Kentucky is one of the largest beef cattle producers in the U.S., but the state is still struggling to develop the resources to process its beef in-state. (Chris Fryer/Farm to Fork)

By Amanda Loviza/Farm to Fork

Kentucky is the biggest beef cattle producer east of the Mississippi River, raising 800,000 head of cattle each year. But the odds of finding a steak that is 100 percent Kentuckian—born, raised, slaughtered and processed in the state—are slim. Only four percent of the beef consumed in Kentucky was actually processed there, according to Bill Clary, director of public relations for the Kentucky Department of Agriculture and brand manager of Kentucky Proud Advertising.

As the “local” movement picks up speed and the Kentucky Department of Agriculture tries to bring more value back to farmers, Kentucky, like other states, faces a variety of obstacles that prevent the development of a large-scale, affordable local food network. Some of the challenges regarding the supply of local beef include unpredictable weather, a lack of slaughterhouses and the need for a comprehensive distribution network.

The Kentucky Proud program , an initiative to promote products grown or processed in Kentucky, came under fire when it decided last year to contract PM Beef to oversee the finishing, slaughtering and processing of Kentucky beef. PM Beef is a Minnesota-based company. Through the PM agreement, investors buy Kentucky cattle at auction and ship them to feedlots in Iowa. PM contracts with the feedlots, finishes the cattle with a high-corn diet and ships them to Minnesota to be slaughtered, processed and packed. The beef is guaranteed by affidavits throughout the process to be the same Kentucky line. Then the beef is shipped back to Kentucky to be sold in grocery stores.

Bruce Brooking, the executive vice president of sales and marketing at PM Beef, and also a resident of Kentucky, said that his company is trying to increase demand for Kentucky cattle.

“Demand is going to create higher prices,” Brooking said. “I think this will be a very good program for the farmers of Kentucky.”

Billy Ray Smith, a beef farmer with the Green River Cattle Company in central Kentucky, agreed that the PM Beef line could be a very positive thing.

“We’re getting Kentucky beef back here,” Smith said.

Amy Sipes, who runs John’s Custom Meats with her husband, was furious when she heard about the PM Beef agreement. As a small local meat packer, Sipes said she thinks that Kentucky could process all its meat in-state if a local system was set up. But she said the distribution network is the downfall for small local meat processors.

Without a distribution network that will transport a small local meat producer’s product to stores across the state, the little guys just can’t compete with larger companies’ prices, she said. By shipping the cows to the Midwest, where all the cheap corn and large feedlots are, PM can keep its prices down. Low prices and a big name appeal to large distributors. Small meat processors struggle to develop a distribution network, but the Kentucky department of agriculture helped PM develop a distribution network through Critchfield Meats, Southern Foods and Brown Foodservice.

Warren Beeler, the director of value-added animal agriculture production for the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, credits PM Beef for the fact that Kentucky beef products are now being offered in grocery stores across the state.

“Kentucky Proud wouldn’t have any beef products at all in the grocery stores if it weren’t for PM Beef,” Beeler said.

Clary said that with the creation of the PM Beef contract and its distribution network throughout the state, other Kentucky Proud products are being transported as well, such as jams and sauces. This is the first time Kentucky Proud is being distributed cost-competitively, he said.

Sipes doesn’t think PM Beef should be labeled “Kentucky Proud,” since a lot of the production occurs out-of-state.

“Honestly, it’s kind of a slap in the face to farmers who are selling a local product,” Sipes said.

Sipes is not the only one to be offended by Kentucky Proud’s agreement with PM Beef. Clary said the department of agriculture has heard “very vocal” complaints from some people who object to labeling PM Beef “Kentucky Proud.” The PM contract led to Kara Keeton’s Business Lexington column in January, “Is it time for Kentucky Damn Proud?” Keeton does not object to the PM contract, but she discusses the difference between Kentucky Proud and the idea of “Kentucky Damn Proud,” which would mean a product was grown and processed in Kentucky.

The Kentucky Proud program has never claimed that all of its products have remained in the state from conception to sale. In order to be labeled Kentucky Proud, a product must be produced or processed in the state. Clary says the objective of the program is to bring value back to the farmer, in whatever way.

“Kentucky Proud is a very very diverse movement, and at the end of the day we’d like to feed all of Kentucky from our farms,” Clary said. “But that’s not going to spring forth like Venus from the head of Jupiter. We hope this program will help get us to that point.”

But Beeler said that he understands that the Kentucky Proud label can be misunderstood by consumers.

“We’re not intentionally misleading people, but I think unintentionally I think we are, and that’s not good,” Beeler said. “We need to make sure people understand.

Beeler said there are good reasons why Kentucky Proud includes products produced or processed in Kentucky, but he said maybe a two-tiered system would be beneficial to consumers.

But as far as being able to offer Kentucky beef to Kentucky consumers, PM Beef is helping, Clary said. Including the PM Beef as Kentucky beef, the contract will double the amount of Kentucky beef that is sold in-state, he said.

The concept of building enough facilities in Kentucky to process all 800,000 head of cattle that are produced in the state is not going to come to fruition any time in the near future, Beeler said, although it could happen eventually. Today Kentucky has 16 small USDA-inspected processing plants, and no large cattle processors, Beeler said.

The small plants do not process enough animals to sell the blood or other byproducts, so instead of having an extra avenue for profits from the cattle, small processors lose money getting rid of waste, said Mary Hendrickson, director of the Food Circles Networking Project and a rural sociology professor at the University of Missouri. Like in many areas of the country, consolidation in the slaughter industry has limited the availability of slaughterhouses in Kentucky, but the plants that are in the state have increased their capacity over the last 10 years, according to Beeler. Beeler said three plants are in the planning stage.

And along with the lack of slaughterhouse facilities, there is also a lack of feedlot facilities. But the lack of feedlots is not an accident. Kentucky’s unpredictable and often rainy weather is not conducive to the finishing stage of beef cattle production, Clary and Beeler said. Feedlots are more confined than grazing, and rain makes them messy. Most large feedlots are farther west, where there is less rain and the smell will not intrude on towns.

Both PM Beef and Kentucky Proud say that it makes economic sense to ship the cows west when they are small and less costly to transport, and then take advantage of the cheap corn feed and the wide open spaces. Beeler said since the feed is cheaper out west, processing plants also set up there. One is leading to the other, which is also why PM Beef’s processing plant is in Minnesota.

Beeler said he “can’t imagine” that the PM Beef line would hurt small Kentucky processors, because it is a different market.

