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