Local food good for health, economy

• The Cass Clay Food Systems Initiative

The Cass Clay Food Systems Initiative is a new group striving to promote local foods, such as this produce sold Wednesday by Mitch Harty of Moorhead’s Yellow Rose Organics at the farmers market at Fargo’s Dike East. Heidi Shaffer / The Forum

Talk about it

FARGO – First-year organic vegetable grower Mitch Harty continues to look for more ways to get his food from a 1-acre garden plot to the public’s dinner table.

A new Fargo-Moorhead initiative launched Wednesday will do just that.

The Cass Clay Food Initiative aims to strengthen all aspects of the local food system as a way to create healthier options for consumers and expand economic opportunities for producers.

The goal is to increase access to safe, nutritious and affordable food by working with farmers, gardeners, processors, restaurants, grocery stores, food programs and consumers, said Kim Lipetzky, a nutritionist at Fargo Cass Public Health.

And in bringing the local food idea to the table – quite literally – area nutritionists, extension service agents, city planners, farmers and business leaders snacked on Fargo-grown apples at the program’s launch in Moorhead’s Hjemkomst Center.

The idea started last fall when metro health agencies were looking to introduce more healthy food options, Lipetzky said.

“If you want to change what you’re eating, figure out how to do it locally,” said Bruce Nelson, administrator of the Farm Service Agency in the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Nelson said another advantage of going local is that farmers stand to make substantially more in local food systems than they do in the larger national market.

“It benefits everyone,” he said.”

Farmers only make an average 16 cents for every dollar spent on food in today’s conventional market, Nelson said.

“Agriculture forms the backbone of our economy,” Nelson said, noting that one in 12 jobs is in the field. “When farms see success, rural America sees success.”

One example of a way to incorporate more locally grown or bred foods is to form a relationship between a school district and farmers to set up a steady, dependable food chain, Lipetzky said.

Nelson said the USDA is also working on a national level to promote localized channels such as farmers markets and crop-shares.

Standing under a tent at Fargo’s Dike East farmers market on Wednesday, Harty said the Fargo-Moorhead initiative sounds like it would be a great help to organic start-ups like his.

“The more people that want organic stuff, the more I get to grow,” Harty said.

Online

• For more information, visit www.letseatlocal.org.

Readers can reach Forum business editor Heidi Shaffer at (701) 241-5511

Tags: news, business, agriculture, food, environment, money, fargo, moorhead