But whether PM is taking business away from local processors or not, Sipes said she thinks there is a different option for the Kentucky department of agriculture to help market Kentucky beef. She said she thinks if the ag department would help small processors develop a distribution network, they could process the beef in-state.

“It can be done on a local system,” Sipes said.

Videos by: Colleen Stewart and Regina Durkan

VINEYARD- David Hall, owner of Black Oak Vineyard in Princeton, Ky.

vineyard why i farm from Fleischaker-Greene Scholars on Vimeo.

HONEYBEES- Dale Rose, owner of Rose Honey Bee Farm in Morgantown, Ky.

bees from Fleischaker-Greene Scholars on Vimeo.

DAIRY- Carl Cheney, owner of Cheney’s Dairy Barn in Bowling Green, Ky.

Untitled from Fleischaker-Greene Scholars on Vimeo.

DISTRIBUTION- John Sharpe, one of the founders of Grasshoppers Distribution, a farmer-owned local food distribution service in Louisville

Untitled from Fleischaker-Greene Scholars on Vimeo.

A legislative op-ed.

In a time where outbreaks of the fatal and disgusting E. coli bacteria are as common as peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, hold the salmonella, please, the District of Columbia and its 100 part-time residents, members of the 111^th Senate of the United States of America, should be buckling down and trying to fix the food safety situation in our country that only seems to be getting worse.

The not-so-recently proposed (March of 2009) Senate Bill 510 FDA Food Safety Modernization Act is trying to do just that.

This long-talked-about bill, sponsored by Senator Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), is an appropriate way for the government to more effectively deal with the recent outbreaks of food borne pathogens and illnesses that have, without a doubt, transpired because of the “big business” of food production.

According to the Center for Disease Control, more than 200 diseases are spread through food contamination. In the United States alone, more than 81 million cases of food-borne illnesses recorded each year and the poisonings are accountable for up to 9,000 deaths.

Senator Richard Durbin

Margaret A. Hamburg, commissioner of the Food and Drug Association, recently testified in Congress, about the seriousness of food-borne illnesses and urging support for current legislation.

As of October, 2006, 199 people were infected with a strain of E. coli O157:H7 that stemmed from fresh spinach and spinach products processed by Natural Selection foods. Out of the 199 patients, four perished.

It’s time to ensure that all food coming from FDA processors is healthy and safe. Senate Bill 510 hopes to do that.

If adopted, this bill will expand the jurisdiction of the Secretary of Health and Human Services, currently Kathleen Sebelius, and allow her and her staff to oversee many of the operations of the of the entire food industry.

Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services

The Secretary will begin to wear many more metaphorical hats. Her responsibilities will grow, allowing her to re-inspect any food facility that is deemed necessary, manage food recalls, and oversee the qualified importer program.

In addition to the Secretary’s new responsibilities, all food facilities will be required to assess all hazards and ensure that preventive controls are implemented in order to give the public the highest quality and safest food that it truly deserves.

The bill would require all FDA-controlled farms and factories to comply with the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points, an FDA program that seeks assess and eliminate all physical, chemical, and biological hazards from the food production process before any problems can be acquired. Currently HACCP compliance is only mandatory for FDA juice facilities.

A chart from foodpoinsonprevention.com explaining the sources of food borne illnesses.

Under the bill, establishments would be required to conduct a hazard analysis, determining any food safety issues and identifying the preventive measures that can be put in place to safeguard against them. After the analysis is finished, critical control points in the manufacturing process where production can be stopped are to be established, and the levels of contamination necessary for a cease in production will be decided

Many individuals think that the new regulatory system is what the food industry needs in order to be safe.

Amy Sipes of John’s Custom Meats, a meat market in Smiths Grove, Ky. that seeks to get Kentucky residents to eat local meats, thinks that all of the added regulations make the bill much better for the populace.

“I don’t see that it’s as bad as some portray it to be. I like the increased regs for FDA. I think they needed it,” she said via Twitter, the micro-blogging tool.

“FDA food processing facilities do not get regularly inspected at a rate that can ensure food safety, whereas USDA facilities [are] inspected daily. Implementing HACCP through FDA’s jurisdiction is a good move.”

Sipes said that this bill would not affect her business.

Although this bill sounds just like what the proverbial doctor ordered, after diagnosing the food poisoning, the excessive paperwork and drafting and resubmission of many safety plans, including the frame-worked plan of a major commercial recall, might prove to be too complicated for some farms.

Judith McGeary is the executive director of one of the organizations opposing the bill, the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance, based in Austin, Texas. FARFA seeks to give a voice to small, independent farmers while working closely with legislators that ensure that new policies are not skewed toward big business and give the smaller organizations the support that they need.

“As the bill is currently written, it would be very damaging to small farmers and feed producers who provide safe and healthy food,” she said, referencing the vast amount of new paperwork that would be required to verify the safety and contamination levels of their products.

“Small operations are the ones that are in the most danger from the bill,” McGeary said. “The bill composes regulatory paperwork and the small businesses get driven out.”

The smaller organizations should be held to the same standards of other operations, but without a room full of pencil-pushing bureaucrats, it can be challenging to crank out extensive amounts of paperwork for the Department of Health and Human Services every day.

McGeary said that FARFA would begin supporting the bill if the Tester Amendment, written by organic farmer, Sen. John Tester (D-Mont.)

The amendment states that any farm that grosses less than $500,000 annually would not be subjected to the same quantity of paperwork and meticulous record keeping that is currently required in the bill. The Tester version says these farms will be “limited to records regarding the immediate suppliers and immediate subsequent recipients of such facility.”

This provision would be extremely helpful for the farms that FARFA and McGeary worry about.

More than 100 major organizations and interest groups have signed a letter of intent and delivered it to Senate leadership, pledging to support the bill and cooperate fully if the Tester amendment is added to the existing legislation.

Another argument behind the Tester amendment is that local, small farm foods do not need food safety plans, because they are, in reality, healthier than most big business factory farms.

So, let me get this straight. We’ve got a good piece of legislation. An amendment that seems to make everyone happy. And there is a need for the bill, with new cases of E.coli popping up every day.

The House has already passed a similar bill, H.R. 875, The Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009. The Senate needs to act now.

People are contracting food-borne illnesses everyday while the Senate drags their feet on this major issue. The country should not have to go through more major recalls and outbreaks of deadly diseases any longer.

Barbara Kowalcyk : mediaparticipant.com

Barbara Kowalcyk is still waiting for action on food-safety legislation. Her son Kevin died in 2001 after eating a burger contaminated with E. coli while on vacation. “Kevin’s Law,” a food-safety bill named for her son, was first presented in 2005, but the meat industry has opposed it consistently.

