[Peace-discuss] Yes Magazine: Can Illinois Feed Itself?

[E. Wayne Johnson]

There are many significant barriers to doing what is suggested here.

Some of the most important barriers are regulatory barriers which we 
embraced in typical fashion by big business and the nanny-staters and 
significantly deter potential new entrants.   The corporate plutocrats 
get what they want and the well meaning shills of authoritarianism go 
home thinking that they are saving the world from dangers.  I know this 
is so, because I've sat in meetings with the corporate schemers and the 
nanny-state nincompoops and hear them talk and even teach about it.

Another problem in Illinois is that vegetable raising is 
labour-intensive and Illinois is not a state conducive to labour 
intensive agriculture.  Almost everything here is mechanized because of 
the difficulties involved in procuring and maintaining
labour.  Illinois is a particularly difficult state for labour, so much 
of the processing of ag products occurs outside the state.  Even in ag 
states that have large ag labour forces in harvesting and processing, 
most of the workers are immigrants not only from Latin America but also 
Eastern Europe and southeast Asia.  It's a big change from 30 years ago 
when most of the workers were native English-speaking whites and black 
who were born here.  Many Illinois farmers are not prepared to work with 
immigrants but some now do because suitable labour is not available 
among the resident population at any price.

Farmers tend to be independent which is why they chose an oft difficult 
life on the farm where there is lots of hard work and discomfort.  Most 
farmers do not want to have to deal with large work forces and all of 
the problems that are involved with the people and the government and 
the taxes and the regulations.  So they produce crops that are conducive 
to mechanical methods.

Yet another problem is the seasonality of production in Illinois.  
Grocery stores and produce distributors make contracts with suppliers 
who can provide fresh fruits and vegetables all year round.  In some 
places like China, they have lots of greenhouses to produce year-round 
vegetables, but such are comparatively rarely seen in Illinois.

For Illinois government to do anything effective to actually promote 
small-scale sales of ag products on a practical basis would be a 
dramatic change in policy.   Draper admitted that "the wealth of Illnois 
is in her soil" but the truth is that the ruling class in Illinois has 
viewed farmers as "rubes" and ag as a red-haired step-child.   Some 
small scale sales at places like farmers markets is just a tiny drop in 
the bucket and really represent just a niche market frequented by people 
who have money to spend on overpriced produce.  The tendency in Illinois 
is still toward coercive imposition of nanny-state principles, and I 
dont yet see things getting bad enough just yet for any sort of 
renaissance to take hold just yet.

What is suggested here is a sort of "it would be nice if..." but I don't 
think the rulers of Illinois are going to be giving up the coercive 
power willingly any time soon, and I suspect strongly that the 
fingernails and palms of the bureaucrats speak volumes about what they 
know about agriculture.



