Fertilizing the Future:

Economics of Local
Farming

In the light of the new 60-mile embargo on

food in Athens, Georgia, questions arose
concerning how food production would be
handled. Our team went out into the field to
investigate the implications of such a law
and its potential impacts on the local food
market. We spoke to a local farm owner to
talk about the issues that people may have
concerning the new embargo.

Local Farmers: Who Are

they?
Local farmers have always been an
interesting group to study. Most people
correlate local farming with organic
farming which, in most cases, is a proper
assumption to make. Others see local
farming as a very niche market because
only certain people want to buy local. A
question still exists though. Who are these
local farmers? Well, they are just like us.
They have families, pets, bills, etc. The
only difference is they cultivate a farm for
a living. These people work tirelessly
every day in order to grow crops and take
care of livestock, depending upon what is
on the farm. Most of these farmers begin
their journey on the agriculture track
through a desire for organically grown
food. This type of action leads to a
specialization of the trade. Organic
farmers differ from normal commercial
famers due to the amount of pesticides,
fertilizer, and other chemicals they use to
make their products grow faster and larger.
Organic farmers normally use little to no
pesticides. Instead, they use other pest
control techniques. One such technique is
the use of raised bed planters. These
devices allow soil to be layered so weeds
can be pulled out with little to no
resistance. The raised bet planters also
allow cloth to be draped over in order to
keep out unwanted bugs. These processes
help to keep everything pest free without

This tomato received too much water during the

rainy weeks weve had in Athens recently.
Photo taken by Cami Ferguson

Missy and Tom Crane started Sonshine farms a few

years ago after Tom sold his business in Atlanta. They
Missy from
and Tom
Crane
of Sonshine
moved
the big
citytoOwners
the country
in orderFarms
to
Photo
taken
by
Cami
Ferguson
strike out a new venture. They had no farming
background, so they had to begin with little to no
knowledge and work their way up. They currently
serve about twelve customers per week, and they have
the capacity to serve twenty. They employ a farming
system called Back to Eden, a procedure that uses
certain fertilization techniques to revitalize the earth
for farming. The whole process relies upon using open
air composting. Mrs. Crane described it as a
fertilization process that utilizes leaves to fertilize the
area that they fall in. Their biggest challenge so far has
been to get things planted at the right time. Missy has
devoted her time in order to learn as much as she can
about farming, and her husband, Tom is no different.
They both have dedicated their lives to this new
lifestyle, and they will be working this way for years
to come.

Interacting with Local Farmers:

Farmers Markets
If you are looking to buy locally, farmers
can be easily found. You can find local
farmers markets in most towns, and you
can find a ton of foods that are locally
grown. These farmers markets are
normally a group of local farmers that
bring their products together in one place
in order to sell it to the public. These
markets generally have a designated
location and time during the weekends so
they can always be found. Our own
Athens farmers market meets in Bishop
Park on Saturdays from 8AM to noon.
Since produce is seasonal, they always
have new items in store every month.

Child paying for produce at the Athens

Farmers Market
Courtesy of Athens Farmers Market Website

Athens Farmers Market

Courtesy of Athens Farmers Market
Website

According to their website, they are selling

a plethora of fall vegetables, and they also
have meat, eggs, and other assorted
prepared goods like locally made coffee,
cheese, baked goods, and many more.
Many people already frequent these
places, but imagine if we had to buy
locally. The attendance at the Athens
Farmers Market would skyrocket. Last
years population estimate for AthensClarke County by the US census reached
an astonishing 120,938 people. If we
assume that these are all families (two
parent, two children household), that
would be around 30,234 families in
Athens-Clarke County. If we can assume
that prices for these local and organic
goods are on par with supermarkets, a low
cost plan, according to the USDA for
2014, will range from $166.80 to $197.20.
So if we have this spending plan weekly,
the Athens Farmers Market would be
making from $5,043,031.20 to
$5,962,144.80 weekly. This money will
end up going to local farmers and boosting
the economy.

An example of a food shack

Taken from Google Maps

Interactions with Local Farmers:

Food Shacks
Another outlet of local farming you
can find is around GA-441. There are
a couple shacks located on the side of
the road that local farmers use to sell
their goods. These function almost the
same as the Athens Farmers Market,
except only one or a couple farmers
use them. Mrs. Missy Crane
mentioned to our team that she would
like to have one of those on her
property so she could sell her products
from home. Interaction with the
farmers doesnt have to be with
customers. In fact, interaction between
farmers can occur as well.

