by Sustainable Food News, guest contributor
This article was originally published on June 3 by Sustainable Food News and is re-published here with permission. Sustainable Food News, based in Portland, Maine, provides daily coverage of developments important to those with interests in the Good Food movement. For more information or to subscribe, please visit Sustainable Food News’ website.
As many as 90 percent of Americans could be fed entirely by food grown or raised within 100 miles of their homes, which would boost local economies and make agriculture more sustainable, according to new research.
New farmland-mapping research by University of California, Merced Professor Elliott Campbell details the possibilities in a study entitled “The Large Potential of Local Croplands to Meet Food Demand in the United States Opens a New Window, which was published in the latest edition of Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.
“Elliott Campbell’s research is making an important contribution to the national conversation on local food systems,” said best-selling author and UC Berkeley Professor Michael Pollan. “That conversation has been hobbled by too much wishful thinking and not enough hard data — exactly what Campbell is bringing to the table.”
The popularity of “farm to table” has skyrocketed in the past few years as people become more interested in supporting local farmers and getting fresher food from sources they know and trust. Even large chain restaurants are making efforts to source supplies locally, knowing more customers care where their food comes from.
“Farmers markets are popping up in new places, food hubs are ensuring regional distribution, and the 2014 U.S. Farm Bill supports local production — for good reason, too,” Campbell said. “There are profound social and environmental benefits to eating locally.”
Local food potential has declined over time, which Campbell said was an expected finding, given limited land resources and growing populations and suburbanization.
Campbell’s map shows the percentages of people who could eat locally in all areas of the country.
With additional support from the University of California Global Food Initiative, he found there is enough land to assure that eating locally doesn’t have to be a passing fad.
“These results are very timely with respect to increasing interests by the public in community-supported agriculture, as well as improving efficiencies in the food-energy-water nexus,” said Bruce Hamilton, program director for NSF, which supports a spectrum of emerging technologies Opens a New Window.
Campbell and his students looked at the farms within a local radius of every American city, then estimated how many calories those farms could produce. By comparing the potential calorie production to the population of each city, the researchers found the percentage of the population that could be supported entirely by food grown locally.
The researchers found surprising potential in major coastal cities. For example, New York City could feed only 5 percent of its population within 50 miles but as much as 30 percent within 100 miles. The greater Los Angeles area could feed as much as 50 percent within 100 miles.
Diet can also make a difference. For example, local food around San Diego can support 35 percent of the people based on the average U.S. diet, but as much as 51 percent of the population if people switched to plant-based diets.
Campbell’s maps suggest careful planning and policies are needed to protect farmland from suburbanization and encourage local farming for the future.
