article: The New American Food System, Part 2
By
John Ikerd, PhD, Professor Emeritus, University of Missouri
Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation--Health & Healing Wisdom, Vol.27
#3
In general, sustainable farmers succeed by focusing on the weaknesses of industrial systems of food and farming. Instead of specializing, they diversify. Instead of standardizing, they individualize. And instead of consolidating, they form interdependent relationships.
They realize economic gains from appropriate levels of specialization, standardization, and consolidation, but without sacrificing the social, ecological, and economic benefits of positive relationships among diverse elements of unique, interdependent systems. They don’t compete with industrial agriculture; they do something different. They focus on doing the things that industrial systems are inherently incapable of doing well.
They are rediscovering
the fundamental roots of agriculture; they are reconnecting to the land
and to each other, and in the process, are redefining farming. There are
no blueprints or recipes for sustainable farming.
Each sustainable farming operation is unique. To farm sustainably, the
farming systems must fit the ecological, physical, and intellectual resources
of the individual farm and farmer. However, some general underlying characteristics
of successful sustainable farming operations are beginning to emerge from
the diverse experiences of these new farmers.
The
Unique Farming Operation
First, these farmers see themselves as stewards of the earth. They have
a deep sense of personal connection to their land. They work with nature
rather than try to control or conquer nature. Their farms are unique because
they fit the farm to their land and climate rather than try to bend nature
to fit the way they might prefer to farm.
Their farming operations tend to be more diversified than are conventional farms--because nature is diverse. Diversity may mean a variety of crop and animal enterprises, crop rotations and cover crops, or managed livestock grazing systems, depending on the type of farm.
By managing diversity, these new farmers are able to reduce their dependence on pesticides, fertilizers, and other commercial inputs that squeeze farm profits and threaten the environment. Their farms are made economically viable as well as more ecologically sound by reconnecting with the land.
The
New Farmers Produce for Their Customers
Second, these new farmers build relationships. Most market through farmers’
markets, CSAs, or other forms of direct marketing--they establish a personal
reconnection with their customers. They realize that as consumers each
of us value things differently because we have different needs and different
tastes and preferences. They produce the things that their customers value
but can’t find in the supermarkets or fast food franchises.
They market to people who care where their food comes from and how it is produced--locally grown, organic, natural, humanely raised, hormone and antibiotic free, etc.--and, they receive premium prices by producing foods their customers value.
Competition Between the New Farmers Does not Exist
But, they are not
trying to take advantage of their customers to make quick profits; they
are trying to create long-term relationships. Their farms are made profitable
as well as more ecologically sound and socially responsible by reconnecting
with their customers.
These new farmers challenge the stereotype of the farmer as a fiercely
independent competitor--they cooperate with each other. They freely share
information and encouragement. They form partnerships and cooperatives
to buy equipment, to process and market their products, to do together
the things that they can’t do as well alone. They are not trying
to drive each other out of business; they are trying to help each other
succeed.
They refuse to exploit each other for short-run gain; they are trying to build long-term relationships. They feel a personal connectedness to each other. They buy locally and market locally. They bring people together in positive, productive relationships that contribute to their economic, ecological, and social well-being.
Doing
What They Do Best
Finally, to these new farmers, farming is as much a way of life as a way
to make a living. They are “quality-of-life” farmers--and
their quality of life depends on the quality of their relationships. To
them, the farm is a good place to live--a healthy environment, a good
place to raise a family, and a good way to be a part of a caring community.
Many of these farms create economic benefits worth tens of thousands of dollars, in addition to any reported net farm income. Their farming operations reflect the things they like to do, the things they believe in, and the things they have a passion for, as much as the things that might yield profits.
They are connected spiritually through a sense of purpose and meaning for their lives. However, for many, their products are better and their costs are less because by following their passion they end up doing what they do best. Most new farmers are able to earn a decent income, but more important, they have a higher quality of life because they are living a life that they love.
The
Need to Come Together
Independent food processors, distributors, and marketers face the same
kinds of challenges, and thus, have the same kinds of opportunities as
independent family farmers. Independent food marketers cannot expect to
compete with the giant “global food chain clusters” and are
too small to form their own strategic alliances to compete in the global
arena. If there is to be a future for independent food processors, distributors,
or marketers, it will be outside of the global food chain. They must join
with sustainable farmers to create a new sustainable American food system.
As with the new American farmers, the new American retailers and restaurants
must market in the niches--meeting the needs of consumers that are not
being met by the industrial, mass production, mass distribution food system
of today.
Many consumers today don’t trust the current food system. They are concerned about food safety and nutrition and are dissatisfied with the taste and flavor of many industrial food products. They will pay premium prices for wholesome, nutritious food that really tastes good.
Many consumers are concerned about where their food comes from and how it is produced. They will pay premium prices for crops that are grown organically or for meat from animals raised under humane conditions, without chemicals, without hormones or antibiotics.
