Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["TradingPostPaul" <tradingpost@riseup.net>]

from Policy Guide on Community and Regional Food Planning
http://www.planning.org/policyguides/food.htm

1. General Effects of the Food System on Local and Regional Areas

Today's industrial food system is a product of significant scientific and
institutional advances over the previous centuries, and generally provides
an abundant and safe supply of food to most people in the country. It has
paralleled developments in mass production and economies of scale in other
industries and is characterized by the use of significant amounts of
synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, and new shipping technologies. It
contributes nearly $1 trillion to the national economy — or more than 13
percent of the GNP — and employs 17 percent of the labor force (American
Farmland Trust, 2003). Food sector jobs represent close to 15 percent of
the total workforce of many communities, while retail sales from food
outlets such as grocery stores and eating and drinking places can be as
much as a fifth of a community's total retail sales (Pothukuchi and
Kaufman, 1999).

However, the food system is not without problems for communities and
regions. A clear trend in all parts of the food system is greater
concentration of ownership, which means that decisions affecting
communities are increasingly made by absentee business owners. For example,
in 2000, the top five food retailers accounted for 43 percent of sales, up
from 24 percent in 1997 (Hendrickson et al., 2001). Mergers of chain
supermarkets often result in the closure of stores, thereby reducing
residents' access to healthy food, and lowered tax base and employment.
Another trend, vertical integration, leads to increased consolidation of
different activities such as food production, processing, and distribution
under the control of single entities.

Today's food system has also contributed to the increased incidence of
obesity and diet-related disease; loss and erosion of diverse culinary
traditions represented by First Nations and immigrant cultures; and
ecological crises including extinction of species, declining aquifers, and
deforestation. Government policies sometimes exacerbate these trends due to
the increasing political influence of food industry giants.

While there is little doubt that the industrial food system will remain
dominant, more communities and regions are acting to resolve some of these
problems by developing alternative, local, and sustainable food systems.
This Policy Guide offers suggestions for planners to engage in planning
that both strengthens community and regional food systems and encourages
the industrial food system to provide multiple benefits to local areas.

Specific trends related to the food system's impacts on localities and
regions, and examples of positive actions are described below.

    * Loss of Farmland. Although agriculture is America's dominant land
use, with nearly 1 billion acres of land in agricultural use, farmland in
metropolitan areas is disappearing at a rapid pace. "Urban-influenced"
counties account for more than half (56 percent) the total U.S. farm
production, 63 percent of dairy production, and 86 percent of fruit and
vegetable production; yet these counties have annual population growth
rates more than twice the national average. This rapid growth threatens our
capacity to obtain fresh and local food. (American Farmland Trust, 2002).
    * Aging of Farmers. One fourth of U.S. farmers and half of farm
landlords are at least 65 years old; by comparison, about 3 percent of the
U.S. labor force falls in this age group (Gale, 2002). Farmers and
landlords aged 65 and over own a combined one-third of farm assets. The
aging of farmers reflects the weakening of "family farm" institutions,
including intergenerational transfer of farm assets. Consequences with
implications for planning include the speeding up of the conversion of
agricultural land and the consolidation of agricultural land into larger
operations.
    * Protecting Agriculture. Across the country communities are preparing
plans to protect agriculture. A countywide plan in Marin County,
California, identifies several policies to overcome challenges facing local
agriculture and farmers. These include policies to protect agricultural
land from sprawl, protect productive agricultural soils, support
sustainable water supplies, and enhance agricultural viability.
    * Farm Bill and Local Areas. All Titles of the Farm Bill, including
nutrition programs, commodity programs, trade, conservation, and rural
development, have implications for urban and rural communities and
therefore for local planning. For example, as Dallas County, Iowa,
urbanizes, its county soil and water conservation district and the Natural
Resources Conservation Service of the USDA now work with developers to
employ land conservation measures and keep soil on construction sites (USDA
Natural Resources Conservation Service, no date).

