This path was created by Maria Frank.
Pressure to increase efficiency and profit has reduced farm and industry diversification...
...and increased concentration, meaning, for example, that most farmers grow only a few crops.
This statement was based on a passage from "Marketing Study of Opportunities for Foods Grown Locally or Sustainably in Minnesota".
The second point on 'Wholesalers' Wish List' was "A Wider Variety of Local Products that Reflect a Stronger Understanding of Market Demand. Most distributors said there is demand for a greater diversity of local products. They would encourage producers to grow complementary products and avoid 'everybody growing the same stuff,' as one put it."And it is reflected in a statement from the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.
"In the mid-1980s... prices had dropped below the cost of production. Family farmers were told they were inefficient and they had to either get big or get out. Deeply flawed national and international policies were the root cause of the crisis."