Study: local food has positive impact on rurual Iowa

Increased demand in metropolitan areas for locally grown food could have a positive impact on neighboring rural economies in southwest Iowa, a report from the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture shows.

Iowa State University economist David Swenson worked with the Leopold Center, two local food councils and the Southwest Iowa Food and Farming Initiative to conduct an analysis for 10 counties in southwest Iowa.

Results showed that a modest increase in fruit and vegetable production could bring an additional $2.7 million in labor income and the equivalent of 45 farm-level jobs to the region.

A key assumption in Swenson's analysis is for farmers in the region to grow enough of 22 fruits and vegetables to meet local consumption during a typical Iowa growing season, or about four months of the year. Such a scenario would require about 900 acres of new fruit and vegetable production, and would generate $2.4 million in sales, $930,000 in labor incomes and nearly 16 jobs for the region.

Swenson's report is available at www.leopold.iastate.edu/research/marketing_files/swiowa.html.