The mass production,
mass distribution food system cannot meet the unique needs of unique consumers--at
least not as efficiently as can the smaller, individually owned and managed
food business.
The skeptics claim that niche markets are inherently small and limited
in importance. In reality, all consumer markets are niche markets, because
we all have somewhat different tastes and preferences. The mass-market
merchandisers attempt to target the “middle” or the preference
distribution, where individual tastes and preferences are similar, but
never identical.
As more consumers
become increasingly dissatisfied or disenchanted with industrial, mass-produced
foods, the opportunities for meeting those diverse individual tastes and
preferences increase. All consumer markets are niche markets. The only
question is how narrowly the markets can be economically segmented in
meeting individual tastes and preferences.
The current challenges for independent processors, distributors, and retailers
are real, but their opportunities are unlimited. Most consumers are simply
unaware that a half-dozen multinational corporations are quickly gaining
control of the global food supply. Millions of consumers would be willing
to pay the cost of an independently owned and operated food system, if
they realized the consequences of not doing so.
Claims that costs
will be too high quite simply are false. Farming accounts for but a penny
of the dime out of each dollar of the average consumer’s income
that they spend on food. Many marketing costs--such as advertising, packaging,
and transportation--will be greatly reduced, if not eliminated, by moving
toward local, community-based food systems.
The new American food system will be dramatically different from today’s
industrial food system. Quite likely, it will be a network of local, interdependent
community food systems rather than part of some corporately controlled
global food chain cluster. The key to success in the new food system will
be relationships marketing.
Relationship markets
are built on personal connectedness, and such connections are far easier
to establish and maintain where farmers, processors, retailers, and customers
all live in geographic proximity. And it will be far easier to meet the
diverse needs and preferences of consumers with a network of interdependent
decision-makers rather than with some grand global scheme of corporate
central planning.
A new American food culture, showing a strong preference for the “local,”
is already emerging in support of such a system. Restaurants seem to be
leading the trend toward “buying local,” with the Chefs Collaborative
as their most prominent organization.
The Collaborative includes chefs from up-scale restaurants throughout the country. Their fundamental organizational principles include: “Sound food choices emphasizing locally grown, seasonally fresh, and whole or minimally processed ingredients.”
Their other principles
are very much in harmony with the development and support of an ecologically
sound and socially responsible food system. Independent restaurants everywhere,
across all price ranges, seem to understand that their best defense against
the national franchises is to advertise their reliance on local farmers
who provide them with really fresh, high-quality foods.
Another organization giving voice to the growing preference for a network
of community-based food systems is Slow Food. Slow Food is a worldwide
movement committed to promoting the diversity of local and regional quality
food produced and marketed in a way that guarantees farmers a fair price
and protects the environment and the natural landscape.
Those in the movement have a clear understanding of the industrial food system and they realize that a return to local and regional food systems will be necessary for ecological and social sustainability.
In his book, The
Pleasures of Slow Food, Corbey Kummer points out that Slow Food is
not an elitist gourmet movement, but instead, encourages “good,
honest food at reasonable prices” and its appreciation and enjoyment
to the fullest by all.
While these movements still may be small, as with the new American farm,
they are helping to create a new food culture for the future. The “cultural
creatives” within society are just beginning to realize that they
can reflect their values and pursue their preferred lifestyles through
their food choices.
As the availability of alternatives to industrial, mass-produced foods become more common, the awareness of and demand for something fundamentally different and better will continue to grow.
Creating a New Food Culture for the Future
The “cultural creatives” didn’t exist 40 years ago and perhaps accounted for five percent to 10 percent of Americans a decade ago; today they account for a quarter or more of the total population, and they are still growing.
Current sales of organic,
natural, socially responsible products represent but a small fraction,
certainly no more than five percent, of the current potential market represented
by this large and growing segment of American society.
The goal in creating local food systems is not to make communities self-sufficient
in food production, any more than the goal of sustainable agriculture
is to make farms self-sufficient. The goal in both cases is to learn to
work and live in harmony with nature, including human nature, to build
positive relationships among people and between people and the earth.
The new American food system will encourage and support production of foods uniquely suited to specific ecological and cultural niches, as a means of achieving this harmony. It will also encourage and support local consumption of local foods, in the belief that eating foods produced in the places where we live, by people we know, is an act of integrity and value.
The fundamental purpose
of local, community-based food systems is to reconnect us to the earth
and to each other. However, this connection does not imply that consumers
should consume only food produced locally or that farmers should sell
all of their products locally. Community food systems imply a “preference
for the local” as a means of reconnecting, and thus, enhancing our
quality of life.
Many may question whether these local community-based food systems can
possibly replace the corporate, industrial food system of today. However,
networks of interdependent community-based systems of the future could
serve the total food market more easily, efficiently, and effectively
than can the giant hierarchically, corporately controlled food clusters.
