AERO KUFM Commentary Archives

AERO KUFM Commentary

Bruce Smith

July 28, 2005

My name is Bruce Smith and I was born and raised on a farm and ranch in northeastern Montana and have been involved in commodity agriculture for the better part of my life. After spending a year in France, I returned to the family farm in 1980.

After five years of drought and grasshoppers, I returned to school and from 1987 to 1994 spent seven years out of state working for large food companies freezing broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, and Brussels sprouts in California; making margarine in Illinois; and frozen French fries in Idaho. Iíve been actively involved in all levels of the food chain from field to table. I currently live and work in Glendive, Montana as an Extension Agent with Montana State University.

Most of eastern Montana’s counties have lost over 20% of their population over the last 20 years. The sixteen easternmost counties comprise roughly 30% of the Montana’s landmass but we are less than 9% of the population. Where many Montanans are concerned about growth and how to control it, we are trying to cope with declining populations and the subsequent declining tax base.

If you want to understand what has been happening in eastern Montana for the last century, Dr. Carl Kraenzel’s book, “The Great Plains in Transition” would be a good place to start. I found my first copy at a used book sale in the 25-cent pile. I started thumbing through it and decided the author must be a genius. I was pretty shocked when I looked at the publication date of 1955.

There are a few things that Kraenzel never could have predicted in 1955, like the advent of the computer and the Internet, but his depiction of the social structure of the Great Plains and what the future held for the region was quite accurate. He maintained that transportation costs are, always have been, and always will be the largest social and economic cost on the Great Plains - that corridor that reaches from Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the Gulf of Mexico.

The agricultural commodities that we sell wholesale are discounted to cover freight out. Then, like in the case of wheat that eventually becomes bread, we buy back the finished product at a retail price that has been inflated to cover whatever value has been added to it out-of-state and the transportation to get it back to us. Not only do we have this dynamic taking place, but almost all the inputs used to produce the crops we eventually sell are also shipped in. We are selling wholesale and buying retail --- and paying the transportation costs both ways. Doesn’t seem like a winning proposition any way you look at it.

One of the things I learned in my years in managing food manufacturing businesses was that the problem is always the solution. If transportation costs are the problem, then eliminating transportation would go a long way towards solving that problem. If I can grow potatoes here, why am I paying someone else 1,000 miles away to grow them? Someone is paying the transportation and it’s probably me. Doesn’t it make sense to put that money into the pocket of your neighbor rather than someone who has little or no stake in whether you survive or not?

We see local food systems as a way of becoming a more stable, sustainable society. To that end, one of the projects our local development group is currently working on is an integrated local marketing cooperative, restaurant, microbrewery, and commercial kitchen. We have a prime location that has most of the structures we need to get started and, most importantly, we have a vision. It would be difficult for any one of these four business components to stand alone in our region. They are all interconnected and we have to address all parts of the puzzle to get the whole picture.

For the producers to add value to their food products, they need a place to process it. If they are going to add value, where are the greatest margins? In a restaurant. People are willing to pay for food that tastes good and food that tastes good usually hasn’t been shipped in from 1,500 miles away or bred to withstand the trip. Most of us would rather eat a homegrown tomato a couple of hours off the vine than one of those tasteless balls of vegetable matter that has spent the last week and a half bouncing around in the back of a refrigerated truck. The big bonus is that people are willing to pay more if they know they are helping themselves by helping their neighbors.

The development of our local food system, where the producers own the product all the way through the food chain and benefit from each step, will hinge on transportation costs and constructing systems to minimize or eliminate them. It will also depend on people, both as individuals and as members of institutions, being willing to support locally grown and processed food. Together we can make our communities stronger and more sustainable by determining what we will and we won’t eat.

This is Bruce Smith, board member with the Alternative Energy Resources Organization. AERO would appreciate 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.

OTHER THOUGHTS

How do I get it to market when my markets are 100 miles apart? I donít know that we have any good answers for that one. For those products that will store like potatoes, onions, dry peas, lentils, etc., we have a little leeway in shipping. For those that are fresh or frozen, shipping and distribution are more critical.

Systems approach -- everything is connected to everything else. I can’t do something here and not expect it to affect something over there.

One bushel of barley can make several gallons of beer.

If we focus on local, seasonal foods, we can count on having fresher, healthier, better tasting food.

It’s hard enough living in eastern Montana without putting up with tasteless food. Food should be something we celebrate, something that should be enjoyed -- not just something we ingest just so we have enough energy to get through the day.