Nourishing N.C.'s economy

Governor-elect Beverly Purdue and the General Assembly take note: Building a local sustainable food economy in North Carolina can yield statewide economic development, create jobs and stop money from leaking out of the state in this time of recession. And it comes with many additional benefits as well.

Since food is essential for life, no matter how bad the recession gets, the need and demand for it will continue. This is one industry that we can keep and expand in our state, if we choose to. Expanding our local agriculture does not mean that we don't trade with other states and nations, but that we buy from ourselves as we trade with others.

According to the USDA, we spend approximately $4,000 per capita annually for food. If we spent just 5 percent of that (amounting to 55 cents per day) on foods grown in our state, it would bring $1.7 billion in revenue to North Carolina farmers and related businesses. In addition, money spent on local food has a multiplier-effect, circulating in the local economy rather than leaving the state to a corporate headquarters elsewhere.

Take apples as an example. N.C. farmers currently grow enough to supply 42 percent of fresh apple consumption in the state. But as a consumer, you are more likely to find an apple from Washington state in your grocery store than you are to find one grown locally. One study has found that on average food travels 1,500 miles from farm to plate.

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CONSIDER SOME OTHER ASPECTS of increasing our local food economy:

North Carolina is currently tied for first in the nation in the loss of farms. The average age of farmers here is 56. With a population growth of 21.4 percent from 1990 to 2000 and an estimated 600,000 more people in the state by 2010, there will likely be significant demand for residential growth, risking even greater loss of farmland. The estimated growth in population is a planning challenge and needs to be managed so it does not displace valuable farmland.

Public health professionals are paying more attention to the food system and its role in poor health outcomes. American consumers have had ready access to an abundance of low-cost, high-calorie foods with ingredients such as high-fructose corn-syrup. Rates of obesity and diabetes have risen accordingly. North Carolina ranks 17th among the states in terms of adult obesity and is fifth-highest in childhood obesity.

Farm-to-school programming and urban gardening can address obesity in children while simultaneously building a community-oriented food system. These programs are geared toward increasing children's consumption of fresh, local foods while expanding market opportunities for local farmers.

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FINALLY, CONSIDER FOOD SECURITY. More and more people want to know where their food comes from, how it was grown and who grew it. Food contamination scares have contributed to this. Shouldn't we protect our capacity to grow our own food by working to make our local agriculture economically viable and vibrant?

This may take an investment by the state as we rebuild our local food system infrastructure but will have significant payoffs across the board, including job creation.

The Center for Environmental Farming Systems (www.cefs.ncsu.edu) has launched an exciting statewide effort to ask, "What will it take to build a local, sustainable food system and economy in North Carolina?" The center has been holding regional meetings across the state and will host a summit March 2-3 to help develop a state action plan for building the local food economy. Decision-makers and their staff members should attend the summit and pay attention to the recommendations that are developed.

The state of our nation's agriculture -- which connects jobs, food and the environment, and also has health consequences -- is every bit as unsustainable as the current economy. There is a solution: building a local sustainable food system. The primary question is, will we act before the crisis or after?

(Eva Clayton is a former U.S. representative from North Carolina's 1st Congresional District and assistant director-general for the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization. She is on the advisory committee for the CEFS Building a Local Food Economy initiative.)