Comments on: American agriculture at a glance http://www.foodpolitics.com/2009/05/american-agriculture-at-a-glance/ Thu, 29 Jul 2010 17:52:29 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Anthro http://www.foodpolitics.com/2009/05/american-agriculture-at-a-glance/comment-page-1/#comment-19605 Anthro Wed, 13 May 2009 17:28:02 +0000 http://www.foodpolitics.com/?p=1345#comment-19605 The reason you see less in the Midwest is that they don't EAT vegetables, so there isn't much need to grow them. I'm an unwilling transplant from the northwest and am constantly shocked at the poor quality of produce and the lack of vegetables at restaurants, even high end. The odd thing is that Wisconsin (only a small part of the "midwest") leads the way in subscription agriculture, but this comes mostly out of Madison, which is a beacon of light in the midwest anyway. Milwaukee just got a Whole Foods about a year ago and its coop of many years is very small compared to what I'm used to even in small towns in the northwest. Another point to poster Chris: A lot of the increase in organic farms, unfortunately, is "big organic" which tears down a lot of what organic stands for philosophically. The reason you see less in the Midwest is that they don’t EAT vegetables, so there isn’t much need to grow them. I’m an unwilling transplant from the northwest and am constantly shocked at the poor quality of produce and the lack of vegetables at restaurants, even high end. The odd thing is that Wisconsin (only a small part of the “midwest”) leads the way in subscription agriculture, but this comes mostly out of Madison, which is a beacon of light in the midwest anyway. Milwaukee just got a Whole Foods about a year ago and its coop of many years is very small compared to what I’m used to even in small towns in the northwest.

Another point to poster Chris: A lot of the increase in organic farms, unfortunately, is “big organic” which tears down a lot of what organic stands for philosophically.

]]> By: chris brandow http://www.foodpolitics.com/2009/05/american-agriculture-at-a-glance/comment-page-1/#comment-18422 chris brandow Wed, 06 May 2009 21:08:33 +0000 http://www.foodpolitics.com/?p=1345#comment-18422 i don't think the map shows any real distortion of the organic farms relative to conventional farms if you compare the organic map to the vegetable farms map. Most organic farms are basically veggie farms with grains & livestock on the margins. It is also really encouraging that already 5% of produce grown is organic. if you consider the 4 fold increase over 10 years (or maybe 3 fold over 2002-2007!) in organic products then in 10 more years, you could easily be looking at 20% (or 30%) of the market. Obviously, I am mixing metrics to some degree, but I think the trends are very encouraging indeed. i don’t think the map shows any real distortion of the organic farms relative to conventional farms if you compare the organic map to the vegetable farms map. Most organic farms are basically veggie farms with grains & livestock on the margins.

It is also really encouraging that already 5% of produce grown is organic. if you consider the 4 fold increase over 10 years (or maybe 3 fold over 2002-2007!) in organic products then in 10 more years, you could easily be looking at 20% (or 30%) of the market. Obviously, I am mixing metrics to some degree, but I think the trends are very encouraging indeed.

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