Study: Johnson County an organic food hot spot
Johnson County officials aren't surprised that a new study has named the county an organic hot spot.
The Pennsylvania State University study released Wednesday by agricultural economist Ted Jaenicke found that organic hot spots — counties with high levels of organic agricultural activity whose neighboring counties also have high organic activity — increased median household incomes by an average of $2,000 and reduced poverty levels by an average of 1.3 percentage points.
Johnson County was one of six counties named organic hot spots in Iowa, along with Allamakee, Clayton, Dubuque, Howard and Fayette. Nationwide, 225 counties were identified as hot spots, or about 7 percent of all U.S. counties.
"People in Iowa City and Johnson County have, for a long time, demonstrated a strong interest in what they eat. So it doesn’t surprise me that that’s the outcome of this finding," Johnson County Supervisor Rod Sullivan said.
Jaenicke started researching organic because he was curious about the effect it had on local economies. The "strong and robust" effect of organic was much larger than he thought, he said.
“I’m pretty optimistic that it might provide a new way of thinking about organic agriculture,” Jaenicke said.
Sullivan said he wasn't sure incomes were necessarily rising because of organic food production, but he said growing local helps boost the economy.
"Local food is just another version of buying local, and we know that when we buy local, money recirculates in the economy and it's really good for the economy," Sullivan said.
Jaenicke tabulated the results by identifying the quantity of organic farms and economic activity in the area. He then removed other factors influencing the local economy to gauge organic's impact. He did not receive funding from the industry for his research.
While his study did not assess why organic benefited area economies, he speculated that the reasons it does include the need for more labor and use of locally sourced inputs. Organic crops also typically command a significant premium compared with traditional crops, often paying the producer several times as much.
There are positives and negatives to that, Supervisor Mike Carberry pointed out, because high prices can put organic food out of reach for low-income people.
"There’s a lot of wealthy people in the county, but there’s also a lot of hungry people, and organic and healthy food, unfortunately, is more expensive, because you’re paying the farmer directly, he’s not being subsidized," Carberry said.
Farmers markets in the area now take SNAP benefits, Carberry noted, which opens up some organic products to low-income people.
'Grow: Johnson County' plants first seeds
And, to help further increase access to healthy food, Carberry pointed to the county's promotion of Grow: Johnson County, an initiative that started this year to alleviate food insecurity in the county. The group farms 2 acres on the historic county poor farm and donates crops to hunger-relief agencies in the area.
"We’re probably a little better here at eating it than we are at growing it, simply because the cost of land can be very daunting in Johnson County, but we’re doing our best and we’re working to improve," Sullivan said.
Johnson County has also hired Shanti Sellz as a local foods coordinator to promote further such efforts, and Carberry said the county is looking to rent more land to local farmers and promote other uses of local foods.
"Some of that local food will probably be organic, because that’s what people want," Carberry said.
Laura Batcha, executive director of the Organic Trade Association, said the group was hopeful Jaenicke's data would spur policymakers, including state officials and lawmakers in Washington working on the next farm bill, to invest more in organic agriculture. She acknowledged that organic isn’t the only solution to helping area economies.
We hope policymakers “will understand the role that organic can play in a portfolio,” Batcha said. “There is a useful role for organic agriculture in rural development, but we’ve never to date yet had a real comprehensive look at (it).”
Organic food sales have risen by double digits annually as the public consumes more fruits, vegetables, pastas, dairy and meats raised and grown without synthetic pesticides, genetic modification or antibiotics, among other stringent requirements.
Last week, the trade group said sales of organic food hit a record of nearly $40 billion, up 11 percent from the previous year. Overall, all food sales rose 3 percent.
Christopher Doering contributed to this story from Washington, as part of the USA Today Network.
Reach Stephen Gruber-Miller at 319-887-5407 or sgrubermil@press-citizen.com. Follow him at @sgrubermiller.