Nearly all of what Rhode Islanders eat is produced elsewhere. Should we care?

The shellfish figures presented in this report are comprehensive representations. The dominant species in the R.I. aquaculture industry continues to be the Eastern oyster, with 7,547,132 pieces sold in 2015, which is an 18 percent increase from 2013. Hard clam production was a distant second with 47,325 pieces sold. Blue mussel production increased to a harvest of 15,827 pounds. The number of farms active in Rhode Island aquaculture at the end of 2015 was 61, with cultivation of 241.38 acres. / source: 2015 Aquaculture in Rhode Island
The shellfish figures presented in this report are comprehensive representations. The dominant species in the R.I. aquaculture industry continues to be the Eastern oyster, with 7,547,132 pieces sold in 2015, which is an 18 percent increase from 2013. Hard clam production was a distant second with 47,325 pieces sold. Blue mussel production increased to a harvest of 15,827 pounds. The number of farms active in Rhode Island aquaculture at the end of 2015 was 61, with cultivation of 241.38 acres. / source: 2015 Aquaculture in Rhode Island

“Sometimes I come up here, put my feet up on the tractor, look out over the sail-boats and think to myself: ‘This is Rhode Island,’ ” said Tyler P. Young, as he gazed across the Sakonnet River toward Aquidneck Island on the last day of March.

The Little Compton farmer was giving a tour of the 300 or so acres where he grows fruits and vegetables each year. Farming is in his blood, and it’s a family affair. He and his wife, Karla, co-own Young Family Farm. He harvests potatoes with his uncle. Visible in the distance are greenhouses, owned by his cousin, where flowers are grown.

About 25 miles away, Tyler D. Demora, executive chef of Local 121 in Providence, is prepping for that night’s dinner crowd. His ingredients, including some Swiss chard to go with a flat-iron steak, are typically sourced from local farmers. He’s also trying to buy fluke from Brown Family Seafood LLC in South Kingstown.

“I’d rather get it from the [local] fishermen because I know the quality is going to be much better,” Demora explained.

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Young and Demora don’t know each other but share a passion for locally sourced food, which in the past decade has been increasingly in demand and marketed in Rhode Island.

Despite the buzz, however, only about 1 percent of the food consumed here is also produced here. And Rhode Island is not unique in its role of mass importer. For New England as a whole, the total for locally produced food is less than 10 percent, with most of the region’s produce coming from the West Coast.

A plethora of farmers, restaurants, nonprofits and regulators are advocating for a more balanced regional food system, with a larger focus given to locally produced food. But they face an uphill battle, as entrenched global food systems and a finite amount of expensive farmland work against them.

Regardless, the state has joined a regional coalition to increase the amount of locally produced food by greater than five times in the next four decades, driven by the belief that it will improve local economies, individual health, the environment and expand access to quality, nutritious food to more people.

WHAT’S LOCAL?

“It starts with the communities because they’re the buyers, but in recent years we’ve seen more receptivity [to locally sourced food] in the business community as well,” said Ken Ayars, director of agriculture at the R.I. Department of Environmental Management. “The same goals that consumers have are more and more aligning with the goals of the business community because the power of local food benefits the local economy.”

But one man’s definition of “local” may be different from another’s.

In the 2008 Farm Act, Congress defined “locally or regionally produced agriculture food product as fewer than 400 miles from its origin, or within the state in which it is produced.” In a small state like Rhode Island, then, the practical definition of local typically stretches beyond the state’s borders.

“Honestly, I do all of New England,” Demora said. “If I have to hit New York, I’ll hit New York, because to me that’s local.”

Following the 400-miles definition, food traveling here from Buffalo, N.Y., or to Washington, D.C., would still fall within the federal government’s definition of local. But for many Rhode Island restaurants and regional supermarkets, including Whole Foods Market Group Inc., local for most produce means coming from New England.

“For Rhode Island we consider local as parts of Connecticut, Massachusetts, parts of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine,” said Eliza B. Brown, executive coordinator for purchasing at Whole Foods.

Following that loose definition, it’s clear Rhode Island’s food system is not local. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates about 45 percent of all fruit and vegetable production in the United States comes from California. The second-largest producer, at about 9 percent, is Florida. The statistics are worrying to those deeply involved in the Rhode Island food industry, especially with California currently in its fifth year of severe drought.

“California, with all due respect, has its struggles and I think people sense those frailties in some ways,” Ayars said. “Just look at the water situation and it shows there’s a reason why we should be diverse and spread out our food system. That’s why people are following it closely and keeping an eye on it from a business standpoint. … Overall, I see the food system moving east.”

