Opinion

Economic Development Through Agriculture: Last summer I attended a presentation on how organic “agripreneurs” in Vermont were revitalizing their rural towns. From 1850-1930, Hardwick VT was the granite capital of the world. In the 1970s, there was an influx of young “back to the landers.” According to Tom Stearns of Hi Mowing Seeds, there are now more local organic farms per capita than anywhere else in the world and they have experienced steady growth for the past 10 years. Young adults are returning to the community to be involved in the “food system.”

Hardwick has a bakery, slaughterhouse and restaurants featuring organic food. They also have a “Food Venture Facility” that will help people with a recipe and a dream grow into a business. (Similar to our own Siskiyou Harvest Food Center http://www.siskiyoucounty.org/business-incentives/siskiyou-harvest-1 ) They locally grow 60 percent of their food. For every dollar spent at the grocery store, 20 percent remains in the community.

They have a community based platform to support their local restaurant. Fifty investors pay $1,000 each and get 25 certificates in increments to spend during the year. 78 percent of the restaurant’s ingredients are produced within 15 miles of the Food Venture Center.

Hardwick has a population of about 3,000 people. During the past five years, they have added more than 100 jobs. Some of these are value-added agricultural products. For instance, it is difficult making any money shipping fluid milk. However, cheese and ice cream are profitable. Jasper Cellars now produces more than 2 million lbs. of cheese annually.

Shipping costs are a major factor in the “eat local” trend. Stearns said that a California broccoli grower sold his produce in New York. Shipping skyrocketed from four dollars a box to $13. The man eventually had to move his farming operation to New York.

Another factor is food safety. People who are afraid of the safety and quality of food tend to buy local.

According to Ben Hewitt, the author of “The Town That Food Saved,” there are four commandments of “local food.” (1) It shall feed locals; (2) It shall be circular; (3) It shall be based on sunshine (no artificial inputs); and (4) It shall offer viability to producers.

Hewitt said that our current system in America is seed, energy and fertilizer. Agriculture as a sector is the largest consumer of energy in the nation. Hardwick is creatively looking at alternative inputs, different products, and collaborations to recycle waste streams into compost. Stearns said that the town has developed a “community-based infrastructure” that creates a “soil to soil” cycle. Locally grown seed goes to local growers who grow produce for local restaurants that produce compost that goes to the seed operation.

Executive Summary of the Regional Food System Plan for Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom (NEK): http://www.hardwickagriculture.org/nek_4_3498764273.pdf Goals:

(1) The NEK will have increasingly localized, affordable, and sustainable farming and production inputs including energy, fertilizer, seeds, forage, and feed.

(2) More food will be produced for local and regional markets; production will continue to diversify; and farmers and food producers will be able to be profitable.

(3) The NEK food processing and manufacturing sector will grow, increasing value-added food production and providing farmers and producers with additional local and regional markets.

(4) There will be a sufficient supply of storage, aggregation, distribution, telecommunications, and other forms of on-farm and commercial infrastructure to meet increasing year-round consumer demand.

(5) The demand for local food will increase, local food consumption will rise, and appropriate marketing channels will help drive up the demand for local food, including agritourism, regional marketing, buy local campaigns, matchmaking and brokerage services, and education and awareness.

(6) Farm and food wastes will be recycled to produce compost and energy that will be used as production inputs.

(7) NEK residents will increasingly become more food secure; will have economic access to fresh, healthy, and local foods; and food-related health outcomes will be improved.

(8) Agricultural land will remain open and available to future generations of farmers and the food system will have increasingly positive impacts on environmental quality.

(9) Food systems and agriculture education, training, and workforce development will continue to be developed and offered in primary, middle, secondary, and post secondary schools and training programs, and the labor force will meet the needs of the food system sector

(10) Support and leadership for food systems (e.g., economic development, workforce development, financing, research, marketing, business planning, technical support, etc.) will be adequately coordinated to provide maximum support and these support organizations will work to meet the needs of producers and to provide healthy, fresh, and affordable local food for all residents.

It is interesting to see their strategies for achieving these goals. Could we do this in Siskiyou County?