2. Food System Links with the Economy

    * Globalization of the Food System. Increasingly, food comes from more
distant sources, with serious consequences such as the loss of older local
food system infrastructure, and threats to the survival of many U.S. farms.
Although the U.S. rightfully prides itself as the breadbasket of the world,
in 2006 for the first time, the value of food imported into the U.S.
exceeded the value of food exported from the U.S. (USDA Foreign
Agricultural Service, 2006). Globalization also leads to greater consumer
ignorance about the sources of food. As people know less and less of where
their food comes from, how it is produced and with what impacts on
communities and the environment, preservation of land and the natural and
built resources upon which local agriculture depends becomes more
difficult.
    * Rural Decline. Farms between 50-500 acres and 500-1,000 acres, the
largest share of "working farms" and those that fall between local and
commodity markets, decreased by about 7 and 11 percent respectively between
1997 and 2002, while those over 2,000 acres have gone up nearly 5 percent.
This loss of "the middle" in farming threatens rural communities by making
them more economically insecure and changes land stewardship practices
handed down over generations. (Kirschenmann et al., no date).
    * Economic Impacts of Local Purchasing. Robert Waldrop, a 2006
candidate for mayor of Oklahoma City, highlights the under-appreciated
economic development possibilities of buying food directly from area
farmers. Using USDA data and analyses, he identifies $2.1 billion in
economic activity in Central Oklahoma if Oklahoma County residents bought
their eggs, poultry, meat, vegetables, flour, and milk and dairy products
directly from farmers in the region.
    * A Local Food Purchasing Policy. In 2006, the Woodbury County (Iowa)
Board of Supervisors adopted a "Local Food Purchase Policy," mandating the
purchase of locally grown organic food for department events at which food
is served. This action has the potential of providing $281,000 in annual
food purchases to a local farmer-owned cooperative.

3. Food System Links with Health

    * Farm Policy and Health. Federal farm policy since the 1950s has
encouraged the overproduction (and therefore the driving down of prices) of
a few commodities such as corn and soybeans, all with serious implications
for farmers, rural and urban communities, and the health of consumers.
Support for fruits and vegetables, on the other hand, has been low (Nestle,
2002). Low commodity prices have led to the heavy use by the food industry
of products such as high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated vegetable
oils, which are linked with obesity and related illnesses. Processed
grocery foods, frozen foods and baked goods represented over 40 percent of
supermarket sales in 2000, while produce claimed only 9 percent (Schoonover
and Muller, 2006).
    * Obesity. Obesity and associated costs are a significant concern
nationwide. While over 60 percent of Americans are overweight or obese, the
effects of obesity are not borne equally across race and socio-economic
strata, or even states and localities, thereby generating unequal burden.
Similarly, many diet related diseases, such as heart disease, certain
cancers, and diabetes are found to be more prevalent among minority
populations. In 2000, nearly 16 percent of children and adolescents, ages 6
to 19, were classified as obese (Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, 2002.).
    * Obesity and the Built Environment. Land use and transportation
policies have been implicated in the rise of obesity through both,
increased food consumption and reduced physical activity. Research suggests
lower rates of obesity and overweight in neighborhoods where supermarkets
offering more healthful food choices are present (Morland et al., 2006).
This access is not even however: low income and minority areas contain
fewer supermarkets on average; these areas also tend to have a higher
density of convenience stores offering fewer healthful choices and higher
prices, and fast food outlets (Morland et al., 2002). Because these
communities experience lower vehicle ownership rates, problems of access
are exacerbated.

