FOCUS ON FARM POLICY: State policies are needed, too

By Neil D. Hamilton
Drake University law professor and
Agricultural Law Center director

Neil D. Hamilton

Should schools purchase meat and produce directly from local farmers? Do all eligible citizens have access to public food assistance programs without unnecessary barriers and stigma? Do city officials consider the value of preserving local farmland or support opportunities for producers to sell directly to consumers? These examples of state and local food policies will be critical in determining the future of agriculture in our state.

With attention paid to billion-dollar "emergency" farm bailouts and the discussion of the 2002 farm bill, it is too easy to assume that the federal policy is the only factor shaping the future of farming. The federal government plays a central role in creating the economic environment for much of agriculture, especially commodity production. But state and local actions can be just as important.

An Iowa policy that promotes sustainable agriculture
In Iowa we have spent 15 years developing a more sustainable agriculture for our state. In 1987, as part of Groundwater Protection Act, the legislature created the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University. With the center's leadership -- and the state's continued funding for the research provided by that law -- Iowa will remain a national leader in this critical area.

Accomplishments the Leopold Center can rightly claim include the fact that more than 1 million hogs are being raised in the more than 2,000 open-bedded hoop structures Iowa farmers have built. Without the center promoting this low-cost and environmentally friendly alternative for pork production, this change would not have happened. Center research is helping farmers and landowners place thousands of acres of field buffer strips along rivers and streams to clean the water and conserve soil.

The role of state policy can be seen in other important trends in America's food system. Consider organic food production, the fastest growing portion of American agriculture with annual sales increases of more than 20 percent for the last 10 years. The growth in organic farming is largely the result of actions by farmers and consumers. New federal rules will be important in creating a uniform national and international market standard, but states continue to play key roles.

Many Iowa farmers, researchers, food processors, state officials and the Leopold Center are leading this dynamic part of agriculture of creating opportunities for farmers, businesses and consumers. The Leopold Center's research on organic farming is an important extension of the Iowa's efforts in this area.

Growth of the local food movement
Other emerging issues in state food policy include direct farm marketing and increasing the institutional use of locally grown foods. Perhaps the most exciting trend in Iowa's food system is the growing local-food movement. Five years ago, you would have been hard pressed to find "Iowa grown" food on a menu or in a store. But that is changing. The proliferation of farmers' markets and producers diversifying what they raise and how they sell it are indicators of the change. Menus featuring Iowa-grown food and institutions promoting "all-Iowa" meals are important signs of this trend.

Five years ago, the Leopold Center made a critical decision to support research initiatives to stimulate consideration of how community food systems operate in Iowa. This shift recognized that a truly sustainable agriculture won't emerge if we consider only resource issues, such as soil and water quality, while ignoring human and social issues of how food is produced and marketed. This change in thinking requires Iowa to consider opportunities for farmers to raise and sell what they grow and the ability of communities - both local and regional - to support them. This has led to issues such as direct farm marketing, further processing of foods and supporting "value-added' agriculture as it is often called. It also requires us to think about how decisions made by schools, state and local governments and businesses affect the market for food products.

A Leopold Center policy that worked
Perhaps the most visible example of local policies that build a sustainable agriculture was the Leopold Center's decision in 1997 to serve locally-sourced foods at events and conferences it sponsors. This simple act of asking chefs at the Scheman Center and elsewhere to work with local farmers has helped lead to a sea change in appreciation for Iowa food.

Federal farm programs will shape economic environment for large parts of agriculture and determine rules for conserving resources. With a price tag in the billions and the power of federal authority, they should. But the reality is that Iowa cannot rely on these programs to provide a farm and food policy specially designed for the needs of our state. That is why we must consider the potential role for state and local food policies.

We can decide as a state what we want for clean water, land use and urban growth, direct farm marketing and agricultural diversification, and how well we address hunger and nutrition. But as a state we won't be able to develop our own "Iowa answers" unless we engage in the debate and recognize our capacity to shape the outcome. 

Neil Hamilton prepared this article for the Leopold Letter. Much of it appeared in an Iowa View column in the Des Moines Register on September 5, 2001.