Let’s rebuild our local food economy

It’s that time of year when my thoughts always turn to another growing season in the garden. Like many of you, I’ve been inspired in recent years by the growth of the local food movement and I’ve greatly expanded my own efforts in recent years to grow more food and to promote the concept of building our local economies through small-scale agriculture.

For me, it’s not just about the quality of the food, although that in itself is reason enough to “grow your own.”

You don’t have to be a historian to be aware of a time when our region produced most of its food right here. It may seem hard to believe, but it wasn’t that long ago that Embarrass was famous for its potatoes, and the Littlefork Valley, around Cook, was a thriving agricultural center. In between, even in this rugged and rocky country, were pockets of decent soil and productive agriculture, but most of these fields that settlers worked so hard to clear from the forest are growing back into trees. At best, they’re mowed once a year for hay.

At a time when our region is feeling the effects of the latest downturn in the mining industry, and continuing troubles in the wood products sector, it’s worth remembering what we lost through the disappearance of local agriculture and what we could, perhaps, get back with some effort.

Just consider the numbers. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average household spent about $10,500 on food in 2013. Assume about 45,000 households in the northern half of the county, and that comes to $472 million, or nearly half a billion dollars annually. Right now, the vast majority of that potential wealth is lost to our region, because we import almost all of the food that’s purchased in our local restaurants and supermarkets.

Imagine if we raised just ten percent of that food locally again. That would amount to $47 million in new wealth created locally— and that’s wealth that would stay here in the local economy. According to a recent national study, every $1 million generated from local agriculture produces about 13 jobs, so producing just ten percent of our food needs locally could generate over 600 new jobs. Produce 20 percent of our food locally, and you’re talking 1,200 jobs.

And remember, these are jobs that won’t be dependent on continued expansion in China, or anywhere else. They won’t be subject to boom and bust, since folks need to eat every day.

Sure, we probably won’t be growing orange trees anytime soon, and lettuce won’t do too well up here five months of the year, but there are still plenty of opportunities to build a thriving local agriculture sector. In fact, we’ve already seen some progress in that area. We’ve seen the growth of local farmers markets and places like Bear Creek Acres, in Kugler, where an old farmstead was revitalized and is now producing quality meat for local residents.

We’ve got Dahl’s Dairy, in Babbitt, which utilizes milk from local cows to provide quality dairy products to a large region, and produces a number of jobs doing so.

In Cook, we have places like Homestead Mills, which is manufacturing specialty food products from locally-grown crops and marketing them around the state. Stores like Natural Harvest, in Virginia, make a big effort to feature locally-produced foods among their product lines, and many other area stores would likely do the same with some encouragement. Given the opportunity to buy locally-grown products in area supermarkets, I bet most consumers would pay a little more for the freshness and the knowledge that their dollars will remain in the local economy.

These are just examples that show it can be done. With organized effort, and perhaps some investment from the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board or U.S. Rural Development to establish producers’ cooperatives or community-supported agriculture, we could be doing a whole lot more to provide the technical and business support needed to help return this sector to its former prosperity.

We’ve sort of taken it for granted in recent years that our food has to come from thousands of miles away. We get our potatoes from Idaho, rather than Embarrass, and our broccoli from the San Joaquin Valley, even though we could grow better broccoli up here half the year.

And once you start producing the food again, there’s the value-added production that goes with it. A farmer makes money growing potatoes, while a processor adds to that by turning the potatoes into French fries. A dairy turns locally-raised milk into butter, ice cream, or yogurt. Locally-raised pork is turned into breakfast sausage. It all adds to the diversity and job-creating potential of the local economy— and the economic benefits stay here. The mere act of eating doesn’t have to be a continual drain on the wealth of our communities— it can become a vital part of revitalizing local economies.

Given the increasing uncertainty of our climate, building our local food-producing capacity is a wise investment in sustainability. Small-scale farms that produce for a local market are easier on the environment, usually consume less energy per pound of food than industrial agriculture, and create more jobs at the same time. And with extraordinary drought now gripping much of California, food prices are certain to rise and supplies could well be threatened down the road. Developing a greater degree of local food reliance is a hedge against such uncertainty.

We need to overcome the notion held by some that agriculture is somehow an industry of the past, not worth considering as part of creating a viable economy in northern St. Louis County. In fact, it’s exciting to see all the ways that the local food movement has pushed technological advancement in small-scale agriculture, particularly when it comes to extending the growing season. If we want to build a truly sustainable economy in our region, a revitalization of our once-thriving agricultural sector should be a key component.