4. Food System Links with Ecological Systems

    * Energy Consumption in the Food System. At roughly eight calories of
energy to produce one typical food calorie, today's food system is both
energy-intensive and inefficient. The average food item travels at least
1500 miles. According to Thomas Starrs (2005), growing, processing and
delivering the food consumed by a family of four each year requires more
than 930 gallons of gasoline or about the same amount used to fuel the
family's cars.
    * Water Issues in Agriculture. Sedimentation and chemical pollutants
resulting from agricultural practices continue to pose serious problems for
fisheries, other wildlife, water-based recreation, and household water use.
The Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico is one of the largest such examples of
depletion of oxygen caused largely by farm runoffs. In 2005, it covered
nearly 5,000 acres (National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 2004).
In addition, U.S. agriculture is an especially prolific consumer of surface
and ground water. For example, 38 percent of irrigation water in California
and 66 percent in Texas are pumped from ground water (Pimental et al.,
1997).
    * Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs). CAFOs are
agricultural facilities that house and feed a large number of animals in a
confined area for 45 days or more during any 12 month period. In 2003,
CAFOs, a small percentage of the nation's 238,000 feeding operations,
produced more than half the 500 million tons of manure, according to the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, no date). Health threats from such operations include chronic
and acute respiratory illnesses, injuries, infections, and nuisances such
as flies, and odor (Bowman et al., 2000). CAFOs are also implicated in
spreading stronger strains of E. coli bacteria and environmental problems
such as ground water contamination. An emerging and promising method to
reduce odors and generate renewable energy from livestock manure in CAFOs
is anaerobic digestion (Wilkie, 2005).
    * Loss of Biodiversity. Across the country, native vegetation (forests,
prairie, wetlands) which provides wildlife habitat and performs valuable
ecosystem services such as flood control has been depleted or seriously
threatened. In Illinois, for example, over 90 percent of all natural
wetlands have been lost, the majority to agricultural production. According
to noted ecologist Gary Nabhan, the U.S. has lost over 60 percent of all
the heirloom crop varieties that were here at the time of Columbus's
arrival to the New World; the other 40 percent remains below the radar of
the food industry (Mangan, 2006).
    * Fisheries. In fisheries across North America, the needs of consumers
and the long-term sustainability of fishery populations have fallen out of
balance due to over-fishing or habitat loss or degradation. Fish
populations of haddock, Atlantic cod, red snapper, Pacific herring, Pacific
halibut, salmon, and king crab have seen significant declines (American
Fisheries Society, no date).
    * Food system wastes. Wastes at each point of the food system use up
local landfill capacity, or if incinerated, increase air pollution. One
study showed that nearly 30 percent of all solid wastes are related to food
consumption, with half of that being food packaging (University of
Wisconsin Department of Urban and Regional Planning, 1997). Natural organic
wastes may be a valuable input for agriculture if they can be separated
from the waste stream. Such wastes can be fed to hogs, composted and
reapplied to the land, or converted into renewable energy through anaerobic
digesters.

5. Food System and Social Equity

    * Hunger and food insecurity. Hunger and food insecurity are prevalent
in the United States. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic
Research Service (2006) reports that in 2005, 11 percent of all U.S.
households were "food insecure" because of a lack of sufficient food. Black
(22.4 percent) and Hispanic (17.9 percent) households experienced food
insecurity at far higher rates than the national average.
    * Emergency food assistance. In 2003-04, requests for emergency food
assistance increased by about 14 percent in the 27 cities surveyed by the
U.S. Conference of Mayors (2004). About 20 percent of the demand for food
went unmet. Fifty-six percent of those requesting assistance represented
families with children; 34 percent of adults requesting assistance were
employed.
    * Food Stamps. In 2003, 21.2 million individuals participated in the
Food Stamp Program; however, this represented only 60 percent of people
eligible to receive Food Stamp benefits. The average monthly food stamp
benefit was $83.77 per person (Food Research and Action Center, no date).
    * Supermarket initiative. Research documents lower availability of
grocery supermarkets in low-income areas. In Rochester, NY, planners worked
with neighborhood groups to bring a Tops Supermarket to the Upper Falls
area, a neighborhood that had long gone without a grocery store. As a
result of their negotiations, Tops agreed to renovate three other stores in
the city, thereby increasing access to a variety of affordable and
healthful food choices (Pothukuchi, 2005).
    * Vacant urban land for growing food. Inner cities have significant
amounts of vacant land that, when used for vegetable gardening by
low-income residents, produce multiple health, social, and economic
benefits. For example, Detroit has over 60,000 publicly owned vacant
parcels, and a vibrant urban agriculture movement that can make productive
use of this land, if made available by public agencies that control it
(Kaufman and Bailkey, 2000). The Diggable City, a Portland State University
graduate planning workshop project prepared for the City of Portland,
Oregon, produced a land inventory containing specific sites of publicly
owned properties to assess opportunities to expand community gardens and
other forms of urban agriculture. This project has educated the community
on the significance of urban land as a resource for food production and
food security in the inner city (Portland State University, 2005).
    * Immigrants as food sector workers. The food system's least desirable
jobs are worked by immigrants in vegetable harvests, industrial
slaughterhouses, and food processing plants. According to the U.S. Farm
Bureau, immigrant labor may add up to $9 billion to the nation's $200
billion annual agricultural output (Keller, 2006). It is estimated that of
the more than 4 million agricultural workers in the U.S., at least
two-thirds are immigrants, 80 percent of whom are from Mexico. Because many
are undocumented, they typically receive below-minimum wages, experience
substandard living conditions, and make up a large portion of the food
insecure.