Although S.510 will not directly oversee the processing of meat because it falls under USDA jurisdiction, it would be a step toward improving the safety of food distributed to the public.

We can only hope that S. 510 will pass, forcing the big business of food to be accountable for itself and the American people.

No one should have to suffer like the Kowalcyk family. Hopefully no one will again.

Graphic by Jacob Hill/Farm to Fork

Click on the countries above to learn more.

Agriculture is one industry that affects everyone on the planet. Everyone has to eat. Today, agriculture across the world is shaped by many forces, from technological advances and government programs to environmental concerns and the local food movement. Click on the interactive map above to learn more about agriculture in 20 countries across the world.

Sources:

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, U.S. Library of Congress country studies, WKU agriculture economics professor Stephen King, WKU agriculture professor David Coffey, country agriculture organization websites, other research

Barbara Banton, a long-time resident of Bowling Green, Ky., lost her job when she had a stroke at work. Recovering from the traumatic event was especially hard for Banton because she is a diabetic.

Banton needed healthy food to recover, but she could barely afford to eat at all.

For a few weeks she went hungry, eating only when it was essential. Frustrated and ready to give up, she finally learned about food pantries in the area and found help at Hotel, Inc., a Christian care network in Bowling Green.

“Asking for help was one of the hardest things I have ever done, but they taught me that it is OK to need,” said Banton, who recovered from her stroke and now volunteers at the food pantry. “I would probably be dead if I didn’t watch I eat and make sure that I eat nutritiously.”

With more than 15 percent of the American population living below the federal poverty level, trips to the grocery store to load up on fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats, and other healthy items can take a back seat to paying for rent, utilities, medical bills and other basic expenses.

C. Fryer/Farm to Fork - Barbara Banton sorts through donated items at Hotel, Inc.

The recent recession has worsened America’s hunger problems. In 2008, more than 17 million households were considered “food insecure” – having uncertain access to nutritionally adequate food – a 36 percent increase over the previous year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture data. That same year, more than 4.8 million households visited a food pantry at least once for help with hunger problems, according to Feeding America, the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity, based in Washington, D.C.

Nearly 98 percent of the population who are classified as “food insecure” said that they  constantly worried that their food supply would run out before getting money to purchase more food. About 94 percent reported that their food choices did not reflect health and the need for balanced meals.

Feeding hungry people not just any food, but healthy food, is a priority. Among the food pantries surveyed in the 2010 “Feeding America” national report, 43.0 percent said that their most needed service was nutrition education to ensure that clients know about the importance of healthy food.

The Congressional Hunger Center, led by executive director Ed Cooney, is an organization that advocates public policies to provide access to nutritious, affordable and culturally appropriate food.

“Our preference is for people to have access to real food via grocery stores,” he said. “We want to get people food, especially the most healthy food.”

Cooney said that he is constantly working with legislators to ensure that new legislation is written that will care for America’s poor, trying to get them as many benefits as possible and extensions to the food stamps program.

Cooney worked on with legislators on the Stimulus Law of 2009, which gave food banks a $100 million windfall of food that was added to their rations. The money was divided between poultry, canned fruit, cheese, peanut products, and pork and given to nationally funded food banks across America.

This expenditure helped many Americans get the food they needed, but in a city like Bowling Green, Ky., where none of the food pantries receive any federal funding, residents  are forced to find food at donation-driven food banks.

C.Fryer/Farm to Fork: Cans wait to be sorted into the appropriate distribution bags at Hotel, Inc

Hotel, Inc. houses The Manna Mart, a food pantry that serves dozens of people each week.

On a recent day, Banton sorted through donated baked goods from Panera Bread that will be given to all clients.

“Hotel, Inc. makes everyone feel comfortable, no matter how bad your situation is,” she said.

Manna Mart relies on its core of volunteers to ensure that food packages are prepared and ready to be distributed in pre-prepared bags, following a model that has been approved for its health factor.

Volunteer Stephanie Robbins said new clients go through a consultation with the receptionist to determine their need. After presenting a past pay stub, to show that they worked at some point, a valid Social Security card, and a current I.D., they are approved for food for three days. All of the food available for clients is canned or boxed.

“We try to give them, in our limited scope, a nutritious meal with protein, meat, vegetables, fruit and a dessert,” Robbins said. “If somebody is in need of food, they can come and get three days worth of food at a time.”

Due to a lack of recourses, Hotel. Inc., discourages continuous repeat visits.

“We recommend other food banks around the city and government programs,” Robbins said.

Erika Lindsey, an 18-year-old high school senior from Bowling Green, Ky. separated from her mother in the last month and is now trying to survive on her

C. Fryer/Farm to Fork: The stock room at Hotel. Inc.

own.

“I’m living with my friend and this is my only option for food right now,” she said as she picked up her food bag, which contained canned vegetables, canned meat, juice, and a boxed meal.

Lindsey said that she knows about the importance of fresh fruits and vegetables, but all she had to survive on was coming from the Manna Mart

“You’ve gotta do what you gotta do, and if you don’t have nutritious food, you don’t have it,” she said.

Over the next few months, Lindsey said that her budget will be tightening even more. Her friend and roommate must undergo surgery and the impending bills will undermine the money set aside for food.

“I’ll definitely be back here for more help with my food needs,” she said.

All items at Manna Mart are donated. “We rely solely on generous donators,” Robbins said.

C. Fryer/Farm to Fork: Volunteer John Baize separates donated items at Hotel, Inc.

Volunteer John Baize sorted through hundreds of new cans that had to be labeled and divided among the food bags. “We just got a massive donation from Western Kentucky University that will hopefully tide us over for a while,” he said.

The South Central Kentucky chapter of the American Red Cross in Bowling Green, Ky. is one of the only Red Cross chapters that sponsors a food bank. However, Jennifer Capps, the executive director, said that there is no direct funding for the pantry and that they often run out of food and have to turn people away.

Capps said that the application process from the Red Cross food pantry is very similar to the process at the Manna Mart.

“We generally give out more easy items,” Capps said. “canned goods, meats, baking mix, soups.”

Capps said that new clients occasionally arrive at the pantry, but normally the same individuals appear at the door.

“We try to serve everybody, but resources are so tight that we are only available to help a family once every two months and are only open two days a week for two hours at a time,” Capps said. The pantry is open on Mondays and Wednesdays from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Similarly to The Manna Mart, all items at the Red Cross food pantry are donated.

