Brahm’s Blog

Many groups around the country are demonstrating that urban agriculture can in fact be a viable job creation and economic development sector in neighborhoods faced with high unemployment. Particularly strong examples of these kinds of efforts are active in Northern and Midwestern cities such as Detroit, Milwaukee and Chicago. But there are models emerging throughout the country and most metropolitan areas.

While there are still skeptics who don’t yet believe that urban agriculture can become a real sector in the green economy because of it’s limitations in scale or efficiency, there is a strong argument emerging in the context of climate change, peak oil and natural resource decline that may fundamentally change the way the job creation potential of urban agriculture is perceived. Because many of the assumptions that built our industrial society are beginning to change or disappear, the stage for new opportunities is being set.

For example, the old model of classical economic theory asserted that labor was the primary scarce resource and that natural resources were abundant. This economic model caused “labor efficiency” to be treated as the basis of the industrialized agricultural model and achieving efficiency in labor by developing methods of mechanization, petro-chemical inputs, mono-cropping and cheap migrant labor were the hallmarks of industrial success in the corporate food system. Yet the resulting damage of these practices to small farm families, communities, the environment and human health have led our food system to be unsustainable and unjust.

Newer understandings of economics in the context of climate change and peak oil show that labor is now less of a constraint than natural resources. So labor efficiency is becoming less critical than oil efficiency or fertilizer efficiency. Newer studies underline one thing - increased labor and better paid labor in agriculture of all forms is inevitable as natural resource and oil supply decrease.

So we now face a real possibility that agriculture may once again become a net job creator in our society. This will require a new model for how the costs of mechanization and petro-chemical inputs are replaced by the costs of added labor, how people will be trained and paid better, and how food will be priced to reflect these changes. However, when it all shakes out in the end it’s clear that increased labor in agriculture may become an acceptable and pursued standard. For communities faced with high unemployment and in need of jobs, this emerging trend could change the game for the creation of local jobs and the strengthening of local economies in those communities.

Imagine the day when thousands of Americans have dignified jobs growing healthy food for their communities in a sustainable and just manner. The day may not be far off now.

The Capital Press released an article on a panel I spoke on at the Organic Food Summit that was entitled “Pricing, Access and the Untapped Consumer”. Click here to read the article. Or read it below. Most of the statistics came from my own presentaation.

Ethnic growth changes organic market

By Patty Mamula
For the Capital Press

Stevenson, Wash. - Despite a weakened economy, cultural, social, political and scientific shifts have bolstered the opportunity for marketing organic food, attendees of the Organic Summit were told.

One area where opportunity for organic marketing have grown strongest is in densely populated underserved urban areas, often called food “deserts.”

In a session on “Pricing, Access and the Untapped Consumer,” Brahm Ahmadi, executive director of People’s Grocery in Oakland, presented some eye-opening statistics.

Ethnic growth in the United States went from 13.8 million or 17 percent of the total population in 1980 to 26.4 million or 25 percent of the population in 2000. Forecasts predict ethnic households will represent 47 percent of the population in 2050.

By 2030 California’s ethnic groups will comprise 70 percent of households.

The buying power of ethnic groups follows the same growth pattern. For Hispanics, total spending in billions of dollars increased from $223 in 1990 to $490 in 2000 and predictions for 2012 are for $7.2 trillion.

Because ethnic consumers account for 37 percent of all supermarket sales, that’s powerful marketing information, he said.

East Coast supermarket chain Pathmark has opened half of all its stores in low-income urban areas. They are its “star stores.” Pathmark says, “Why do we open stores in the inner city? Because that’s where the people are.”

As an example of buying power, Ahmadi said that the retail demand for food in Harlem is approximately $116 million compared to the New York metropolitan area where it’s $53 million. Likewise, in inner city west Chicago, the per-acre spending on groceries is $85,018. Whereas in Kenilworth, one of Chicago’s wealthiest neighborhoods, it’s $37,754.

“Yet, inner city markets are underserved by 30 to 70 percent,” Ahmadi said.”The poorest ZIP codes in the largest metro areas have 30 percent fewer grocery stores than other areas.”

People end up leaving the neighborhood to shop for groceries. Inner city Oakland loses $250 million in food retail expenditures annually because of out shopping that spirals into even more economic loss due to lack of employment, tax revenue, the absence of the multiplier effect and the heavy cost of travel time for shoppers since 40 percent don’t own vehicles.

Unfortunately, a seemingly endless stream of barriers to food retailers matches the inner city need. These include lack of access to capital and financing, land availability and readiness, site preparation and clean-up costs, higher operating costs, dissimilar purchasing patterns to suburbs and prohibitive regulations and zoning.

Breaking Barriers

Caroline Harries, from the non-profit Food Trust in Philadelphia, talked about how her organization created public/private partnerships to overcome many of these barriers. The Food Trust was developed in 1992 to bring fresh fruits and vegetables to underserved areas and it started with farmer’s markets, adding 25 to low-income areas in Philadelphia.

