Eighty-Seven Acres

Jamie Oliver Takes on America's Unhealthy Diet in Huntington, West Virginia

Jamie Oliver, a celebrity television chef in the UK, is filming his "Naked Chef" cooking show in Huntington, West Virginia. For some time, he has been producing shows in England that address healthful cooking, changing institutional cooking, as in school cafeterias, and healthy lifestyles. He has chosen Huntington, because he wants to address the issues of food and obesity in the US. The Huntington metro region has a reputation for the high rate of overweight and obesity in its population. Despite the unhappy prospect that such attention will give the region a hard-to-shake negative labor of "Fat City", Oliver's show could do much good by focusing on healthy food and diet. The show is in production, but I am optimistic that it will include local, organic produce and local, clean, lean meats in its repertoire of recipes. If this attention helps West Virginia's governmental food buying bureaucracies, as in schools, welfare programs, and institutional living, to shift from the cheap federal commodities, which encourage over-eating of fatty, unhealthy comfort foods, to local, healthy produce and clean meats, Oliver will have done the region an enormous service.

The Argument for Clean Food

Ground beef sales continue to provide dramatic evidence of the need for "clean food" policies. Commodity beef processors mix beef meats from different animals and often meats from different countries. Cleanliness from e.coli contamination is difficult to maintain and to verify. The result is the outbreak of e. coli poisonings from ground meat consumption. The solution to these problems is organic or natural production of beef steers, carefully monitored, humane slaughter in which individual steers can be scrutinized at all stages of the slaughter, making ground meats only from one caracass and not mixing meats from different animals, and local sales, which minimizes the handling of caracasses over long distances and by multiple purveyors. The movie, Food, Inc., raises and treats these issues. They are also discussed in a recent New York Times' article, E. Coli Path Reveals Flaws in Beef Inspection.

(H/T Donna K.)

Recession Comes To Agriculture

Ethanol couldn't keep prices and values up forever. The USDA reports that second quarter of this year, US farm profits have fallen 38%, farmland values are down 3%, and prices farmers receive for commodities are down.

Socialist Agriculture Fails Once Again. A Warning for the US?

You would think that a bunch of Marxist intellectuals could read history and draw the appropriate conclusions. But they don't. The Soviet Union and Communist China both proved that state-owned,  centrally administered, command economy agriculture fails. It fails so badly that huge swarths of domestic populations starve. A generation after Russia and China figured it out, Cuba is also finally learning the lesson. Castro nationalized agriculture when his revolution came to power. In short order, Cuba could not grow enough food and raise enough meat to feed itself. Food imports generate such a huge deficit (and debt) that the Castro brothers are now willing to give small, private farmers greater rein to produce food for domestic consumption.

Is there a lesson for the US, too? Not a close one. We don't have a command economy for agriculture, but we do have a federally enframed agricultural economy that compels if not commands. The socialists' failures are a warning not to let the national government control agricultural production. Notice that the federal subsidies and mandates for ethanol have so distorted national commodity production that commodity prices have risen dramatically, as farmers have shifted out of general agriculture to concentrate on corn. To see the result of this federal policy, check the price of fresh and processed foods in the supermarkets.

US Ready-to-Eat Food Imports Doubled 1998-2007

Imports of ready-to-eat foods, such as raw fruits and vegetables, doubled. See this Carpe Diem article on a recent USDA report. Several questions.

It would be interesting to know several matters.

• What proportion of imported ready to eat foods are organic and/or natural?
• What proportion of imported consumer ready foods is from Mexico?
• What proportion is imported foods is produced by US farmers who have purchased or leased land in another country, such as Mexico and Brazil, in raise food for US consumption?
• What proportion of imported consumer ready foods are "re-exports"? For example, US Florida grown tomatoes that are exported to Mexico for cleaning and packaging, then imported for sale in the US?
• What proportion of US agricultural exports is comprised of consumer ready foods?

The expansion of global food trade should benefit American growers and American domestic growers, as well as foreign growers.