Different from a traditional food pantry, Angel Food Ministries, a national organization based in Good Hope, Ga., offers a way for families with a small amount of money to get a large amount of food.

“We help people eat for less, ” said Juda Engelmayer, chief spokesperson for Angel Food Ministries.

Angel Food Ministries charges people only $35 to get $65 worth of healthy food. Customers can fill out a form or order online and then pick up the food a local host site.

The food comes from national vendors such as Perdue and Tyson at bulk rates.

“We buy $14 million worth of food at a time,” Engelmayer said, “and by picking up the food ourselves, packing it ourselves, and distributing it ourselves, we are able to cut out almost all of the middle-man fees.”

“All of our food is fresh,” he said. “We want our clients to have the best food available to them.”

Angel Food Ministries does not have an income requirement, meaning that it is a useful tool for those with low incomes and those who are simply searching for a bargain.

“We don’t make people submit income documentation because we do not want to make them inferior to others,” Engelmayer said.

The logo for the national organization, Angel Food Ministries

Patrons choose items from a monthly menu and wait for the food to arrive for pickup in their town. In Bowling Green, there are multiple locations where people can pick up their shipment. Bonnie Sherwood is the site director for the Bowling Green area. She oversees deliveries and works with the clients.

Sherwood emphasized that this program was a way to eat healthily for much less than traditional grocery shopping methods.

“About ¾ of the food is flash frozen – fresh fruits, vegetables, and meats. The other fourth is made up of fresh eggs, milk, and juice,” she said.

The program offers special boxes for seniors that are low on sodium and sugar, allergen free boxes, boxes geared towards grilling, and boxes designed to appeal to children.

Sherwood said that although the majority of clients do not have adequate financial means, they deserve to have a wide variety of healthy food available to them.

“It’s hard to eat when you are in so much need,” Sherwood said. “Most of our clients are without a job and in need of as much help as they can get.”

Farmer Suicides India from Fleischaker-Greene Scholars on Vimeo.

ADILABAD, INDIA –Bojanna came home one day after farming his 10-acre field of cotton, had chai on the front step of his two-room house, and drank a bottle of the pesticide that failed to save his crops, throwing the bottle against the house. “ ‘It’s burning inside, burning inside,’” his wife, Rajamma Mani Elishetti, recalled him saying. Neighbors tried to revive him, feeding him curd, salt and water. He was dead in five minutes.

A month later, Rajamma sat with women from her village, her two sons standing behind her. Her tears watered the parched red dirt floors of her house. “I have no idea what we will do,” she sobbed in Telegu. Her husband’s death had left her and her two sons with a crippling debt.

Rajamma Mani Elishetti and her two sons, ages 17 and 8, pictured in their home in the Adilabad District of India. The family took out a loan to build the house and were unable to repay money lenders. Their cotton fields failed to yield and Rajamma's husband, their father, committed suicide. (Colleen Stewart/Farm to Fork)

In the past decade 180,000 have committed suicide in India, many in the cotton industry according to the Ministry of Home Affair’s National Crime Records Bureau. Since hybrid seed technology, industrial machinery and chemical fertilizers and pesticides were introduced in India, farmers have been taking loans from private lenders and putting faith in their fields. With nothing to fall back on, they are one failed season away from incurring perilous debt. In so many cases, the farmers who are feeding and clothing the world, are barely able to feed and clothe themselves.Woven into cheap t-shirts, sold around the world, is the plight of these struggling farmers.

COTTON
Bodike Devbai said her son, a cotton farmer, was supposed to take care of her in old age. Now, with whitening hair, she lives with a family in her village, no kin still alive. Her son hung himself from a tree. “He selfishly spoiled everything,” she wailed.

Bodike Devbai laments over her son, a cotton farmer in Adilabad who hanged himself from a tree. (Colleen Stewart/Farm to Fork)

The narrow dirt roads of the Adilabad district are strewn with cotton, trodden by ox-pulled cotton carts, rickshaws and trucks, beds brimming with the plush white bolls. The district is the fifth largest in the state of Andhra Pradesh and 73 percent of its population is dependent on agriculture.

Cotton is planted in twenty-seven percent of the district, making up sixteen percent of cotton planted in the entire state.  However, the yields are not in accordance with the amount of cotton planted.  The district produces only about 5 percent of the state’s total cotton, meaning more than half of the cotton fields fail, according to statistics from The government of Andhra Pradesh Adilabad District site.

The rate of suicides is still increasing, according to Dr. G.V. Ramanjaneyulu at the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture in Hyderabad, an organization that works with small and marginal farmers in India to provide sustainable technologies. In three days there were 17 suicides in the Hyderabad District, which includes the Adilabad district. Sixty-eight deaths were reported from July to November, he said.

“Every half an hour there is a death happening.” -Ramanjaneyulu

A cotton ginnery in the Adilabad District. Workers gather the cotton bolls and put them though the mechanic gin.

Mountains of cotton amass in 20-foot mounds outside of a cotton processing plant in the Adilabad District. Men, women and children collect cotton from the loud-clanking gins, emitting cloudy debris into the air. Cotton remnants collect between their toes, on men’s beards, on dresses and slacks.

Muhammed Wahuddeen is a “fitter” at the factory, fixing the cotton ginning machinery. Cotton seed is made into fodder for animals, and oil, while the bolls are exported to be turned into fabric. The cotton comes from local villages, The cotton comes from local villages, 165,000- 175,000 pounds each year. “It is a profitable business,” he said. While factory jobs are somewhat secure, farming is entirely subjective to the success of crops. Since high-yield seed technology was introduced in the 60s, more cotton crops have been failing in southern India.

An auto rickshaw in the Adilabad District carrying from a field to a factory. Traffic in the district consists, almost entirely, of cotton carrying vehicles. (Colleen Stewart/Farm to Fork)

GREEN REVOLUTION

In the early 60s, former Indian prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri called upon India’s population of 480 million to skip a meal a week in order to alleviate food crisis in the nation. In the late sixties, India was transformed by the Green Revolution, focusing on the role of technology in agricultural as a means to support their growing population They imported specialized seed hybrids and high-yield varieties for various crops in the country.

Agricultural growth, measured as the annual rate of growth in net domestic product, increased from 1.9 percent annually before the Green Revolution period to 2.3 percent during the first phase of the Green Revolution and accelerated further to 3.1 percent during the second phase of the Green Revolution according to statistics from the government of India.