6. Native/Ethnic Food Cultures

    * Food issues faced by Native American communities. Native American
communities are hit particularly hard by the loss of or threats to
ecologies, habitats, and native food ways that included subsistence
agriculture, hunting, fishing, and gathering. As Native Americans were
pushed into the dominant food system, the incidence of diet-related disease
rose rapidly. Diabetes-related mortality among American Indians is over
twice that of the general U.S. population (231 percent). In addition,
nearly one-fourth of Native American households are food insecure because
of inadequate resources with which to meet daily food needs, with one out
of 12 individuals so food insecure as to be classified as hungry
(Bell-Sheeter 2004).
    * Native Food Planning. The Oneida Community Integrated Food Systems,
established in 1994, started with a task force to address concerns related
to poverty and health on the Oneida reservation. Through their assessment
of food-related needs and assets, they developed actions to support goals
related to increasing employment for Native Americans; educating community
members about healthy foods and diets; and producing meats, fruits, and
vegetables for both, food security and increased profits.
    * Ethnic Cuisines. Although Mexican, Italian, and Cantonese-Chinese
cuisines are the most sought after dining-out ethnic choices, newer
cuisines are gaining a foothold. According to an "Ethnic Cuisines" survey
by the National Restaurant Association, Hunan, Mandarin and Szechwan
variations of Chinese cuisines, German, French, Greek, Cajun/Creole,
Japanese (including sushi), Asian Indian, Soul Food, Scandinavian,
Caribbean and Spanish cuisines have been tried by more than 70 percent of
the diners. Between 1981 and 1996, consumer awareness of Asian Indian
cuisine jumped 74 percent (National Restaurant Association, 2000).
    * Locally Sourced Ethnic Foods. Ethnic foods are part of the $25
billion specialty food industry, whose sales jumped 16 percent between 2002
and 2004. Farmers across the country are finding profit in this trend. For
example, some Pennsylvania and Maryland farmers are growing n'goyo and
gboma — West African vegetables — Thai eggplants, Jamaican Callalou,
and Halal lamb products desired by Muslim residents (Paley, 2005).

7. Comprehensive Food Planning and Policy

    * Food Policy Councils. Over 35 local and state food policy councils
have been established in North America in the past 10 years. Broadly
representative of groups in the local and regional food system, and
affiliated with either city, county, or state governments, these
institutions work to strengthen local and regional food systems, among
other goals.
    * Community-based Food Projects. USDA's Community Food Projects
Competitive Grants Program, now in its 10th year, is an important source of
funding for food projects that serve low income communities. Currently
authorized at the level of $5 million a year, the program has been expanded
to encourage more comprehensive food planning. A Farm to Cafeteria
legislation was recently enacted but no money was appropriated to implement
it. Programs related to the Farmers Market Nutrition Program (Farmers
Market WIC) and the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program are also
important to local communities.