LOCAL FOODS MAKE STRONG IMPACT, SAYS WRIGHT COUNTY SURVEY
Farmers in Iowa’s north central Wright County sold $248,000--nearly a quarter of a million dollars--of food to local buyers last year, according to a study conducted by an area food and health initiative.
These sales included over two dozen different food crops — everything from beef, pork, and poultry to honey, strawberries, sweet corn, baked goods, and eggs, from 30 county farmers. Over half of the county's grocery stores and restaurants offer local foods, and the survey indicates most plan to continue, or even expand, as more becomes available.
This is the first time that gross sales of locally grown products have been tallied and reported in Wright County. Data collection is continuing this season, with a full 2004-2005 report expected out by late fall. The Wright County Here’s to Our Health Committee, the organization conducting the survey, represents businesses, churches, area development agencies and local producers exploring ways to increase access to locally grown food by looking at health, community and economic benefits.
“We are really pleased to have the numbers describe just how much local food production is going on in our communities, ” says Jan Libbey, project coordinator and area farmer.
The largest local food purchaser in Wright County is Lewright Meats in Eagle Grove. Lewright bought more than $200,000 of pork and beef last year from 17 local farmers. Owner Paul Bubeck says he prefers to buy from local producers because “the quality and freshness are the best I can find.” Lewright’s purchases benefit processors and retailers as well as farmers, and show the significant impact one business can have. [While much of Lewright’s meat is sold to customers in other parts of Iowa, some of it is sold through their own deli and local stores. This means the total local impact is likely even greater than shown by the survey.]
Local farmers’ markets are also a consistent outlet for fresh foods, as they are in much of the state. A study released earlier this year by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture’s Regional Food Systems Working Group shows that Iowa farmers’ markets contribute more than $20.8 million to the state’s economy. Iowa has the largest number of farmers markets per capita in the United States.
There is potential to expand local food sales even more. “A quarter of a million dollars is a small portion of the estimated $30 million Wright County consumers spent on food last year,” notes economist Ken Meter of Crossroads Resource Center, who provided economic analysis for the survey. “If Wright County shoppers bought even 10% of their food from local sources, three million dollars that are currently being spent elsewhere would cycle through the local economy.”
Wright County producers sold a total of $80 million of livestock and livestock-related products in 2003 according to data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, indicating that there is significant capacity to meet demand for local sales, Meter added.
The survey also reports that producers marketing primarily through farmers markets spent $27,000 locally on inputs for their farms—another way that local food production increases economic activity.
Leroy Jensen, Wright County Extension Director and Here’s To Our Health Committee member, sees all this as good news. “A more diverse local food economy allows consumers to buy more food close to home. That means more profitable farms, better access to food, and a stronger local economy.” For consumers, buying local means the food is fresher, does not travel as far, and can be more nutritious and tasty. For farmers, local sales mean less vulnerability to market shifts and purchasing decisions made far away.
Just as significant, according to Libbey, “local food reinforces direct connections between producer and consumer, that contribute to community vitality socially as well as economically.” Libbey and her family have operated One Step At A Time Gardens since 1994, selling a variety of vegetables and poultry to area families through a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) share arrangement and the Belmond Area Farmers’ Market.
One unusual statistic tracked in the survey is the value of food products that are not sold, but are shared with family and friends or donated to local charities—estimated at over $9000 in 2004. Libbey sees this as yet another way increasing variety and quantity of local foods can improve access to nutritious, fresh foods for county residents.
“Wright County has some of the most fertile soil and the most productive farmers in the world,” notes Libbey. “When more of that good food stays close to home, we all benefit.”
The best of Wright County food will be celebrated this weekend at the Second Annual WRight Food Festival, to be held Saturday, July 30 from 11 am to 2 pm at Lake Cornelia Park, near Clarion. The festival will feature local foods, children’s activities, food demonstrations, live music, and will end with a sweet-corn eating contest at 2 pm.
The Eat WRight survey is a project of the Regional Food Systems Working Group coordinated by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at ISU and funded in part by a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, with additional support from the Alces Foundation and technical support from Prairie Winds RC & D.
For more information, contact:
• Jan Libbey, Project Coordinator, One Step At A Time Gardens: (641) 495-6367. libland@frontiernet.net
• Mark Schutt, Prairie Winds RC & D, (641) 923-3606, ext. 5, mark.schutt@ia.usda.gov
• Ken Meter, Crossroads Resource Center, (612) 869-8664, kmeter@crcworks.org