Women and children pick cotton bolls in the fields of a successful cotton field in Adilabad. (Colleen Stewart/Farm to Fork)

The Green Revolution enabled India to become self-sufficient in agriculture, ensuring a basic level of food security through adoption of new technologies such as plant breeding, irrigation development and financing of agrochemicals were encouraged.

“The Green Revolution has been one of the greatest technology models of anywhere in the world,” said N.H. Rao, joint director of the National Academy for Agricultural Research Management in Hyderabad, India.  “Before it, we were importing shiploads of food from the U.S,” Rao said. “What is fascinating about the Green Revolution is the whole transformation took place in a period of three to five years.”

Scientist Norman Borlaug, known as the “father of the Green Revolution,” developed the high-yield, disease-resistant seed varieties, heavily distributed in Mexico, Pakistan, and India. C. Subramaniam, the Indian Minister of Agriculture, sanctioned the import of 23,000 tons of these seeds for distribution in the 1965-66 crop season.

“The Green revolution changed our destiny. Everything at that time revolved around that seed,” said P.K. Joshi, Director, National Centre for Agricultural Economics and Policy Research.
While some people perceive the Green Revolution as a positive progression, others see it as the initial exploitation of farmers and the land. The Indian government initiated the Green Revolution as a package, including new high-yield seeds, irrigation facilities, subsidized provision of water, power and fertilizers and support prices in the final market, said Ramanjaneyulu, a critic of the movement.

“During the Green Revolution, the government chose the best soils and provided the best public support.  But the government has withdrawn that support,” Ramanjaneyulu said. “Today, everything has to be dependent on the farmer’s pockets.”

BT COTTON
Most farmer suicides have happened in the cotton industry, according to Rao.  “Cotton is a risky crop, but it is a profitable crop,” he said. “If there is a drought or pest attack, the farmer is likely to suffer.”

In 1989, American scientists developed the Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) cotton seed, a genetically modified seed designed to grow cotton that resists the bollworm. Monsanto, one of the world’s largest producers of genetically modified or transgenic seeds, holds the patent on Bt cotton seeds.

After being accused of contributing to the farmer suicide trend Monsanto released a public statement in 2008 stating: “Farmers are Monsanto’s customers, and we are successful only if our customers are successful. Farmers in India have found success with Bollgard. We have many repeat customers and many new ones there every year.”

Bojanna’s ten acres of cotton were Bt. His land was void of irrigation. The soil was veined with cracks, evidence of drought. “The average land holding in India is very small.” Ramanjaneyulu said. What can be done on your small farms with your own resources, is not encouraged. We are bringing in technology that does not fit our economy.”

Bojanna's failed 10-acre field of cotton in Adilabad. (Colleen Stewart/Farm to Fork)

Stalks of cotton were stunted, dark and wilting. India plants more cotton than any other country, claiming 30 percent of the world’s cotton acreage in 2008-09, compared with 20.5% for China and 9.9% for the United States,  according to the International Cotton Advisory Committee. Yet India’s cotton yield falls short, producing 17.8 million bales to China’s 33.5, grown from, according to United States Department of Agriculture. India is planting more cotton than the rest of the world but still yielding less than China.

Nearly all of India’s rainfall comes from the yearly monsoon, subjecting crops to weather variations. Bt cotton grows better in irrigated areas than it does in rain-fed areas, but only a small percent of India’s cotton crops are irrigated according to a report done by The International Food Policy Research Institute. The dry year of 2008-2009 contributed to the first decline in yield since GMO seeds were introduced.

“Agriculture is still dependent on monsoon weather. Weather is good – good harvest. So one crop failure means two or three seasons are gone for the family if they borrowed money from the bank,” said Joshi.

Ironically, the recent surge of farmer suicides comes at a time when India is the second largest producer of cotton in the world. The spike in yield was seen after the commercial planting of genetically modified seed was first permitted in 2002. Since then, use of GM seeds has expanded to cover nearly 80 percent of India’s cotton acreage, according to a 2009 report by Indian Directorate of Cotton Development.

But Bt is not an infallible technology as some farmers expect it to be. Many farmers are not educated on which seeds to buy and how to tend to them, Rao said.

Extension centers run by the local government have not been able to provide farmers with adequate information and training regarding growing new varieties of cotton. In turn, many farmers rely on information given by private seed companies. “Many private companies took advantage of farmers,” said Joshi.

LOANS AND DEBT
Bojanna, Rajamma Elishetti and their two sons, ages 8 and 17, incurred 400,000 rupees, about 8,000 U.S. dollars, of debt, an incomprehensible amount of money for a poor Indian family.
They moved to Adilabad 16 years ago and began farming on 10 acres of leased land. Bojanna farmed for six years before deciding to seek work in the middle eastern nation of Dubai as a laborer. After four years he returned to Adilabad to try his hand at farming again, investing in 15 bags of Bt cotton seed at 750 rupees each. Besides that, he spent about 8,000 rupees per acre on fertilizer, pesticide and labor charges. At the market, Bojanna made only 2,800 rupees per acre (62 U.S. dollars), acquiring 5,200 rupees (115 U.S. dollars) of debt per acre. In order to afford these costs, he took loans from a private lender in town at %3 interest rate per month, %36 annually.

His crops did poorly each year and the family sunk deeper in debt.  “We were more in debt every year,” said Rajamma. “This year he was hopeful to get 12 quintals, 2,645 pounds, of cotton per acre, but he only ended up getting one,” she said.

Many farmers are willing to take the financial risk of investing in cotton, because the payoff of a perfect crop would be extremely lucrative. But cotton crops fail so often, especially in Adilabad. “The return from cotton is much higher than any other crop,” said Rao. “Farmers are willing to take that risk. And many have taken that risk. Some were not so lucky.”

On top of the debt acquired from farming costs, Bojanna and Rajamma took out 250,000 rupees (about 5,500 U.S. dollars) to build a house, expecting to get reimbursed through a government program that pays back farmers up to 100,000 rupees (about 2,200 U.S. dollars) to build a house. The grant was never sanctioned and their debt increased even more. “Even now that he is dead, I still have the debt,” Rajamma said. “I have no idea what we will do. There should be support from the government to get out of such situations,” she said.

Rajamma works in a beedi cigarette factory and helps her sons harvest the final four acres of emaciated cotton.

Access to government credit has become more difficult in India. The rural credit system is facing financial trouble, leading state banks to tighten lending requirements. Many farmers, like Bojanna, then resort to informal sources of credit- private money lenders, friends and relatives.

