Shifting to Local Markets

by Ralph C. Martin

Siddhartha, in Herman Hesse’s story, is a son of a Brahman on his quest for enlightenment. At one point in his journey he approaches a merchant for work. When asked about his qualifications, he replied, “I can think, I can wait and I can fast.” What an unusual resume! The merchant saw potential and hired Siddhartha, he learned the ropes, the business grew and eventually he became the wealthy owner.

Perhaps we need more of Siddhartha’s attitude as we build a local, healthy food system. There’s no doubt that thought is required to deal with the complexities. It probably won’t happen overnight. There may be some things in the global food system to go without if we want a local food system to work.

The global food system relies on relatively cheap energy and plentiful nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer to produce cheap ingredients for excessively processed and packaged food. Energy for agriculture is mostly derived from fossil fuels. Nitrogen fertilizer itself swallows one third of the entire agricultural energy budget. Phosphorus fertilizer comes mostly from deposits in Florida and Morocco. These three underpinnings of the global food system, not to mention adequate clean water, are limited in supply.

With these inputs, food commodities are grown in large quantities on large farms that keep growing. Farms are situated in areas where they are most competitive for growing specific commodities. That is, the cost per unit of production is lower than in most other places. The commodities produced with more labour are often in regions where people are willing to work for low wages and minimal or no benefits. Otherwise, it doesn’t really matter where the farms are because until now the inputs have been available anywhere. The transportation of inputs and food commodities has been cheap.

The food commodities are transported long distances before processing. Sometimes parts of a commodity are shipped long distances to another factory to be re-assembled with other ingredients. The processing and packaging are at high energy costs and then transported long distances again in combinations of ready-to-eat products.

Such products often end up in brightly coloured containers in the middle aisles of supermarkets all over the world. They have appealing tastes that include sweeteners, fat and salt. Frequently they compromise our health.

People who purchase these products tend to be too distracted to pay critical attention or time to their purchases. Others have insufficient income to pay money for more nutritious products. The centre aisle packages are convenient, and if advertising campaigns are successful, part of our entertainment. In this global food system, it’s tough for farmers anywhere to compete and provide fresh, local, healthy food that is affordable and accessible.

As energy prices increase and as climate shifts, local, healthy food will become valued more. The challenge is to build a local, healthy food system while cheap food persists as a disincentive. However, the task must be done before cheap oil stops greasing the well-known moving parts of the global food system. Building new channels, networks and relationships is worth our while even if at an apparent loss in the present.

To re-build local food systems we must reckon with the complexities and impact of the global food system elbowing our well-intentioned practices where referees have no clout. Although farmers in the commodities business often have a legitimate feeling of being trapped by debt and narrowing market options it can be worth adding new, albeit small, eggs to the farm product basket. Think about how to decrease off-farm inputs and use existing on-farm resources to produce a new product that may distinguish your farm in your province and region.

If it takes more time to produce a new product, remember that it is worth developing the knowledge and relationships. The global food system is on track to falter as oil prices climb.

The logic of developing a local, healthy food system may lead some farmers to forgo traditional markets of the global system while others are still cashing in. This ‘fast’ or sacrifice of relying less on the global trough before being forced to do so, may well lead to more independence and business stability, in the long run.


Ralph C. Martin, Ph.D., P.Ag. is the Founding Director of the Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada. Please send comments or questions by phone to 902-893-7256 or by email to oacc@nsac.ca


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Posted December 2009