Lt. Gov. Dan Forest: N.C. needs to process own food

North Carolina is sitting on a wealth of economic potential in the agriculture industry. By processing our crops and livestock, we could grow the industry from $77 billion per year to $100 billion by 2020.

A vast amount of North Carolina’s fresh produce is processed out-of-state. By processing the crops and livestock from our 8.5 million acres of farmland, we have the potential to create 38,000 jobs and add $10.3 billion to our economic output over a five-year period, according to a recent study conducted by N.C. State.

Instead of sending our food to other states to be processed, we need to take every step to ensure we keep those jobs here. North Carolina needs to move immediately toward greater food manufacturing.

I applaud Gov. Pat McCrory and Commissioner of Agriculture Steve Troxler for their leadership in establishing a Food Manufacturing Task Force, of which I am a member.

Next week we begin our monthly meetings, and we will move quickly to assess North Carolina’s resources, needs and capacity for food manufacturing in order to bring business to our state and help meet the demand for worldwide consumption.

In feeding the world, we will create jobs for our state.

This story was originally published July 8, 2015 at 5:17 PM with the headline "Lt. Gov. Dan Forest: N.C. needs to process own food."