“Farming is not viable on its own. To keep industry happy you are keeping prices low. When you are keeping the prices artificially lower, you need to support people who are depending on farming. Today, that is not happening in India,” Ramanjaneyulu said. “Once you get into it, you have no option to get out.”

Rajamma Mani Elishetti and her two sons standing outside of their house. (Colleen Stewart/Farm to Fork)

American Farmland: A Disappearing Resource. from Jacob Hill on Vimeo.

By Jacob Hill/Farm to Fork

“I’d rather see corn growing than houses,” said Bowling Green farmer Frank Stagner when asked for his opinion on the housing developments surrounding his property.  Stagner, 81, has been farming in the area for the majority of his life.

In the last two decades, the area has seen multiple developments bumping up against his property. The increased traffic on the smaller roads has made it difficult for Stagner to get out to town during the morning rush. Instead of the rural countryside he grew up in, he now sees rows and rows of housing.

Stagner’s situation is not unique. The amount agricultural land in America has been steadily decreasing during the last half of the 20th century. According to the United States Department of Agriculture’s Census of Agriculture, in the last 30 years alone the country has lost more than 92 million acres of farmland. Housing is part of the problem. According to the American Farmland Trust, an advocacy group for farmland conservation, based in Washington D.C., the average acreage per person for new housing almost doubled over the past 20 years, with 55% of developed land since 1994 consisting of housing plots of more than 10 acres.

Western Kentucky University Professor Stephen King, who specializes in agriculture economics, said that the loss of farmland follows a cycle. As cities grow, the price of land around the urban area increases, until eventually it becomes in the farmer’s best financial interest to sell the farmland. Then, the farmer must either move further away from the city to start the process again or pull out of the business entirely.

This process seems to be reversing itself in the now all-but-defunct rust belt cities who now find their industrial engines grinding to a halt. City Officials in Detroit have put forward a plan to turn much of the empty city into reclaimed farmland.

According to an article in the Detroit Free Press, Detroit Mayor Dave Bing has pledged to demolish 3000 homes by the end of the year and 10,000 by the end of his term in 2013. This demolition, along with relocating isolated families, is intended to centralize the resources of the city.

A city built to support nearly 2 million residents is now home to around 800,000, according to the article.

Not all of the reduced farmland is due to increased development. Much of it is simply due to better technology and more efficient methods. There are fewer farmers and larger farms, which leads to cheaper labor costs and more profit. According to King, the process of consolidation of farmland has been going on for much of the 20th century. He illustrated the point using an example of four neighboring farms, each with a manager being paid $60,000 a year. If one farmer buys all four farms he can hire a single manager to run the now consolidated farm and pay that one manager $80,000 a year, resulting in a higher profit margin.

Doug Frint, a real estate agent based in Bowling Green, says that much of the problem is increased land costs. The majority of his work is with farmland. Frint grows a small crop of blueberries on his own property, saying that modern farming is hard to do without a large amount of land and capital, so many are turning to specialty crops for profit.

An avid sportsman, Frint finds that many of his clients are seeking land for hunting and fishing. People seeking land for outdoor pursuits are another factor in raising the cost of rural land.

Whether through consolidation or being overrun by development, the trend of disappearing farmland will probably continue.

A student comes through the lunch line March 4 at Dishman-McGinnis Elementary School in Bowling Green, Ky. About 290 lunches are served at Dishman-McGinnis each day, some of the 30.5 million school lunches served nation wide each day. (Sam Oldenburg/Farm to Fork)

By Sam Oldenburg/Farm to Fork

Cheetos and ginger ale were not what Colorado schoolteacher Mendy Heaps thought her students should be eating for lunch, so she started selling fresh fruit out of an overhead projector cart. Kids, parents and teachers loved it, but the principal put a stop to it.

Principal Robert McMullen told Heaps that her fruit cart had become disruptive to the operations of the school’s food services and asked her to stop the fruit cart and focus her energy on teaching language arts.  While Heaps ended the fruit cart operation, she hasn’t dropped the cause.

“We have to teach these kids to value their health and take care of it,” said Heaps.

Heaps isn’t alone in her fight to revamp school lunches.  Across the country, activists are speaking out about school lunches as Congress considers updating the National School Lunch Program.  TV viewers watched Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution on ABC take on school lunches in Huntington, W.Va. Retired military officers argue that school lunches are making young Americans too obese to fight.  First lady Michelle Obama has pointed to changes in school lunches as a part of combating childhood obesity.

From Kentucky to Colorado to California and elsewhere, schools are making changes in the nutrition of school lunches.  Now, it’s up to Congress to decide how change will be implemented on the national level.

In the Boulder Valley School District in Boulder, Colo., change is already under way.  Where other schools might serve chicken nuggets, french fries and chocolate milk, a meal here could consist of roast chicken, roast potatoes, a salad bar, organic milk and a whole wheat roll, said Ann Cooper, the district’s director of nutrition services.

Chicken nuggets, Popsicles and trans fats don’t belong in school lunches, Cooper said.  “What of any of that is part of a healthy diet for a child?” she said.

Cost is the other difference.  The food in a typical meal elsewhere costs less than $1, while the food in a meal in the Boulder Valley school district costs about $1.20, Cooper said.

Increasing participation in school meals is the key to covering that price gap, she said.  Cooking in larger quantities enables the district to produce more food without increasing the labor hours of food service workers.  While she was working in schools in Berkeley, Calif., participation tripled in four years.  She does this through things such as the Iron Chef competition held in the school district April 14.

Cooper and her staff have started thelunchbox.org, a tool to help other school districts initiate change. The site offers healthy recipes along with case studies to help other districts implement programs similar to Cooper’s.

Parents agree that change must come to school lunches; 63 percent of parents of school-age children described the nutritional quality of local school food as “poor” or “only fair” in a national survey conducted by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

Dayle Hayes, a registered dietitian and consultant based in Billings, Mont., is also speaking out about school lunches, but she emphasizes the positive.  Hayes, who has consulted with education departments in several states, has started a “school meals that rock” initiative. The project’s Facebook page describes it as “a counter-revolution to the media bashing of school meals and a tribute to every lunch lady (and gentleman) working to do amazing things for kids’ nutrition.”

A desire for culinary perfection has overtaken the reality that many of these children are hungry, Hayes said.  “People have all sorts of expectations for school meals.  They want them to be fresh, local, organic – yet schools don’t have the funding to be able to do that.” she said, “I think one of the really key issues here is that school lunches matter most to those who have the least.”

