most sweeping changes to those programs in decades.”
Source: http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2010-03-24-school-lunch-safety_N.htm 
New Food Film
“What’s on Your Plate” is a new movie from Bull Frog Films, that follows two NYC kids on a quest to find out where their food comes from and what foods they should eat. The project has also launched a curriculum that can teach other school-aged children about food related issues, from farming to nutrition.
See: http://www.whatsonyourplateproject.org/
Source: http://www.thefledglingfund.org/media/images/whats_on_your_plate.jpg
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Add your profile to the NGFN Database
Are you part of a food and farm initiative that more people should know about? Are you skilled or knowledgeable in an area of this work and ready to be part of it? Do you have some research to share? Then create your profile on ngfn.org to make sure your work shows up in the National Good Food Network's database of experts, organizations, and information. The database is just starting. Help it grow into the comprehensive clearinghouse we could all use!
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