On 9/14/2009 8:39 PM, unionyes wrote:
> Good article Bob,
>
> If it is successful, a complaint and lawsuit will probably be filed by 
> some corporate agribusiness entity, via the WTO, and the program will 
> be declared a " barrier to trade " and the corporate agribusiness 
> entity will sue for damages for the " potential " loss of profits.
>
> David J.
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Robert Naiman" 
> <naiman.uiuc at gmail.com>
> To: "Peace-discuss List" <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
> Sent: Monday, September 14, 2009 3:46 PM
> Subject: [Peace-discuss] Yes Magazine: Can Illinois Feed Itself?
>
>
> http://www.yesmagazine.org/economies/eating-in
>
> Can a Farm State Feed Itself?
> A farm state tired of depending on imports, Illinois looks to local food.
>
> by Brooke Jarvis
> posted Sep 04, 2009
>
> Illinois, home to 76,000 farms and more than 950 food manufacturing
> companies, is a solidly agricultural state in the heart of America’s
> bread basket. Fully 80 percent of it is farmland. But, of all the food
> eaten in Illinois, only four percent is actually grown there.
>
> Vast quantities of food are exported to other states and nations,
> while similarly vast quantities are brought in to feed Illinois’
> citizens.  It’s a costly arrangement that leaves too many people
> without enough access to healthy fruits and vegetables.
>
> A new bill, recently signed by Governor Patrick Quinn, will make it
> easier for farmers to sell their harvests within Illinois instead of
> shipping them out of state.  But first, the state had to figure out
> what had been making it so hard.
>
> The Local Food, Farms, and Jobs Act of 2009 draws on the
> recommendations of a 32-member task force asked to determine Illinois’
> potential for local food consumption. Illinois, the group found, has
> lots of local food and lots of people willing to eat it. What’s been
> missing is a way to connect them on a large scale.
>
> The state spends tens of billions of dollars on imported food, much of
> which already is or could be grown in state, and exports its own farm
> produce. Local food systems developed at the community level have
> flourished—in the last decade, the number of farmers’ markets in
> Illinois has grown from 97 to 270, while the number of
> community-supported agriculture organizations, groups that sell shares
> of farm harvests directly to consumers, has more than quadrupled. But
> large consumers—like hospitals, museums, restaurants, grocery stores,
> corporate kitchens, schools, and universities—have found it difficult
> to procure local food in the quantities they need. And, many
> inner-city and rural communities in Illinois lack access to grocery
> stores, markets, or other sources of fresh, healthy foods.
>
> “Illinois’ predominant farm and food system,” the task force found,
> “is designed to serve distant markets, not link farm production with
> in-state markets.”
>
> The new bill represents the state government’s commitment to
> restructuring the food system so that it promotes local consumption
> instead of hindering it. “It encourages Illinois farmers to respond
> directly to consumers’ demand for fresh, tasty, locally produced foods
> and shows how to do it,” says task force chairman Wes Jarrell, a
> farmer and professor of sustainable agriculture.
>
> Specifically, the legislation sets up a grown-in-Illinois label and
> certification program, directs state agencies to purchase at least 20
> percent of their food locally by 2020, and allows them to pay premium
> prices for local food. One particular goal is to increase the amount
> of local food served in public schools.
>
> The law also establishes a new agency that will encourage farmers to
> grow food for local markets and will help build the statewide
> distribution networks needed to get their fresh produce to the people
> who want to eat it.
>
> “I believe economic development begins in the kitchen,” says Illinois
> Agriculture Director Tom Jennings. “There is no question we can
> produce locally grown fruits, nuts, and vegetables. We also have the
> processing and packaging capabilities right here in our own backyard.
> Setting up a distribution system that moves items at reasonable cost
> from tree or vine to the table is the big challenge, and this
> legislation is an important step toward realizing that goal.”
>
> The state expects that increasing local food sales will bring a $30
> billion boost to its economy. Distributing and selling a potato or
> soybean in-state keeps the money there, helping expand local commerce
> and ultimately creating new jobs and business opportunities, a
> phenomenon known as the local multiplier effect. “As Illinoisans meet
> the increased demand for fresh food grown within the state, every
> community’s economy will see the benefits,” says state representative
> Julie Hamos, who sponsored the bill in the Illinois House. “New jobs
> will be created as the system to process and transport the food to
> local markets is developed.” She also expects rural communities to
> grow as job prospects in agricultural areas improve.
>
> “The fact that all but a tiny percentage of the fruits, vegetables,
> and meats that Illinoisans eat are produced in other states or
> countries is an astonishing imbalance,” says state senator Jacqueline
> Collins, who was a cosponsor of the bill. But, she added, the state
> now has “an enormous opportunity” to develop a more sensible, more
> local food economy.
>
> Illinois' problem is hardly unique—the food Americans eat has traveled
> an average 1500 miles to reach our plates—but the state's agricultural
> production makes its lack of local distribution particularly striking.
> “The fact that all but a tiny percentage of the fruits, vegetables,
> and meats that Illinoisans eat are produced in other states or
> countries is an astonishing imbalance,” said state senator Jacqueline
> Collins, a co-sponsor of the bill. But, she added, the state now has
> “an enormous opportunity” to develop a more sensible, more local food
> economy.
> ---
> Brooke Jarvis wrote this article as part of YES! Magazine's ongoing
> coverage of sustainable food systems.  Brooke is YES! Magazine's web
> editor.
>