Such is the case at Dishman-McGinnis Elementary School in Bowling Green, Ky., where 95 percent of the school’s approximately 290 students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, Bowling Green city schools food service coordinator Kim Simpson said. Students whose families have an annual income at 130 percent of the poverty level or less, for example $27,560 for a family of four, qualify for free meals, while children in families with an annual income between 130 percent and 185 percent of the poverty level, between $27,560 and $39,220 for a family of four, qualify for reduced-price meals.

Melinda Shoemake counts out chicken nuggets before baking them for lunch March 4 at Dishman-McGinnis Elementary School in Bowling Green, Ky. (Sam Oldenburg/Farm to Fork)

A full-price lunch in Bowling Green schools costs $2. Students pay 40 cents for a reduced-price lunch.  The school is reimbursed $2.65 for each free lunch served; $2.28 for each reduced-price lunch served; and 25 cents for each full-price lunch served through the United States Department of Agriculture’s National School Lunch Program.

The cost of food makes up about 46 percent of the total cost of producing a school lunch while labor costs account for slightly less than 45 percent of the expenses, according to a 2008 cost study conducted by the USDA.

At Dishman-McGinnis, not much goes uneaten.  “The kids truly are hungry,” Simpson said.

A buzz of conversation fills the gym during lunch as kids sit side by side on benches attached to the lunch tables.

“Here we go, sweeties,” cafeteria manager Karen Huffman says to kindergarteners as she ushers them through the lunch line.

“At home I really don’t eat a lot,” fifth-grader Rashad Durden said. “At lunchtime, I eat a lot.”

One thing that did go to waste was second-grader Conner Trowbridge’s slice of pizza.  “I’m tired of eating pizzas,” he said with a sigh. “I have to eat pizza every day at home, and now –  pizza.” He said his parents buy a lot of pizzas.

“My favorite food at home is cereal and Pop-Tarts,” he said. “My favorite food here is carrots.”

Fresh fruits and vegetables have become a major focus for the school district.  A “garden patch” area has been created in each school’s cafeteria line to provide these items.  “We let the kids get as much as they want from the garden patch,” Simpson said. “They can make a salad if they want… or they could just pick and choose vegetables and fruits.”

When the garden patch was started in 2006, students began to experience foods they had never seen before, Simpson said.  “We’ve had kids say they love the little orange things; they’ve never had a carrot before – a little carrot.”

One of the favorite fruits among students is the ugli fruit, a type of tangelo from Jamaica.  “They’re just like oranges, but they’re more better,” fourth-grader Sebastian Salkic said.

Not every student was ready to give a thumbs-up to the school’s lunches, however.  “Sometimes they’re nasty; sometimes it ain’t,” fifth-grader Whitney Miller said.  When asked if there was anything she liked about the school lunches, she shook her head no.

Not having dessert every day is the one thing fifth-grader Olivia Humbles said she doesn’t like about school lunches.

“When we do have it, it is good,” her classmate Tysheona Shannon said.

The variety of fruits also appeals to Shannon.  “I like pineapples, bananas and strawberries,” she said. “We don’t really get pineapples at home.”

Cafeteria manager Karen Huffman talks with Mary Cox Anthony and Melinda Shoemake while preparing lunch March 4 at Dishman-McGinnis Elementary School in Bowling Green, Ky. (Sam Oldenburg/Farm to Fork)

That emphasis on quality foods has become a trend statewide, said Denise Hagan, Kentucky’s division director for nutrition and health services.  “There are just so many low-income students, and we realize that because we are such a rural state many kids aren’t going to have access to quality foods,” she said.

As a part of pursuing quality lunches, Hagan has encouraged schools to take part in the HealthierUS School Challenge started in 2004 by the USDA.  The program recognizes schools that promote nutrition and physical activity.  Of the 667 schools recognized nationwide by the program, 195 are in Kentucky, Hagan said.

Hagan’s office gives schools specific suggestions that can reduce the amount of unsaturated fat and sodium in lunches, such as serving only low-fat milk, more produce and fewer pre-processed items.

Being recognized as a HealthierUS school takes collaboration.  “There has to be a buy-in at the district level,” Hagan said.

Obtaining that buy-in became easier this year, when it was announced that school districts will receive a monetary incentive from the USDA to meet the challenge.  The money can range from $500 to $2,000, depending on how well the school district matches the goals of the challenge.

Money is a major factor in national reform. The reimbursement rate for school lunches hasn’t increased beyond the rate of inflation in recent history.

Proposed legislation would change that. The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, which passed through the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry unanimously March 24, reauthorizes childhood nutrition programs, which must be done every five years, with $4.5 billion in new funding over 10 years, according to a press release from committee chair Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark.

Some of the money would increase the federal reimbursement rate for school lunches six cents per meal, according to a summary of the bill.

Back in Colorado, Cooper says that isn’t enough. “What is six cents going to do?” she asked. “If that’s all our country thinks it can do to help our children, I don’t know what to say.”

Cooper said reimbursement rates should increase by a dollar.

The bill also places restrictions on vending machines, provides $40 million to help schools buy locally produced foods, gives the Secretary of Agriculture the ability to establish national nutrition standards and allows schools in high-poverty areas to qualify students for free lunch without collecting paperwork.

Some states already monitor food sold outside the main lunch line. Kentucky, for example, was one of the first states to impose strict standards for competitive foods.  Vending machines must be turned off until half an hour after the last lunch is served, Hagan said.

Ironically, competitive food laws are what upset Heaps’ apple cart. After about three years of sales, one day the cart ended up in the school’s cafeteria.  That’s when McMullen told Heaps to cease the fruit cart sales.  Regulations in Colorado prohibit food sales at schools that compete with school lunch programs.

The school cafeteria offers a main meal line but also has a grab and go line, which is where students could buy things like Cheetos and ginger ale.  “Why don’t we only have healthy choices for them? Instead of choosing between a chocolate chip muffin and an orange, why not choose between a banana and an orange?” said Heaps, who now worries about the security of her job.

Since then, those items have been removed from the grab and go line and only healthy choices are offered, McMullen said.

Salads and fruit are now available in every cafeteria, according to a press release from the district’s food service program.

McMullen declined comment on the fruit cart issue, saying that it is a private personnel matter.

Á la carte lines like that in Elizabeth Middle School have become a part of the economics of school lunch programs across the country.  The cost of producing a reimbursable meal- the main meal choice in cafeterias- is 15 percent above the reimbursement rate.  Adding in non-reimbursable items like those in the à la carte lines brings school nutrition programs to the break even point, according to a 2008 cost study conducted by the USDA.