Local community systems could be quite easily linked through formal and informal arrangements so that surpluses could be shared, first within regions, then within nations, and finally among regions and nations of the world.
Each community food
system might operate something like the merchants’ guilds of earlier
times. However, unlike the merchants’ guilds, community food systems
would include consumers as well as producers, and would recognize the
necessity for sharing, among communities and across regions, in achieving
a desirable quality of life.
Some food merchants might choose to form organizations to vouch for the
integrity of its members, although each member offers unique, location-specific
foods--sort of a “Best Western” approach to food merchandizing.
The result might be
a global food network, but a network reflecting a strong preference for
things most local, and thus, things that keep us most connected with the
earth and with each other. Such a food system would reflect our pursuit
of a more enlightened self-interest and a more desirable quality of life.
American society is ripe for an epidemic of change from the old industrial
to a new sustainable society. And, this epidemic will bring with it a
new American food system. Advocates for environmental protection and social
justice are no longer on the fringes of society. They are prominent among
educators, writers, religious leaders, actors, and even some leaders in
business and politics.
The Internet provides an unprecedented tool, which allows even “fairly ordinary” people to connect with thousands of others, quickly, frequently, and inexpensively and thus multiplies the number of social “connectors.” And, if we can break the grip of corporate influence on politics and business, advocates of a truly sustainable society will be at least as prominent in politics and business as in everyday life.
To
Sacrifice One Thing, We Gain Another
Until recently, the messages of environmental protection and social equity
had been interpreted as messages of sacrifice. We of the present must
sacrifice for the benefit of those of the future.
Those who “have” must sacrifice for the benefit of those who “have not.” But, Americans are awakening to the reality that our quality of life has been diminished by our exploitation of the environment and of each other in the pursuit of our narrow, individual self-interests.
Americans are beginning to realize that taking care of the earth and taking care of each other are not sacrifices, but instead, enhance our quality of life. The pursuit of “quality of life” instead of “standard of living,” is a “sticky” message that will cling to the minds of all who understand it.
The Future is Right Around the Corner
Finally, the current social context is ripe for the outbreak of an epidemic of change. Most people realize that the industrial era is over and a post-industrial era is upon us; we don’t know what to call it yet, but we know it will be different. The economic “bubble” of the Reagan-Clinton era has burst, the world is in recession, and no one knows how far it is to the bottom, let alone when, or even if, the economy will recover.
The world is engaged
in a “war on terrorism”--a war that apparently will be punctuated
by periodic “small wars” and admittedly has no foreseeable
end. American society will only tolerate this continuing uncertainty and
vulnerability for so long, and then, they will demand fundamental change.
They will reject the current “modern” values and lifestyles,
and will embrace the creation of a new American culture.
The industrialization of America has resulted in an increasingly disconnected,
dysfunctional, and unhappy society. Nowhere are the negative consequences
of our disconnectedness more clear and compelling than in our systems
of food and farming.
However, American society is changing--a new American culture is emerging from growing concerns for the ecological and social consequences of our materialistic society.
Now is the time to create a new American food system--a network of community food systems, linking independent, local farmers with independent, local food processors and retailers, to provide food for customers willing to pay for quality and integrity. It’s time to create an alternative sustainable food chain--one that is ecologically sound, economically viable, and socially responsible.
This new food system will help reconnect people with the earth and with each other, and thus, will contribute to a more enlightened concept of quality of life. In creating this new and better food system, we will help lead the way to a brighter, more sustainable future for America and for the rest of the world. This task will take time and effort to complete, but now is the time to begin.
Part I, Part 2
John Ikerd is Professor
Emeritus (Agricultural Economics), University of Missouri, Columbia, MO.
This article is reprinted with the kind permission of the author. E-mail:
JEIkerd @ aol.com; Web site: www.ssu.missouri.edu/faculty/jikerd.
References
De Tocqueville, Alex. Reprinted in 2000. Democracy in America, Bantam Books, New York.
Gladwell, Malcolm. 2000. The Tipping Point. Little, Brown and Company, Boston, New York, and London.
Kummer, Corby. 2002. The Pleasures of Slow Food. Chronicle Books, San Francisco.
Putnam, Robert. 2000. Bowling Alone. Simon and Schuster, New York, London, Toronto, Sydney, and Singapore.
Ray, Paul and Sherry Anderson. 2000. The Cultural Creatives. Three Rivers Press, New York.
Schlosser, Eric. 2001. Fast Food Nation. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston and New York.
[1] The full text (see website) was prepared for presentation at the Ohio Ecological Food and Farming Association 23rd Annual Conference, Johnstown, Ohio. March 8-9, 2003.
[2] For summaries of global food consolidation studies,
see articles by Mary Hendrickson, PhD, and William Heffernan, PhD, in
Small Farm Today Magazine, April 1999 and July 2001, also available on
the Internet at http://nfu.org/images/heffernan.pdf and http://nfu.org/images/heffernan_1999.pdf
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