1.  Foods such as fruits, vegetables, meats, dairy products, and food-grade grains are high-value crops, especially when sold to local consumers. 

* The average price farmers receive for produce for the fresh market is double the average price they receive for fruits and vegetables sold for processing.

* The Easy Bean Farm, owned by Mike Jacobs and Malena Arner-Handeen, grossed $93,000 and netted $42,000 in 2006 from vegetable sales.

* The Whole Farm Co-op estimates that its farmers receive $0.70 per dollar spent by the consumer, compared to an average of $0.20 per consumer dollar received by farmers selling through conventional channels.

2.  High-value food production attracts young families to farming, and their communities benefit from their energy, creativity, and civic involvement.

*  PastureLand Cooperative markets specialty butter and cheese from grass-fed cows. Of the five farm families involved, three have young children and two of those started their dairies within the past 10 years.

* Every pupil in a rural school district in Minnesota brings a minimum of $4,974 in state funding to that district.  With other aids and grants awarded on a per-pupil basis, the figure is about $7,300 per pupil.

3.  Local fresh food sales support small and mid-size farmers, who tend to spend those dollars at local businesses.

 * A study of 30 farmers in southwestern MN found that the smaller farms and diversified farms tended to purchase a greater percentage of their inputs locally.

4.  Local sales of high-value foods help farmers create jobs in their communities.

* The Minnesota Grown Directory of local food producers has grown from 371 listings in 1997 to 672 listings in 2007.

* A study in Iowa showed that for every 100 full-time equivalent farmers’ market jobs (one full-time equivalent representing part-time efforts by several vendors), an additional 45 jobs are created in the state.

 * Economic analysis of the fresh fruit and vegetable market in Michigan found that a shift to more local sales of these items at both retail and wholesale levels could generate nearly 1,900 new jobs and $187 million in new personal income across all sectors of the state’s economy.

 
5. Featuring local food on the shelves or on the menu can be a drawing card for local grocery stores and restaurants

 * A Minnesota survey of restaurant patrons found that nearly half would choose a restaurant based on its offering of local food. 

*  Restaurants in the MN-based Heartland Food Network offer local food specials daily.  Third Thursday, the Network’s monthly celebration of local food, draws crowds of people who want to eat local while dining out.

*  Restaurants all over the state are adding local food on their daily menus.

6.  Preservation of working farms has aesthetic benefits for communities. Open space and green space are valuable amenities that community residents appreciate and that farms help preserve.

*  29 local government units in Colorado have levied taxes or approved bonds for farm and ranchland preservation programs, and a state-funded initiative directs $35 million per year toward farmland preservation. The rural landscape that these working lands preserve is critical to the tourist economy that generates more than $7 billion per year for the state.

*  In Denver, 48% of residents said they would pay extra to live near open space.

7.  Working farmland has a favorable ratio of tax revenues generated to public services demanded.

• Residential development in three Minnesota communities resulted in a net financial loss for the local governments. Farms required $0.50 in services for every $1 paid in taxes; residential development required $1.04 in service for every $1 paid in taxes.

• Similar results were seen in Cost of Community Services Studies done in 104 communities in 22 states across the United States. Farms required a median of $0.36 in services for every $1 paid in taxes; residential development required a median of $1.15 in services for every $1 paid in taxes.
 

8.  Support for local farmers has instinctive appeal to citizens, many of whom are concerned about food safety, food quality, and the costs of fossil fuel dependency.

• Minnesotans surveyed were willing to pay an extra $200 per year in taxes and higher prices to support farming practices that yield environmental benefits.

• Demand for the Minnesota Grown Directory has increased from 75,000 print copies distributed in 1993 to 175,000 copies distributed in 2007.

9. Support for the building of local food system infrastructure (farmers’ markets, small food processing facilities, on-farm food storage) is a good long-term investment. It’s a hedge against rising shipping costs that can hurt the food security of communities.

* A 2001 Iowa study estimated that shifting 10% more of the produce consumed in Iowa to within-state production and transport would result in savings ranging from 280 to 346 thousand gallons of fuel (depending on the production system and truck type)

 
References:

#1. 
Marketing Local Food – http://www.misa.umn.edu/Marketing_Local_Food2

Eat Fresh and Grow Jobs. C.S. Mott Group, http://www.mottgroup.msu.edu/Portals/mottgroup/downloads/EatFresh.pdf

Trish Johnson – personal communication from Whole Farm Co-op

National Farmers Union – “Farmer’s Share,” http://www.nfu.org/issues/agriculture-programs/resources/farmers-share/

#2.  www.pastureland.coop

Financing Education in Minnesota – report of legislature, 2006-07.  http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/fiscal/files/06fined.pdf

#3.   Sustainable Agriculture as a Rural Economic Development Strategy.  John Ikerd.
http://web.missouri.edu/~ikerdj/papers/sa-cdst.htm

Local spending patterns of farm businesses in southwest Minnesota. John Wade Chism. 1993. University of Minnesota Thesis. T.C. Magrath Library. #113062815.

#4. 

Consumers, Vendors, and the Economic Importance of Iowa Farmers’
Markets: An Economic Impact Survey Analysis. http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/research/marketing_files/markets_rfswg.pdf

Eat Fresh and Grow Jobs. C.S. Mott Group, http://www.mottgroup.msu.edu/Portals/mottgroup/downloads/EatFresh.pdf

Minnesota Grown numbers were provided by Paul Hugunin.

#5. 
Heartland Food Network: www.mnproject.org/food-thirdthursdays.html. 
Awareness of and interest in “Green Routes” among restaurant patrons.  2006. Ingrid Schneider et al., U of MN Tourism Center

# 6. 
Economic Benefits of Parks and Open Space
http://www.tpl.org/tier3_cdl.cfm?content_item_id=1155&folder_id=727
“Open Space Zoning:” What it is and why it works.  http://www.plannersweb.com/articles/are015.html#values
Market Appreciation Study in Massachusetts, http://www.umass.edu/larp/crm/Lacy/LacyMarket.html

# 7: 
Farmland and the Tax Bill: The Cost of Community Services in Three Minnesota Cities
This analysis by Land Stewardship Project and the American Farmland Trust found that sprawling residential development imposed a net financial loss on these communities, inhibiting their ability to, among other things, fund quality school systems. 1994 - 26 pages. www.landstewardshipproject.org

Farmland Information Center Fact Sheet: Cost of Community Services Studies. http://www.farmlandinfo.org/documents/27757/FS_COCS_8-04.pdf

Economic Benefits of Parks and Open Space
http://www.tpl.org/tier3_cdl.cfm?content_item_id=1155&folder_id=727

#8:
http://www.misa.umn.edu/Consumers_and_Farmers_Survey.html

C. $200. The survey indicated to respondents how much adoption of a "green payments"-type policy would cost their household in terms of higher taxes and higher prices for goods and services. Citizens' willingness to pay for the benefits of the policy were elicited from their responses on how they would vote in a referendum on this policy, given its effects and financial consequences.
Source: Land Stewardship Project's Multiple Benefits of Agriculture and "Multiple Benefits From Agriculture: A Survey of Public Values in Minnesota" by Patrick G. Welle.
Visit: www.landstewardshipproject.org
Minnesota Grown numbers were provided by Paul Hugunin of Minnesota Grown..

#9. 

Food, Fuel, and Freeways – Leopold Center Report. http://www.misa.umn.edu/vd/foodmiles.pdf