Organic Food Sales Hit by Recession and New Consumption Behavior

Sales of organic foods, which are generally more expensive than commodity foods, have been impacted by the recession. Over the past decade, sales had increased strongly until the recession. In the past year, sales growth has declined. Stonyfield Farm, a natural yoghurt producer, saw 24% percent growth annually, until the recession; now sales growth will come in at 16 percent or so. All retailers have also experienced a decline in organic and natural food sales. Whole Foods Market's decline in sales have been so severe as to compel a reorientation of its retail philosophy. The company saw only a 2 percent increase in sales. The chief exec, John Mackey, has decided to return to the store chain's emphasis on healthy natural foods, moving away from expensive value added food products, such as baked goods, which are contrary to that philosophy. Mackey now sees Trader Joe's and Costco as its competitors. (Kathy McLaughlin and Timothy W. Martin, "As Sales Slip, Whole Foods Tries Health Push," The Wall Street Journal, Wednesday, August 5, 2009, B1; see also, here.) Price resistance by consumers is widespread.

Small organic and natural farmers indicate that another phenomenon, besides price resistance, is churning consumer habits. The Stockman Grass Farmer interviewed seven small producers for its August 2009 issue (Allan Nation, "Grassfed Meat Producers And Marketers Say Recession Has Only Slightly Chilled Their Markets," vol 9, no. 8, p. 1). These meat producers have lost restaurant customers for their beef. In some cases, it is because the restaurants have gone out of business; in other cases, it is because the restaurants shifted to cheaper beef. A few producers report strong restaurant sales. In the San Francisco Bay area, restaurant for local, organic, premium beef remains strong; in other areas, low end restaurants are doing well and buying local hamburg. Some producers have shifted product lines, as from dairy (national dairy prices have plummeted) to livestock, and are doing better.  

Joel Salatin, of Polyface Farm, believes that consumers are doing more food preparation at home. The demand for local, organic beef has shifted from restaurants to grocery store meat markets. This opinion is seconded by another producer, who has discovered that its food tasting stalls for its products in grocery stores are popular and have taken up much of the slack from diminished restaurant sales.

Conclusion--consumers are resistant to high prices and to increasing food prices generally. They are adapting by purchasing less expensive foods and by preparing meals at home with foods purchased in retail markets. Producers survive by making their food products and produce attractive to consumers within this new consumption framework.

Is Organic Food Healthier Than Commodity Food?

A review of scientific literature by The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine establishes that organic food is not nutritionally better than commodity foods. From this finding, according to Reuters, which reports on the study, the researchers conclude that organic food has no better health benefit than commodity foods. Without looking at the scientific research, it is impossible to know whether Reuters has accurately reported its results; however, if the results are, as stated, then they are wrong. The health benefit of food is not limited to its nutrition. The health benefit also involves what the food does not do to the body. Food high in pesticides that accumulate in the liver or fat cells have a detrimental effect on the consumer's health. Organic food lacks the poisons and preservatives of commodity foods, which makes them healthier.

(H/T The American Spectator blog)

Dairy Farmers Dependent Upon Hispanic Workers

Dairy farmers face increased restrictions on immigrant, hispanic labor. Dairy farmers are everywhere, from Vermont to Wisconsin to California, dependent upon hispanics for reliable farm labor. Foreign workers, mostly hispanic, comprise 41% of dairy farm labor. Farmers are concerned that decrease in their labor supply will force some of them out of business. A delegation of dairy farmers is in Washington, D.C. to lobby their case. (Miriam Jordan, "Got Workers? Dairy Farms Run Low on Labor", The Wall Street Journal, Thursday, July 30, 2009, A13.)

Farmer Suicides Increasing

The economic troubles are hurting farmers in more ways than one. Suicides are rising. The Wall Street Journal reports.

Cap and Trade Energy Bill Will Lower Farm Profits More Than 50 Percent

The Heritage Foundation has studied the impact of the proposed Energy program on farming. Farming is energy intensive; so it will take a big hit from the bill, which is affect carbon outputs, at least indirectly, and energy prices directly. Claims that Cap and Trade would not significantly affect farm profits are wrong. In 2012, farm profits would drop an estimated 28 percent and 57 percent over the life of the program.

Update. July 24, 2009. The bill targets diesel fueled engines with special taxes that increase over the years. The cost of diesel fuel per gallon will rise more than general inflation, because of the special emissions taxes on it. Farm equipment and trucks often have diesel engines.