A lunch can’t be prepared at the current reimbursement rate, Hagan said.  She suggested that if the reimbursement rate goes up to $3, then districts would be losing only pennies.

With more than 5 billion school lunches served every year, those pennies add up.  President Barack Obama’s budget proposal included more than twice as much in additional funding for school lunches than what is included in Lincoln’s bill.  Obama proposed an additional $10 billion for school lunches over the next 10 years – $1 billion per year.  Quick calculations show that even that would have come out to less than 20 cents more per meal – less than most advocates desire.

Hayes believes that at least as much as Obama proposed is needed to improve school lunches. “They are essentially fueling education,” Hayes said.

Cooper agrees that more must be done than Lincoln’s bill proposes.  “This is the social equity issue of our time,” she said, citing predictions that most kids will have diabetes before entering high school and will die younger than their parents.  “What is it we don’t get about having to fix this?”

In recent years, farmers have been seeking ever more ways to increase income to their farms. Farmers who used to “just farm” now process, distribute and sell goods and hold tourist events at their establishments.

According to Carl Chaney, owner of Chaney’s Dairy Barn in Bowling Green, Ky., it’s becoming harder and harder for small-time farmers to compete with big industry farming. The only way to survive is by providing a new product rather than raw produce.

The family’s ice cream shop, which opened in 2003, is what’s keeping the farm alive, Chaney said. Last year, the shop made four times as much income as the milk from the farm’s dairy cows.

Farmers have always made some efforts to add value to their products, but now the incentive to do so is increasing. “The marketplace is so competitive that I think that farmers need to do it every chance they get,” said Mac Stone, executive director of ag marketing for the Kentucky Department of Agriculture. “They need to look at all the different steps of adding value and capture all of them they can for that very reason.”

The Kentucky Department of Agriculture offers several programs to help farmers add value. He said the state’s first and foremost attempt is the Kentucky Proud Program, which he described as a dating service between Kentucky products and retailers, restaurants, and wholesalers. The program gives marketing assistance by assessing products to see if they can fit a niche in the market. Chaney’s Dairy Barn is part of Kentucky Proud.

In addition, Kentucky’s Agriculture Development Board divvies tobacco settlement funds on the county level to help tobacco farmers find new products and new ways to add value to Kentucky farms as the tobacco industry declines.

Nationally, the USDA’s Value-Added Producer Grant Program provided American producers in 2009 with $18 million to help them enter into value-added activities. Tracey Kennedy, the program manager for the USDA Rural Development Programs, explained that adding value to farms adds stability because raw commodity markets are very volatile, especially from competitive pressures from international markets.

“It’s to everyone’s benefit to have a strong and stable agricultural sector. This is one way we can do that,” said Kennedy, who is based in Washington D.C. “Also it’s difficult for producers or any small business these days to find capital from commercial sources that are willing to help them take that next step on a good idea.”

John Sharpe, one of the founders of Grasshoppers Distribution, a farmer-owned local food distribution service based in Louisville, said his company received a USDA start-up grant. Now in its third year, the distribution service has grown from 54 subscriptions to a goal of 804 subscriptions this year.

According to the USDA 2007 Census of Agriculture and American Farm Bureau, the average size of an American farm has increased from 157 acres in 1930 to 418 acres in 2007, while the overall number of farm operators has been decreasing since World War II.

In the following videos, three different producers explain their attempts to add value and sustain themselves in a challenging industry.

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Carl Chaney of Chaney’s Dairy Barn

In an attempt to sustain themselves in the declining dairy industry, the Chaney family opened up an ice cream shop in 2003 in Bowling Green, Ky. According to owner, Carl Chaney, after seven years of dedication and expansion, Chaney’s Dairy Barn is what’s keeping the farm alive. Last year, the shop made four times as much as the farm’s milk. The Chaney family is not only selling ice cream, they’re holding events, giving tours, educating students on agriculture, and continually looking for avenues to add value. Chaney’s next big project is in conjunction with Houchens Industries to process the farm’s milk in Russellville and then sell it at 12 local Houchens stores processed instead of selling the raw product. Carl Chaney goes into detail about the establishment of the store and the need to add value nowadays in the following video.

Chaney’s Dairy Barn – Carl Chaney from Fleischaker-Greene Scholars on Vimeo.

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Dr. David Hall of Black Oak Vineyard

As a cardiologist and viticulturist, Dr. David Hall is well-diversified. Hall and his wife, Dr. Jenny Franke, are the owners of Black Oak Vineyard in Princeton, Kentucky. Dr. Hall still practices cardiology even though his vineyard was established in 2002. He has been dedicating more time to his vineyard, which provides the outdoor atmosphere that he’s been missing working in a laboratory. Only one year old, the vineyard’s wines are already award-winning. Black Oak Vineyard’s Chambourcin won Concordance Gold at the Wines of The South Competition, and its Chardonel received a silver award at an international contest, the 2010 Finger Lakes International Wine Competition. In the following video, Dr. Hall delves into how the vineyard was started and his family’s endeavors to increase value to their company.

Black Oak Vineyard – Dr. David Hall from Fleischaker-Greene Scholars on Vimeo.

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John Sharpe of Grasshoppers Distribution

Grasshoppers Distribution bills itself as the first farmer-owned local food distribution service in Kentucky. Based out of Louisville, the company’s aim is to provide local food to Kentuckians directly from local producers, all of whom collectively work towards promoting and selling Grasshoppers’ products. Funds received from USDA’s Value-Added Producer Grant Program allowed for Grasshoppers to open for business in May 2007.

With the decline of the tobacco industry, tobacco farmer John Sharpe had to find another avenue to make a living. He became one of the founders of the business and, now, he farms produce, beef, and pork for Grasshoppers Distribution. In the following video, John Sharpe explains the workings of the company and his reasons for adding value.

Grasshoppers Distribution – John Sharpe from Fleischaker-Greene Scholars on Vimeo.

Since 1934, the Fourqurean family has called the same 350 acres of farmland home.

Five generations of Fourqureans have lived and worked on Circle F Farms in Gracey, Ky., each facing their own unique trials and tribulations while raising beef cattle, show pigs and row crops.

According to the Beef Checkoff, producer-funded marketing and research program, 97 percent of beef cattle operations are considered family farms. Of those farms, 79% of have less than 50 head of cattle. Circle F Farms is one of these small farms, facing increased pressure to either get bigger or go under.

Third generation farmer John Fourqurean, his son David and grandson John David discuss the challenges they face as they fight to keep the family farm alive.

Fighting for the Family Farm from Celeste Laurent on Vimeo.