LIMITED LAND

If food production is moving east, however, Rhode Island and the rest of New England must figure out where to put it.

The sharp decline of New England farmland over the last 100 years tapered off in the 1970s and has held somewhat steady since at about 2 million acres – or 5 percent of the six-state region.

In Rhode Island, farmland has actually increased slightly to 69,589 acres – or 9 percent of the state – in 2012 compared with its lowest point of 49,601 acres in 1992, according to the most recent USDA Census of Agriculture, which is conducted every five years.

But the numbers are somewhat misleading, as the total acres of cropland, or land where crops grow, totals 22,593 acres – or 2.9 percent of Rhode Island.

Growth in locally sourced food “really comes down to land issues more than anything else,” said David Dadekian, founder and president of Eat Drink RI, a regional media outlet focused on the culinary industry.

Dadekian says it doesn’t help that farmland is expensive and fewer young people are getting into the trade. Indeed, the estimated average market value of farms in Rhode Island is $786,093, or $14,041 per acre, according to the USDA. The average age of farm owners is 56.7 years old, which has steadily risen from 52.4 years old in 1984.

“There needs to be people who want to farm, but people have gotten away from it,” Dadekian said.

Food Solutions New England, a regional coalition comprising philanthropic funders, nonprofits, businesses, academic groups and government agencies, including 20 organizations from Rhode Island, is advocating to move the six-state region toward consuming more of its own food.

Its goal is for New England to produce 50 percent of its own food by 2060, an initiative known colloquially as “50 by 60.” The initiative would require three times as much land – about 15 percent of the region, or 6 million acres – dedicated to producing food compared with the current 5 percent.

The likelihood of achieving such a lofty goal, however, raises eyebrows, as it would require monumental shifts in the status quo. If the region were able to get beyond a global food system that’s existed since post-WWII and address its finite space issues, the USDA predicts consumers would also have to change the way they think about food.

“Part of it requires diet-related changes,” Ayars acknowledged.

To achieve “50 by 60,” the USDA projects the region must shift its dietary habits toward eating more fruits and vegetables – and away from beef. The main issue, as described by Ayars, is that large farm animals, specifically beef cows, take up valuable farm land on two levels. First as livestock and second for the grain needed to feed them. Food Solutions estimates that if the region could allocate 4.5 million acres for production of all dairy, beef and lamb fed mostly on grass, more land could go toward the production of fruits and vegetables, moving the region closer toward its goal.

Ayars says roughly 56 percent of the region’s dairy supply already comes from New England, and there’s room for growth because the farmland in the region is conducive to the livestock.

But shifts in agriculture industries alone will not solve the regionwide puzzle. Could the sea be one answer?

SEA TO BELIEVE

It’s not called the Ocean State for nothing.

With about 400 miles of coastline, Rhode Island’s proximity to the Atlantic Ocean gives it a competitive advantage when it comes to local seafood.

“Really, the only thing we export a lot of is calamari and some other seafood,” Dadekian said. “If you go down to [southern Rhode Island] there’s a crazy amount of calamari.”

Indeed, Rhode Island is sometimes referred to as the “East Coast squid capital.” Landings in 2014 were nearly 13 million pounds, with annual ex-vessel values exceeding $18 million, according to DEM.

And it’s not just calamari. Seafood is plentiful and the species are diverse. Rhode Island hauled in 8.3 million pounds of Atlantic herring, 7.6 million pounds of little skate and 4.4 million pounds of Atlantic mackerel in 2010, according to a Cornell University study done through the Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation.

In 2015, the number of shellfish farms in Rhode Island increased from 55 to 61. And despite last year’s harsh winter, the year-over-year farm-gate value of Rhode Island shellfish grew 7 percent from 2014 to $5.6 million, according to the R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council. By comparison, the value of the shellfish industry 10 years ago fell short of $750,000. During the same 10-year period, aquaculture employment grew 200 percent to 171 people in 2015.

But seafood-industry growth doesn’t automatically translate into more locally sourced food in Rhode Island. A large portion of Rhode Island seafood is shipped to other parts of the country or overseas.

In 2011, about 86 percent of the seafood consumed in the U.S. was imported, while 63 percent of the domestically produced seafood was exported, according to Cornell. In 2008, the most recent year available, Rhode Island was the 12th-largest seafood exporter in the country with exports exceeding $30 million, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

“So how do we get people to eat more … local seafood?” Derek J. Wagner, chef and owner of Nick’s On Broadway in Providence, asked rhetorically.

Wagner is a local food-system advocate who estimates his 55-seat restaurant spent about $200,000 on local food in 2015. In the last few years, Wagner has shifted his attention to trying to crack the seafood industry, which he says doesn’t get the attention it deserves from local businesses and consumers. “People don’t consume it because it’s not in the supermarket, or it’s not the exciting thing to put on the dinner table,” he said.