“Our work with supermarkets was a natural outgrowth of this. We began advocating supermarket development in underserved areas, primarily as a public health issue,” she said.

In December 2003 Pennsylvania became the first state to commit public funds for supermarkets in underserved areas. Through the Fresh Food Financial Initiative, retailers can apply for grants up to $250,000 and loans up to $2.5 million per store. “We found those were the price points that made a difference,” Harries said.

To date, the program has supported 68 new stores, distributed $63.3 million in grants and loans and helped create 3,200 jobs. “It’s a marriage between public health and economic development,” said Harries.

Brian Rohter, CEO of New Seasons Market in Portland, talked about his company’s experiences opening the Concordia store in 2001. It was its third out of nine, soon to be eleven, stores and the first in an underserved urban neighborhood.

“The site for this store had been idling as a neglected vacant lot for six years in northeast Portland, traditionally the lowest income area of the city,” he said. “It’s an area where three neighborhoods overlap-a minority community, a high income and a modest income area.”

Because of that overlap the median household income ranges from $25,000 to $95,000 and the percent of the population with a college degree ranges from 7 to 51 percent. “This is not a demographic that an upscale natural food store would approach,” Rohter said. Several large corporate supermarkets had dismissed it sight unseen. “But, we identified it as a nontraditional opportunity for our store because we had local knowledge of the area, we had boots on the ground who really knew it.”

Although 75 percent of its products are natural and/or organic and it support small local farms, New Seasons also twin lines products. “We put Annie’s up next to Kraft,” said Rather.

The two biggest obstacles were the city of Portland and financing. With the city, it stressed overall economic development and emphasized the creation of living wage jobs. It started working with the community 18 months before the store opened, looking for help and advice on recruiting and hiring and involved local leaders in development.

The budget for the new store was a little over $3 million in 2000, and even though it had no problem raising funds for the first two stores, this one was different. It turned to family and friends for financial help. “We still came up $750,000 short and ShoreBank Pacific came to the rescue.”

The store opened Dec. 5, 2001, at 8 a.m. and by 10 a.m. it was their highest volume store.

Freelance writer Patty Mamula is based in Portland, Oregon. E-mail: pattymamula@earthlink.net

Michelle Obama gave a speech on Tuesday during a “harvest party” for the White House vegetable garden on the topics of health, nutrition, food deserts and our food system.  It was an outstanding speech not only from the perspective of health and nutrition, but from the perspective of food justice. Michelle did a fabulous job addressing the issue of food access disparities in inner city and rural communities and made some very poignant points. Click here to see the video of Michelle Obama’s speech. And here is excerpt from her speech on food access disparities:

“Unfortunately, for too many families, limited access to healthy foods and vegetables is often a barrier to a healthier diet. In so many of our communities, particularly in poor and more isolated communities, fresh healthy food is simply out of reach. With few grocery stores in their neighborhoods residents are forced to rely on convenience stores, fast food restaurants, liquor stores, drugs stores and even gas stations for their groceries.”

“These food deserts leave too many families stranded and without enough choices when it comes to nourishing their loved ones. And sadly this is the case in many large cities and rural communities all across this nation. So we need to do more to address the fact that so many of our citizens live in areas where access to healthy food, and thus a healthy future, is simply out of reach.”

“Many communities… are leading the way and taking matters into their own hands and tackling this lack of access on their own by growing and caring for a whole lot of community gardens….. there are more than one million community gardens that are flourishing all around the county. And many of them are in underserved urban communities that are providing greater access to fresh produce for their neighbors.”

“The benefit is not just the availability of fresh produce but also it gives the community an opportunity to come together around gardening and growing their own food and working together towards a healthier community and a better future for their kids.”

Times Magazine recently produced an article and a short video about an exciting effort by African American entrepreneur Karriem Beyah, 47, to address the lack of fresh food retail  in Chicago’s South Side neighborhood by launching a grocery store called Farmers Best Market. According to the article Beyah grew up on Chicago’s South Side and worked in the food industry most of his life, starting with his godfather’s neighborhood grocery store.

The video about Farmers Best Market and Karriem Beyah is very inspiring and a strong affirmation that it is possible for local entrepreneurs and residents to execute ambitious food retail ventures in inner city neighborhoods. Beyah is an example and role model to many of people striving to achieve similar goals in their communities. Check out the video: http://www.time.com/time/video/?bcpid=1485842900&bclid=0&bctid=24222955001

I will  be speaking on a panel with Michael Pollan, among others, in the evening on Friday June 12 as part of a screening event for a new documentary called FRESH, which “celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system.”  The screening will be held at the Victoria Theater in San Francisco (2961 16th Street).  The screening starts at 7pm and the panel will follow at approximately 8:30pm. Visit the FRESH website for more information or to purchase tickets: http://www.freshthemovie.com/.