January 12, 2010, 10:30AM
Oregon's farmers believe agriculture's economic impact is often overlooked, and some have taken to describing their work as the ultimate green -- as in growing -- industry.
Aaron M. Renn, blogging at "The Urbanophile" says America's lagging or outdated manufacturing sector could take a lesson from farmers. Here's a sampling, which will no doubt ring true with the Portland area's supporters of urban agriculture and locally grown food:
"Agriculture seems to be further ahead than manufacturing. There is already significant mindshare around organic and regional foods. Books like Home Grown Indiana document the burgeoning scene. Farmers markets are going crazy in America, as are specialty groceries like Goose the Market.
"Microbreweries, now nearly ubiquitous in America, are in the same line. There are more and more local processed food producers, in house charcuterie operations, etc. There is significant awareness of the distance food has traveled from farm to market. There is a developing ecosystem that is actually starting to relink cities to their rural hinterlands. It's not a huge employment or economic base yet, but it is getting there. I would like to see something analogous happen on the product side.
"For things like organic and locally sourced foods or other artisanal and craft products, they are often targeted and marketed as luxury products today. However, there's room to believe they could be more mass market tomorrow. Many product categories started out as luxury products for the rich such as automobiles and flat screen TVs. But eventually scale economics won out.
"Products that are truly hand crafted will likely always be somewhat pricey due to the increasing scarcity value of human labor. But it is easy to see how the values embodied in them could be applied to more mass market products. Especially for food, many people associated with that movement are interested in promoting broader changes in the American diet and lifestyle. That can only be done by getting to the right price points and volume."
Aaron M. Renn, blogging at "The Urbanophile" says America's lagging or outdated manufacturing sector could take a lesson from farmers. Here's a sampling, which will no doubt ring true with the Portland area's supporters of urban agriculture and locally grown food:
"Agriculture seems to be further ahead than manufacturing. There is already significant mindshare around organic and regional foods. Books like Home Grown Indiana document the burgeoning scene. Farmers markets are going crazy in America, as are specialty groceries like Goose the Market.
"Microbreweries, now nearly ubiquitous in America, are in the same line. There are more and more local processed food producers, in house charcuterie operations, etc. There is significant awareness of the distance food has traveled from farm to market. There is a developing ecosystem that is actually starting to relink cities to their rural hinterlands. It's not a huge employment or economic base yet, but it is getting there. I would like to see something analogous happen on the product side.
"For things like organic and locally sourced foods or other artisanal and craft products, they are often targeted and marketed as luxury products today. However, there's room to believe they could be more mass market tomorrow. Many product categories started out as luxury products for the rich such as automobiles and flat screen TVs. But eventually scale economics won out.
"Products that are truly hand crafted will likely always be somewhat pricey due to the increasing scarcity value of human labor. But it is easy to see how the values embodied in them could be applied to more mass market products. Especially for food, many people associated with that movement are interested in promoting broader changes in the American diet and lifestyle. That can only be done by getting to the right price points and volume."
By Eric Mortenson, The Oregonian courtesy of Oregononline.com
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