Crissie McMullan - December 15, 2005
Alternative Energy Resources Organization
"Grow Montana"
KUFM commentary for Grow Montana
Grow Montana, by Crissie McMullan 12/15/05
Have you heard about the benefits of locally grown food? About how delicious it tastes, and how it supports Montana’s health, economy, and rural landscape? Have you ever gone to your grocery store to buy locally grown food, and found a sad array of Montana products on the shelves? Are we really supposed to survive on huckleberry taffy alone?
If you’ve had a less-than-satisfactory grocery store trip, you have experienced first-hand the paradox of living in an agricultural state that produces raw commodities primarily for export. If you are one of the many Montanans who struggle to make ends meet, you may experience this paradox even more painfully. While agriculture is Montana’s number one industry, there was nearly a 200 percent increase in emergency food provided through the Montana Food Bank Network from 2000 to 2003
The truth is, our food system--the production, processing and distribution of food--is not adequately equipped to meet Montanans’ needs. The problem is systemic. What we produce is exported, while what we eat is imported. Montana’s farmers and ranchers produce mostly raw agricultural products, like wheat berries or cattle. We don’t eat wheat berries and cattle. We eat hamburger buns and ground beef. Unfortunately, the steps that take our agricultural products and turn them into an edible meal, such as a hamburger, take much of our products out of state, and most of the cash value with it. Montana's farmers and ranchers receive only about 7 cents out of every food dollar that consumers spend. No wonder Montana is losing around 250 ranches a year.
This distance between Montana’s primary agricultural products, and a hamburger in your favorite diner, results in another problem. Eaters actually know little about how or where their food was produced, which is a growing concern according to consumer polls.
Our food and agricultural problems can be addressed partly through economic development initiatives. In 1950, Montana-grown food made up 70% of the food Montanans ate and food processing was Montana's number one employer. Today, only about 15% of the food we eat comes from Montana. Given that Montanans spend around $3 billion on food every year, doubling our purchases of Montana-grown food to just 30% would return $450 million dollars to our state’s communities.
Making a shift to Montana-grown food demands a new focus on local food production, processing, and distribution, and this shift is starting to happen. This year, for example, the legislature authorized state meat inspection for mobile slaughter units. Now, because they can harvest animals on-farm in an inspected mobile unit, rather than shipping them out of state, Montana farmers and ranchers can sell meat at any Montana retail market or restaurant. With Montana-grown meat on the table, that huckleberry taffy tastes much better.
Changes such as the mobile slaughter bill require cooperation from government, non-profit, and private-sector organizations. A new coalition, Grow Montana, of which AERO is a founding member, brings these interests together. This broad-based coalition promotes economic development policies that support sustainable, Montana-owned food production, processing, and distribution and that improve all of our citizens' access to Montana foods.
We launched our work in 2005 with an agricultural economic development agenda introduced in the state legislature. One of the bills that Grow Montana backed was designed to help Montana farmers and ranchers sell to our state’s schools, prisons, and hospitals. These large-scale markets provide exciting opportunities for food businesses. For example, just three years ago The University of Montana began prioritizing local and regional food products in the school cafeteria. This new initiative, called the Farm to College Program, has already spent over half a million dollars on Montana-grown food.
During the legislative interim, Grow Montana is continuing to work with our state’s diverse stakeholders to identify future opportunities and policy needs, and we invite your ideas and support. If you, or an organization that you belong to, are interested in the sort of things that Grow Montana is doing, contact AERO. Together, we can make Montana a model of food and agriculture that benefits us all.
I’m Crissie McMullan for the Alternative Energy Resources Organization. AERO welcomes your comments and perspectives. AERO is a grassroots membership organization working to help create farm, food, energy and growth solutions for communities throughout Montana. For more information about our programs call us in Helena at 406-443-7272.
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