By ANN HINCH

Associate Editor

COLUMBUS, Ohio — When Fred Yoder and Lisa Hamler-Fugitt were seeking people for the Ohio Smart Agriculture: Solutions from the Land (OSA) steering committee, he ran into skepticism of its goals and how to achieve them from more than one quarter.

After all, OSA’s A Call to Action report – published this spring – was aiming to set out ways to boost local food production while improving environmental sustainability, dealing with climate change, boosting farm income, and battling hunger.

Yoder, an Ohio grower and seed seller in addition to co-chair of the OSA committee, explained the report needed to find ways for different cogs of the state’s food system to work in concert. He said some large-commodity groups were at first suspicious the committee would focus on niche agriculture, while there are others who think the report doesn’t embrace, say, organics enough.

“There’s nothing in the paper about ‘no GMOs’ or no-till” dominating the proposed solutions,” he said, adding all types of agricultural methods can be used in improving Ohio food production. Where it makes sense to have a small grass-fed cattle operation, have one; where conventional soybeans work better, sow them.

There is room for all ag philosophies according to the report, Yoder said – so long as those producing the food can earn a decent living. “You’re going to have to have farmers make money, to make this work,” he pointed out.

Most grocery shoppers in the United States (excluding those in “food deserts,” defined as lacking close access to healthy food) take their stores’ good selection and prices for granted, Hamler-Fugitt said – and there are farmers who make so little from their work that they actually need SNAP (what used to be called food stamps) to afford to eat.

“This is the most back-breaking work ever,” she said of farm labor, adding both local farmers and farm workers need to be able to earn a living wage, an idea the report stresses a few times throughout.

But residents also need to be able to afford local food. The idea of the OSA report is that these economic concerns are tied together, and with climate and health, so viable solutions need to take this fact into account.

For instance, measures that help small-scale farmers can also help the local economy and, in turn, the bottom line of even non-farm residents. Quality of life is affected by access to food for obvious nutrition reasons, but also for ability to attract other business development – not many want to build in an area without a grocery store.

“We always know, it’s the poorest of the poor that suffer first,” Hamler-Fugitt said of factors that land on agriculture, be it flooding, trade problems, shortages, location, or prices, to name a few.

A longer-term problem is the aging farmer population, which needs more young people and diversification. Decreasing diversity of local ag services over decades – such as grain storage and meat processing/packing – the report notes, has led to those dollars going to distantly-headquartered large companies instead of recycling through local economies.

Yoder summarized the report’s aims as “how do we fix the gaps?” in the food chain. Satisfying more Ohio consumers is one part of that, and it requires learning what’s needed.

For instance, there is a community of Somali immigrants and their families north of Columbus, the second-largest such community in the United States. There are specific vegetables they like eating; Yoder said he learned local sellers import these from Georgia since they’re not grown locally. There is also a market for goats and goat meat.

“Why can’t that stuff be grown (or raised) in Ohio?” he suggested as a new target market for some farmers. “They’re consumers, too.”

Expanded markets

The possibility of marketing goats brings up another point about processing capability. The OSA report notes those who will work on the second phase of it – taking on projects to bring some of the ideas to life – should investigate mobile processing options for meat, poultry, and fish to make it easier for small-scale livestock producers to package and sell food.

“Ohio is very fortunate to have a respected meat inspection program to work with mostly smaller processing facilities,” the report notes. Having state expertise and a “well-established” Ohio State University animal science program should make it easy to develop a mobile meat pilot project – perhaps modeled on the program at Kentucky State University.

Other growing markets with potential for farmers in the state are hops and barley for small-craft alcohol, and perhaps hemp. Right now there’s a bill in the state House Agriculture and Rural Development Committee, Senate Bill 57 (which passed the Senate in March), that would decriminalize hemp and license its cultivation, as in nearby states.

Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) Director Dorothy Pelanda has, in fact, been traveling to some of those to see firsthand their newfound hemp programs – including Kentucky, which she said has a reputation for the best in the nation right now. She also talked about going to Colorado to see how license enforcement takes place differently for hemp and legalized marijuana.

“We have to do a better job of coordinating existing state and federal programs,” she said, explaining ODA is also working with the EPA and Department of Natural Resources toward maintaining a sustainable ecosystem for agribusiness.

In order to meet the demands of a growing and savvier population in the next 30 years, Pelanda added, “I do believe that going forward, farms are going to have to return to diversification” in what they produce.

One of her goals for ODA is to increase farmer profitability; during this phone interview, in fact, she was traveling to one of three farms on a day trip to learn about new practices to take to other farmers.

Now that the OSA report exists, the group is looking for volunteers willing to help with the second phase: Putting thought into action. “Instead of being a think-tank, we want to be a do-tank,” Yoder said.

One longer-term goal is to try to develop an independent food system finance authority. As the report explains, “a major barrier to scaling up Ohio food production is the lack of a financing mechanism to redevelop the sort of food supply chain that Ohio once had.”

The report notes “a legal entity with the capacity to raise and manage funds for investment in local food aggregation, processing, distribution, and marketing infrastructure would open a door to new opportunities for any Ohio farmer.” Pelanda said the ODA is willing to support such an effort, but the funding has to be authorized from somewhere first by the state legislature.

Yoder also said public-private partnerships could help improve opportunities for local farmers and other agribusinesses – at least it’s been discussed. Right now, any idea has the potential to be a good one. “There’s no enemies out there,” he noted. “We’re all in this together.”

He invites knowledgeable people to step up and volunteer for Phase Two by calling OSA at 410-252-7079 or emailing info@sfldialogue.net

The A Call to Action report can be read online at www.ohiosmartag.net