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Toward a Regional FoodEconomy for Northeast Ohio
Presented byBrad Masi,
Northeast Ohio Food CongressApril 5, 2003
Northeast Ohio Region
• Northeast Ohio region includes seven county metropolitan area surrounding Cleveland
• Major challenges:– Urban decay/brownfields– Outmigration from urban cores– Loss of farmland/open space/greenfields– Economic challenges for local agriculture
Regional Land-Use Issues
• Connection between:– Urban Decay– Loss of Viable Farms– Urban Sprawl
• Current projections– By 2010, the Cleveland metropolitan area will:
• Lose 3% of its population• Occupy 30% more land for residential/commercial
development
Regional Food System Assessment
• Regional food assessment conducted for Northeast Ohio at Cleveland State
• Observations:– $6.7-6.9 billion in aggregate food purchases
(home+out) for seven county area– $254 million total agricultural sales in same
area
• Key question: how to increase slice of regional purchases going to local farmers?
A Tale of Two Food Systems
Facts About Modern Food System
• Average food molecule travels about 2,000 miles from farm to plate
• Every calorie of food requires 3 calories of energy for growing and 6.8 calories of energy for distribution and processing
• Energetics:– 10 calories of energy to provide 1 calorie of
food
Economics of Food System
• About 5-20% of every food dollar spent goes to the farmer
• The remaining 80-95% is tied up in a vast system of distribution, processing and transport
• Billions of taxpayer dollars support large monocultures that sell at subsidized prices
National Food System Design:Cradle to Grave
A BriefMoment ofIndulgence
FoodProcessing
Food Grown:Farm 1,300 miles
away
Food Transport
FoodPackaging
FoodTransport
3 caloriesof energy
6.8 caloriesof energy
Carbon dioxide
Soil erosion
Nutrient/Chemical pollution
LANDFILL
FoodWaste
Transport
FoodWaste
Disposal
Methane
WasteAccumulation
Atmospheric Carbon Accumulation
Whole Food System
Demand-Side•Restaurants
•Grocery Stores•Institutions
Supply-Side•Organic Farms
•Transitional Farms•New Farms
Transaction Side•Food Distribution
•Local Food Marketing•Processing•Packaging
Direct Marketing•CSA’s•Farmers’ Markets•Roadside Stands• Direct Sales
Food Waste• In-vessel systems•Urban Gardens•Back to farms
Building a Reigonal Food System:
The Oberlin Model
Local Food Purchasing at Oberlin
• Connect farmers to dining halls and coops at Oberlin College
• $10,000 purchased from farmers in 1991• Purchases between dining coops and dining
halls equaled $120,000 in 2001• College invested several thousand to buy
dispensers for local, organic milk• Figure represents about 3% of total purchases• How to get to 40% as achieved by Bates College
in Maine?
Back at the Farm• Farm Program
– Community Supported Agriculture
– Applied Research and Education
– Direct Marketing to Oberlin College
– Innovations in Soil Restoration
Restoring Soil with a Chicken Tractor
Chicken Tractor at Work
Accelerating Topsoil Formation
Oh yeah…and Eggs Too!
Farm as Microcosm
• Use farm as grounding point for broader regional vision– Innovations in small-scale agriculture and
land-use– Use of compost and chicken tractors to
revitalize degraded soils– New economic relationships– New materials economy (strawbale
construction)– Ecological sustainability
Building a Vision for a New Food Economy for Northeast Ohio
Vision for Change
• What is needed:– Innovation and entrepreneurial activity across all
sectors of the food economy:• Demand side• Supply side• Transaction side
– Broader network and closer connections between:• Farmers• Food sector businesses• Consumers
Northeast Ohio Food Congress
• Overall purpose of Congress– Build collaborations across all sectors of the
local food economy:• Farmers• Distributors• Processors/Manufacturers• Eaters
– Increase profitability across food sector through creation of new markets in Cleveland metropolitan area
Sequence of Events
• Identification of personal visions
• Articulation of key barriers and obstacles
• Identification of practical strategies/next steps– Eaters/Consumers– Transactions/Markets– Farmers/Producers
Agriculture as an Urban Issue
• Key elements:– Agriculture IS an urban issue– Agriculture belongs in a metropolitan
economic development strategy– Farmland is not undeveloped land– Regional food system integrates ecology and
economics– Regional food system IS farmland protection