PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Local foods offer tangible economic benefits in some regions

2014-02-04
(Press-News.org) Contact information: Matthew Swayne
mls29@psu.edu
814-865-9481
Penn State
Local foods offer tangible economic benefits in some regions Despite their typically small size and sparse distribution, farms that sell their products locally may boost economic growth in their communities in some regions of the U.S., according to a team of economists. "There has been a lot of hope, but little evidence, that local food systems can be an engine of economic growth in communities," said Stephan Goetz, professor of agricultural and regional economics in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences and director of the Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development. "Our findings show that, at least in certain regions of the country, community-focused agriculture has had a measurable effect on economic growth." The team's findings, which appear in the February 2014 issue of Economic Development Quarterly, shed new light on the role that local food sales play in economies, and may help inform policymakers about supporting community-focused agriculture programs. The researchers defined community-focused agriculture as farm enterprises that sell products directly to consumers or that generate farm income from agritourism activities or both. Agritourism offers harvest festivals, pick-your-own activities and other recreational opportunities to attract visitors to farms. According to the 2007 U.S. Census of Agriculture -- the most recently available data at the time of this study -- only 6.2 percent of all farms engage in direct sales, and even fewer engage in agritourism activities. Goetz and his colleagues measured the impact of community-focused agriculture on local economic growth by examining its impact on agricultural sales overall. "Rather than look at the direct effect of community-focused agriculture on economic growth, we looked at the effect of these operations on total agricultural sales, and then at how total agricultural sales affected economic growth," said Goetz. The study is the first to measure the impacts of local food sales, and agricultural sales more broadly, in this way. Using county-level data from the 2002 and 2007 U.S. Census of Agriculture, the team analyzed the link between direct farm sales -- sales made directly from farmer to consumer -- and total farm sales. When they examined the data on a national basis, they found a positive but not statistically significant relationship between the two. Goetz said that a different picture emerged when they looked at the data by region, as defined by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. In some regions, direct sales seemed to complement total farm sales. For example, in New England, a $1 increase from the 2002 level of direct farm sales was associated with a $5 increase in total farm sales. That same $1 increase was associated with a $9 increase in overall farm sales in the Mid-Atlantic states of Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. Yet, in other regions, local food sales appear to compete with total farm sales. In Southeastern U.S. counties, for example, direct sales were associated with a reduction in total farm sales. Next, to measure the impact of all agricultural sales on economic growth, the researchers used a statistical model to analyze how changes in farm sales per capita influenced changes in real personal income per capita -- an indicator of economic growth. Again, the team performed this analysis using county-level data from 2002 to 2007. "We found that for every $1 increase in agricultural sales, personal income rose by 22 cents over the course of five years," said Goetz. "Considering the relatively small size of just the farming sector within the national economy, with less than 2 percent of the workforce engaged in farming, it's impressive that these sales actually move income growth in this way." Goetz said that by establishing that direct sales have a positive effect on total agricultural sales, which in turn have an effect on income growth, this study demonstrates that direct sales do indeed expand local economies at least in the Northeast U.S. He added that these results came as a bit of a surprise. "When we set out to measure the economic impact of local food sales, we frankly didn't expect to find one," said Goetz. He explained that economists are generally skeptical that local sales can have impacts because such sales tend to recirculate money within a community rather than inject new money. "Injection of new money -- money from outside of the community -- is what many economic development practitioners think of as the fuel for economic growth. But to me, these findings provide quite robust evidence that even direct sales do have an effect on growth, in the Northeast U.S." ### Other members of the research team include Jason P. Brown of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City; Mary C. Ahearn of the USDA Economic Research Service; and Chyi-lyi (Kathleen) Liang of the University of Vermont, who serves as the project director. The research was funded by the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative of the USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture.


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Solving a physics mystery: Those 'solitons' are really vortex rings

2014-02-04
The same physics that gives tornadoes their ferocious stability lies at the heart of new University of Washington research, and could lead to a better understanding of nuclear dynamics in studying fission, ...

US should revisit media policy on China in light of growing Chinese digital media industry

2014-02-04
HOUSTON – (Feb. 3, 2014) – Chinese protectionism in the digital media sphere has created a major underdiscussed trade gap between China and the United States, and the U.S. government must ...

Hypertensive patients' specialty use changed with medical home

2014-02-04
SEATTLE—Group Health studied how patients with treated hypertension used outpatient specialty care before, ...

NIH study offers insight into why cancer incidence increases with age

2014-02-04
The accumulation of age-associated changes in a biochemical process that helps control genes may be responsible for some of the increased risk of cancer seen ...

Study challenges claims of single-sex schooling benefits

2014-02-04
MADISON — As many American public school districts adopt single-sex classrooms and even entire schools, a new study finds scant evidence that they offer educational or social benefits. The study was the largest and ...

How a shape-shifting DNA-repair machine fights cancer

2014-02-04
Maybe you've seen the movies or played with toy Transformers, those shape-shifting machines that ...

NIH scientists find mechanism that helps HIV evade antibodies, stabilize key proteins

2014-02-04
WHAT: NIH scientists have discovered a mechanism involved in stabilizing key HIV ...

Data-driven team is key to sustaining positive behavior framework in schools

2014-02-04
EUGENE, Ore. -- A new study finds that a dedicated team that makes decisions based on data ...

High long-term survival of most common pediatric brain tumor, less when radiation was used

2014-02-04
BOSTON (Feb. 3, 2014) ...

NIH study describes new method for tracking T cells in HIV patients

2014-02-04
WHAT: A team of researchers has reported a novel method for tracking CD4+ ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Inability to pay for healthcare reaches record high in U.S.

Science ‘storytelling’ urgently needed amid climate and biodiversity crisis

KAIST Develops Retinal Therapy to Restore Lost Vision​

Adipocyte-hepatocyte signaling mechanism uncovered in endoplasmic reticulum stress response

Mammals were adapting from life in the trees to living on the ground before dinosaur-killing asteroid

Low LDL cholesterol levels linked to reduced risk of dementia

Thickening of the eye’s retina associated with greater risk and severity of postoperative delirium in older patients

Almost one in ten people surveyed report having been harmed by the NHS in the last three years

Enhancing light control with complex frequency excitations

New research finds novel drug target for acute myeloid leukemia, bringing hope for cancer patients

New insight into factors associated with a common disease among dogs and humans

Illuminating single atoms for sustainable propylene production

New study finds Rocky Mountain snow contamination

Study examines lactation in critically ill patients

UVA Engineering Dean Jennifer West earns AIMBE’s 2025 Pierre Galletti Award

Doubling down on metasurfaces

New Cedars-Sinai study shows how specialized diet can improve gut disorders

Making moves and hitting the breaks: Owl journeys surprise researchers in western Montana

PKU Scientists simulate the origin and evolution of the North Atlantic Oscillation

ICRAFT breakthrough: Unlocking A20’s dual role in cancer immunotherapy

How VR technology is changing the game for Alzheimer’s disease

A borrowed bacterial gene allowed some marine diatoms to live on a seaweed diet

Balance between two competing nerve proteins deters symptoms of autism in mice

Use of antifungals in agriculture may increase resistance in an infectious yeast

Awareness grows of cancer risk from alcohol consumption, survey finds

The experts that can outsmart optical illusions

Pregnancy may reduce long COVID risk

Scientists uncover novel immune mechanism in wheat tandem kinase

Three University of Virginia Engineering faculty elected as AAAS Fellows

Unintentional drug overdoses take a toll across the U.S. unequally, study finds

[Press-News.org] Local foods offer tangible economic benefits in some regions