Local food in Kansas

By Marc

Via the Ethicurean digest, an article in the Parsons Sun about how farm subsidies are affecting rural life in Kansas ends with snapshot of the local food situation:

Paul Johnson, Lawrence, an organic farmer and lobbyist with the Kansas Catholic Conference, said subsidies do little for either rural populations or small farms.

He notes that Kansas consumers spend about $525 million a year on fruits and vegetables, yet only about $15 million worth of those crops is grown here.

It would take only 150,000 acres to grow enough fruits and vegetables to satisfy consumer demand in Kansas, according to studies done by Kansas State University in the Kansas River valley.

Johnson, a market gardener in the summer, recognizes that not all of the state would be suitable for fruits or vegetables. But he said Kansas is so focused on big agriculture that it misses the larger picture.

"I guess it's sexier or more handy to get into a $250,000 combine and ride the prairie," he said.

How does 150,000 acres compare with the amount of farmland in Kansas?  It's basically nothing:  Kansas has 10.3 million acres planted in wheat (according to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service).

Marc lives in Berkeley, California.  He writes Mental Masala (an enticing blend of food, history, travel, and nature) and contributes to Ethicurean.

Image credit: Photo of the wheat harvest in the Palouse (Washington, Oregon, Idaho) from the USDA ARS Image Gallery.

Comments

[RedStateGreen]

One thing that concerns me about that article is how fewer and fewer people are growing the food we eat. If one of fifty people growing wheat dies or goes bankrupt, it's not that vital; if one of the only three people growing wheat goes under, it's a catastrophe.

(a bit of an exaggeration but you see my point)

[Anita]

I live in southwest Kansas - Greensburg - And this very topic frustrates me to no end... Out here, there is virtually nothing grown locally unless you grow it yourself, and our garden was torn up this year by a tornado...If we were eating only locally this year we would starve...

[Jenny]

I agree with all said here..I am a small Kansas organic vineyard/heirloom cattle farmer with very little wheat/feed growing. It makes me crazy what subsidies do and have first hand knowledge of those that use and abuse the system and continue to plant massive acreage to wheat/soybean. Now with ethanol production gearing up and plants going in all over it will be corn and irrigation draining the precious aquifers. It's all about the money. Always.