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Field Guides to Food

Finding Food in Farm Country: The Economics of Food & Farming in SE MN

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1. Ken Meter: On The American Third World (Trailer) Ken Meter, president of the Crossroads Resource Center, discusses with Peter Shea in September 2012 his path to studying food security and the trends he has observed firsthand in his work with American farmers. He goes on to describe the features and uses of a food economy study, the weaknesses in the current agricultural system, parallels between rural and inner-city America, the promise and pitfalls of Farm to School programs and food policy councils, what food store chains are doing for the movement, and why industrial agriculture might be bad for democracy.
2. Ken Meter: on the American Third World (Edited)
3. Ken Meter: on the American Third World (Full) Ken Meter, president of the Crossroads Resource Center, discusses with Peter Shea in September 2012 his path to studying food security and the trends he has observed firsthand in his work with American farmers. He goes on to describe the features and uses of a food economy study, the weaknesses in the current agricultural system, parallels between rural and inner-city America, the promise and pitfalls of Farm to School programs and food policy councils, what food store chains are doing for the movement, and why industrial agriculture might be bad for democracy.

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People are interested in forms of farming...
...that will be viable in the long term.
This statement was based a passage from "Finding Food in Farm Country."
Our key finding is that the existing economic structures through which food products are bought and sold extract about $800 million from the region's economy each year. All this money, currently earned by Southeast Minnesota residents, is spent in ways that weaken the capacity of the region to build wealth for its citizens. (p.3)
And it is reflected in a statement from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
Biodiversity is enhanced in organic agricultural systems, which makes these farms more resilient to unpredictable weather patterns and pest outbreaks...
People are working to ensure that healthy food, including adequate produce, is accessible...
...and affordable to all residents of southeast Minnesota, including the elderly and others with limited mobility.
This statement is based on passages from "Finding Food in Farm Country"...
Here, in the heart of a strong agricultural region that produces nearly a billion dollars worth of food annually, the town of Houston recently spent two years without a grocery store.
...and "Migrant Farmworkers in South-Central Minnesota: Farmworker-Led Research and Action for Change."
53% of the migrants answered that transportation was the biggest problem they encountered in Minnesota. There is no public or private transportation system available for workers to travel from their houses to their jobs.
It is also reflected in statements from the Minnesota Farmers Market Association...
There are many farmers’ market entities (and more forming) servicing farmers, growers and producers throughout Minnesota that can benefit by networking to... promote and support acceptance of food assistance benefits such as SNAP, WIC, & FMNP.
...and Slow Food USA (on a past version of their webpage).
Food is a universal right. Food that is fair should be accessible to all, regardless of income, and produced by people who are treated with dignity and justly compensated for their labor.
Regional farms are working to become significant sources of food...
...for commercial and institutional food vendors, like restaurants, schools, hospitals, and government agencies.
This statement was based on passages from "Winona County Local Foods Inventory"...
"However, the challenges cited by the greatest number of producers and institutions all had to do with the limited availability or consistency of local foods."
...and "Finding Food in Farm Country"
Meter lists restaurants as an outlet for local food and profiles three different restaurants of southeast Minnesota that use local food in their menus.
And it is reflected in a statement from the MN Department of Health:
"[In Farm-to-School programs], kids eat more fresh local foods and learn about where their food comes from, all while supporting local farmers."
Various groups trying to improve the food system in this region...
...are working to address the difficulties of communicating or working together.
This statement was based on passages from "Finding Food in Farm Country":
"Each [initiative described] offers chances for neighbors to build stronger bonds of loyalty, a more intimate sense of each other, and greater capacity to trust - the kinds of community fabric a scientist might call social capital. By planning together to address the needs of their own communities, by gathering together to dine or share stories, and by lingering with each other as business is transacted, participants in each project build a certain amount of new wealth for the community." (p.8) "The farmers who raise food for Sunflower Fields Farm CSA and for the cooperative GROWN Locally took action to protect their region's biodiversity. In addressing that concern, these farmers learned they could help build important connections among their neighbors." (p.22)
