A Farmer's Questions about Local Food

Earlier this month, a conversation on the ASAP listserv ignited about this season’s tailgate market sales. One farmer who has been on the scene for quite some time admitted that “sales are down 30%”, sparking questions from market managers, customers, and other stakeholders as to whether this same downturn has been experienced by other growers. In talking with vendors from several Asheville-area tailgate markets, it appears as though many growers are looking at their records more closely this season. Two small scale growers told me that “sales have increased” and others said that sales “are up or down, depending on the week. It’s really been unpredictable.” In the wake of these discussions, another post on the list serv revealed the upturn in sales at one market in Alabama. What are the national trends for local food sales this summer compared to last? My investigations here in WNC, which are mere scratches on the surface and by no means indicate overall sales trends for our region, indicate that growers are feeling a difference. What are the reasons for any unpredictability, and what’s the next step?

One reason for any downturn that was cited on the list serv was more competition within the local food market. A veteran farmer observed that there are more produce vendors competing for the same customers. Others have blamed a wet, warm summer for low and late yields. In addition, many people are growing their own food in home gardens, and have less need for food from local farms. On top of all this, our country is in recession, and Americans in general are much more conscious about where they spend their dollars, and what they get for what they pay.

In 2007, the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project released a groundbreaking study on the potential for local food in Western North Carolina, citing that less than 1% of food consumed in WNC is produced locally, and that every year since 2004, consumer spending at local farmers markets has increased by 15%. With this information in hand, the potential for local food in WNC seems to be only beginning. Young, aspiring farmers are drawn to this area because of the success that some growers have seen, and the potential that lies ahead.

In 1991, the U.S Census Bureau deleted “farmer” as an option for an occupation. In 1910, farmers comprised over 50% of our country’s population, but by 1991, farmers were less than 2% of Americans. We’re all too aware of the loss of the family farm in America, and a report in the Asheville Citizen Times earlier this year revealed that WNC loses farmers at a greater rate than other regions in our state. The average age of farmers in many mountain counties is well over the national average, an already grim 55. But is the disappearance of farmers and the migration of young growers to this area really connected? Farmers who are retiring now did not seek direct-to-customer sales, and many of the markets they used are no longer available. A perfect example is the Gerber baby food plant that used to buy vegetables from many of my neighbors and their parents who farmed in McDowell County. As we build local companies that are keen on sourcing local food for their products, these avenues for local farmers may be re-opened, but the fate of our rural lands may not wait that long. In the meantime, the tailgate markets that pop up in communities across WNC offer an awesome potential for direct customer sales, even if we were able to transition all the land of those farmers retiring into the hands of young farmers ready and willing to work it, would there be markets and customers for all of us?

I have been asking this question for many years, from a farmer’s perspective. I admire many other farmers whom I have come to know in WNC for the success that they have seen selling at longstanding markets, such as the North Asheville Market, and wonder if other markets in our region will see the same high numbers, customer dedication, and meaningful profits. I have been encouraged by the consistent improvement of markets in which I participate, but indeed, the number of people I encounter talking about starting a farm in WNC make me wonder if we can all end up on top. We hope, and work hard to grow the local and organic food movement to a point where prices will not be so high, or until it becomes habitual or necessary for people to pay more for healthy food. We hope and work to grow the local food movement to a broader demographic, but in the meantime, are we headed for a bottleneck, in which the many social issues such as health education, living wages, and other issues affecting people’s food choices are not being resolved as quickly as we are growing our great movement? Can all the farmers seeking to sell direct to consumers in WNC grow to the size they need to be in order to truly be profitable and sustainable?

And for heavens sake, can victory gardens hurt farmers? Surely not. It is a great and powerful thing that many people have been moved by our country’s current plight, or for other reasons, to start becoming more self efficient. As Wendell Berry wrote, “The average citizen ought to be anxious…he is dependent on so many specialists, the beneficiary of so much expert help, this can only mean that he is a captive, a potential victim.” In other words,  we should not depend on so many experts for the success of our own lives. But if the same people who believe in fresh, healthy, local, and organic food are also those interested in self sufficiency, do we eventually preach our way out of business? As the most recent issue of Growing for Market points out in it’s cover article, it is rather ironic to witness an early and widespread onset of late blight due to infected plants that well meaning home gardeners purchased from WalMart and Lowes. Again the circle is broken, and our economy leaks dollars. Farmers not only lose sales to home gardening, but they lose tomato plants, too. And when the gardens dry up, and the leaves are all spotty, do the gardeners then turn back to us, cropping up suddenly at farmers stands across the mountains, for the expert’s tomatoes, the specialist’s eggplants?

Before I wrote this article, a friend asked me if I thought it was a good idea to mention how the recession might be affecting farmer’s market sales. Her point, a rather thoughtful one, was that blaming the recession might almost give us all an excuse to spend less. “Just like all those corporate layoffs this year. It’s like one company started laying people off due to economic crisis, and all of a sudden every company is laying people off.” Maybe so. But we would be foolish not to see that the little seed inside of us that makes us want local food in the first place is the same seed that would make us want to support local food even more when times get tough. This same seed makes us want to grow a garden, and hopefully buy our transplants from local, sustainable farmers, support local business who use local farm products to create their wares, thereby opening more markets for farmers, both seasoned and new.

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Thanks for your input, and remember that buying local food is not only good for you and good for farmers, but also beats back at the very root of recession itself by closing the circle on local, sustainable economies.