By Tim Wall
The local foods movement is harvesting success for farmers and growing jobs for American workers.
A report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Resource Service had a bushel of good news for farmers and “locavores,” the nickname for folks who eat locally produced grub.
“The market for local food — food that is produced, processed, distributed and sold within a specific region, say a radius of several hundred miles –- is growing,” wrote USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan, commenting on the ERS report in her blog.
“Large, small and midsized farms are all tapping into it. Even better, new data suggest that these producers are employing more workers than they would be if they weren’t selling into local and regional markets,” Merrigan added.