And it is reflected in statements from Olmsted County...
On a past version of their webpage, describing community garden impacts: "If residents can work together to create a productive green space, they can use those same skills to address critical problems like crime, homelessness, and blight plaguing their communities."
...and the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture.
"MISA believes that agriculture is a system in which the land, the people and the production of food are interwoven. One aspect of the system cannot be changed without influencing all of it. MISA believes that all efforts to improve agriculture should take care to balance the long-term economic, ecological and social effects."
Many people are working to ensure that food businesses contribute significantly to the regional economy...
Many people are working to ensure that food businesses (such as those engaged in production, processing, distribution, and food-related events) contribute significantly to the regional economy by generating more food and jobs at a range of skill levels in SE Minnesota.
This statement was based on passages from "Marketing Study of Opportunities for Foods Grown Locally or Sustainably in Minnesota"...
In both the retail grocery and the foodservice sectors, companies are consolidating seeking to gain ever-increasing market share and power to influence the price they pay for food products. (p.9)
..."Finding Food in Farm Country"...
Moreover, if farmers and consumers fail to devise a more locally-based food system, then the outcome is likely to be further erosion of the capacity of the region to build wealth, and further harm to soil and water resources. (p.29) More money cycling through the region for food would mean more local youth could remain in their home region and make a decent living. (p.29)
...and "Migrant Farmworkers in South-Central Minnesota: Farmworker-Led Research and Action for Change."
Each year, 20,000 to 35,000 migrant agricultural workers come to Minnesota to work in farm fields and food processing plants...Some [survey respondents] noted that migrant farmworkers are the only people willing to perform the jobs offered in the food processing plants. Others suggested that the main benefit that factories and farmers receive is cheap labor. (p.1,5)
It is also reflected in statements from the Minnesota Grocers Association...
The food retail industry provides jobs for thousands of Minnesotans... Statewide, the food retail industry pays millions of dollars in local property taxes and acts as a collector for sales taxes.
...the Minnesota Pork Producers Association (on a past version of their webpage)...
Minnesota pork producers are fortunate to have two major pork processing plants [Hormel and JBS] within its borders... Research shows that each job at the farm level in hog production creates two supporting jobs in pork processing.
...and Olmsted County's "General Land Use Plan."
The vast majority of agricultural products are exported from the county with income flowing into the county. In addition to its significance as a basic sector industry, agriculture supplies raw materials to other local and regional basic sector industries...
People are eager to promote healthier eating habits...
...via regionally produced food, but these may be more accessible to people who can afford to pay a premium.
This statement was based on passages from "Finding Food in Farm Country"...
Two Plainview women who wanted to assure that fresh-cooked meals could be created from organic foods took the bold step of starting their own restaurant. A cluster of organic growers near Oak Center has labored persistently for two decades, against great odds, to raise organic produce for an expanding urban market. It is not apparent on the surface why, in the midst of one of the most powerful agricultural systems in the world, such relatively fragile and small initiatives would even be necessary. (p.3) What makes each initiative effective is that each builds connections among community members, and each builds wealth that takes root in the local community. (p.5)
...and "Opportunities for Learning, Leadership, and Impact."
A sustainable regional food system is guided by several principles [including that]...it is accessible and affordable to all citizens. (p.3) Benefits [of a sustainable regional food system] include... access to healthy, local food for vulnerable communities and a broader public, while building self-esteem and community pride. (p.48)
It is also reflected in a statement by the Land Stewardship Project.
Diversified agricultural systems--organic in particular--are a luxury the world can ill afford at a time when the population has surpassed six billion people, say scientists like Nobel Prize-winning plant breeder Norman Borlaug. John Emsely, a chemist at Cambridge University has called organic farming "the greatest catastrophe that the human race could face," according to World Watch. Supporters of industrialized agriculture have argued for years that the only way to feed billions of mouths is by raising crops and livestock in large-scale specialized systems reliant on petroleum-based fertilizers and pesticides.