Farm to Market
Suzi Parker has a great article about small farmers, farmers' markets and local food. As I've said here repeatedly, this is an area where Arkansas is really missing out on economic growth. We could turn organic food into a monster. Arkansas has all the ingredients necessary for making this happen. We have affordable land, housing, and labor; we have urban markets nearby in Memphis, Tulsa, O.K. City, St. Louis and Texas; AND we have Wal-Mart. As Wal-Mart's interest in the organic market grows, so could Arkansas.
Comments
You are right on target. Arkansas has the tools need to bring organic farming to a much higher level than it is. My concern is that too many people believe it does not go well with "row crop" farming. But I don't. We need them both, along with more agri-tourism. Just don't forget that labor will be a bigger issue than one may think.
Posted by: ArkansasAdvocate | November 18, 2006 06:28 PM
100 percent agreed. I moved to Arkansas from an area with a wonderfully aggressive farmers cooperative that serviced a great farmers' market as well as high-end restaurants. The cooperative specialized in organic farming and unusual vegetables and did a huge business. Area restaurants held fundraisers for it.
t's a shame that many Arkansas communities do not have good farmers' markets offering a wide array of organics, unusual fruits, vegetables and herbs, and focusing solely on locally grown food, not that imported from California or Florida. We have the resources. We just need to educate ourselves and each other about the benefits -- health as well as monetary -- and then develop the interest.
Posted by: Anonymous | November 20, 2006 01:14 PM