Another example of local produce

Photo taken from
bayoucityoutdoors.com

Photo taken from pike.ca.uky.edu

Interactions with Local Farmers:

Bartering
Bartering is a major occurrence with
local farmers. If one farmer needs
something, money doesnt have to be
exchanged. The farmers take care of
each other. Produce and other goods
like meat or eggs are acceptable for
trading. Mrs. Missy Crane talked about
how farmers around her area barter for
a variety of items. She has bartered
some of her pigs for eggs or other
items. All of these interactions are
integral in how local farmers operate
and make money.

A cartoon depicting a man bartering animals for a

doctors visit
Photo taken from cartoonstock.com

Pigs from Sonshine Farms

Photos courtesy of Cami Ferguson

Concerns With a Shift to Local

Produce

People have issues with large

farming operations due to their use
of pesticides and GMOs
Photo taken from elcr.org

Another issue they tackle in their

article is that foods would not be
sold fresher than it would be with
large operations. Born and
Purcell state that these larger
operations can afford to have
their foods shipped to places
farther than local operations can.
These farms are able to buy
systems that keep their products
fresh. In contrast to this idea,
local farmers might not be able to
travel long distances and keep
their products as fresh as larger
operations. These ideas presented
are logical, but they do not
address the ways in which
farming communities work with
each other.

When many individuals think about

locally grown foods, they think about
how organic foods are much better than
anything grown on a larger scale. Others
would beg to differ. Brandon Born and
Mark Purcell wrote an article in the
Journal of Planning Education and
Research called Avoiding the Local
Trap: Scale and Food Systems in
Planning Research. Born and Purcell
argue that the Local Trap is a system
in which a group of individuals try to
further a political agenda. The political
agenda they mention is an
environmentally minded one. The
argument revolves around being more
environmentally friendly. They further
argue that shifting to a local food
providing system will cause damage to
the local environment. Born and Purcell
argue that with a shift to more local
food sources, water demands would
increase significantly.

Carousel milking station from a large

dairy farm
Photo taken from stackyard.com

Contrasting View: Why a Shift to

Local Farming is a Good Thing

Free-range chicken eggs from Sonshine

Farms
Photo taken by Cami Ferguson

Pinchot also states that even

with the higher prices that local
market outlets provide, most
consumers will not mind. They
want to get products that they
envision will be better for
them, so the mark up on prices
dont bother them as much.
Another argument that Pinchot
makes is that people will keep
coming back to local outlets
due to social factors. Buying
locally allows for the human
element to return to the
purchase of food. The customer
is able to speak to the farmer
that grew the food they are
buying. This allows
relationships to be formed
which encourages repeat
business. These points help the
consumer to be happy and
benefit the local farmer.

Many people are wanting to shift to

local food systems due to the fact that
consumers see the local food system as
a better choice. Ariel Pinchot, in her
article The Economics of Local Food
Systems: A Literature Review of the
Production, Distribution, and
Consumption of Local Food, says that
the quality of foods is the most
important focus in the consumers eye.
People want to get products that taste
better and make them feel better. The
ideal of the absence of chemicals and
GMOs (genetically modified
organisms) brings the consumers in.
They feel that with the absence of these
products the food will taste much
better.

Goats from Sonshine Farms

Photo taken by Cami Ferguson

Economic Benefits of Local Farming

Homegrown loofah off the vine

Picture taken by Cami Ferguson

Local farming benefits the local

economy. Normally, farmers have to
go through middle men in order to
sell their products to the community.
Pinchot mentions that buying locally
brings substantial benefits to the
local economy. Pinchot notes that
with local farmers markets, the local
farmers receive more money, which,
in turn, allows money to be spent
locally, thus improving local
economy. This cycle is logical in
nature. Money is given to local
farmers who, in turn, spend it at local
businesses which allows for the
expansion of the local economy.

What Will the 60-mile Food

Embargo Do?
As we look at the impacts that local
farming has on the economy, we see
that the new 60-mile food embargo
will benefit the economy. It may be
hard for the local farmers to produce
the amount of food needed for local
consumers, but according to Mrs.
Missy Crane, things will eventually
be fine. During our interview with
her, she stated that local farmers
would step up and provide for local
needs. They would step up
production and provide what
consumers would need. Every bit of
food would need to be covered, but
Mrs. Missy Crane is convinced that
local farmers would be able to
provide for every bit of food needed
by the community, and from what
our team saw, we are convinced that
this is true. With the influx of more
capital through the farmers market
outlets, local farmers would be able
to expand their businesses and
produce more and more until the
concerns are buried.

Through the expansion of local farming, local

economy will grow.
Photo taken from blogforextradingfree.com