An example of Rhode Island-landed fish following demand outside the state is scup, an indigenous fish known also as porgy. It accounts for about 50 percent of the national market, but the majority of it is shipped outside of Rhode Island. In 2010, 4.3 million pounds of scup was caught in Rhode Island valued at $2.8 million.

The state, however, is making a push to advocate for its seafood, most recently during the inaugural Quahog Week in March. The weeklong salute to Rhode Island’s quintessential hard-shell bivalve was the state’s attempt to help bolster its shellfish industry, which is largely thought of as a summer food despite year-round production.

“One of the things we’re really keen on is seafood,” Ayars said. “We’re fortunate that we have great capacity here. … What we haven’t done well in the past 30 to 40 years is create a local market.”

CREATING A LOCAL MARKET

With only 1 percent of the food consumed here being produced in the state, getting anywhere near “50 by 60” will clearly be a daunting task for Rhode Island advocates.

But Wagner argues that even being able to measure the 1 percent seemed close to impossible to him five to 10 years ago.

“We’re talking about moving mountains here,” he said. “Knowing it’s not going to change overnight is important, but every 2 to 3 percentage points we can [grow], that’s a major win for everyone involved.”

In looking at the economic impact his restaurant has had on the local economy, Wagner sees the potential larger organizations, such as hospitals, colleges and bigger restaurants could have if they joined the effort.

The nonprofit Farm Fresh Rhode Island is trying to bridge that gap. Its distribution program, Market Mobile, connects local producers with schools, businesses and restaurants throughout the region. The program in 2009 comprised 34 producers with $191,493 in sales and has since grown to 81 producers totaling $2.2 million in sales last year, according to the organization.

Farm Fresh keeps a running tab of participating organizations, including 72 restaurants and cafés, 46 artisan food producers, 26 caterers, 22 retailers and groceries, 17 food trucks, 10 schools and cafeterias, six personal chefs, and three inns and bed and breakfasts.

“We are lucky to live in a part of the country that is actually many steps ahead of other regions that are trying to address the issue of being dependent on global-industrial food systems both in terms of jobs and food security, and the challenge of developing local connections between family-scale farmers and eaters,” said Jesse Rye, co-executive director of Farm Fresh RI.

Farm Fresh operates eight farmers markets during the summer and two winter markets in neighborhoods throughout the state. Between Market Mobile and the farmers markets, Farm Fresh has helped increase the amount of direct sales and provide an alternative to statewide supermarkets.

But The Stop & Shop Supermarket Co., Dave’s Marketplace and Whole Foods Market Inc. are also selling locally sourced food. Stop & Shop is currently selling products directly from Young Family Farm at stores in Rhode Island. Young is working toward growing the relationship and is advocating they expand it to include more farmers.

But supermarkets, like all businesses, must be conscious of profit margins. And unlike farmers markets, which are typically seasonal, supermarket customers have grown accustomed to expecting available produce year-round, despite the cyclical harvest season in New England.

This is one of the many reasons Rhode Island needs a food system that includes California and Florida.

“It shifts by season,” Brown said, adding Whole Foods will source what’s available based on what meshes well with the store’s price points and quality standards.

Whole Foods, known for its appeal to the millennial generation, is in some ways reflective of a larger trend seen among many young consumers. Millennials tend to be more conscious about where their food comes from compared with previous generations. And it’s having a ripple effect throughout the food system.

“I’ve been at this job for 28 years and I’ve never seen so many young people interested in agriculture,” Ayars said. “The millennial generation is very interested in issues like sustainability and understanding how the food system has developed over time and it’s making an impact.”

But while millennials can play a key role over time in growing demand for locally sourced food, large-scale food buyers and sellers also will have to increase participation to make a measurable difference.

“Is it easier to buy cheaper food and make more money? Yes,” Wagner said. “But as a business now – especially – when the public at large [is] very interested in their health and supporting the right causes and the right products … I think the writing is on the wall for companies who’re still not wholly into it.

“I’m not foolish enough to think that the type of purchasing and production programs that I have [at Nick’s] would work for someone with a 100-seat restaurant … but it’s not to say it couldn’t be done; it would just need to be done differently,” he added.

Rhode Island Hospital, a Lifespan hospital, through its primary food distributer, Sysco Corp., participates in a local sourcing program, in which Sysco buys produce from within a 250-mile radius for the hospital’s customers. Rhode Island Hospital, which feeds about 5,000 people each day, previously sourced its food direct from farmers throughout Rhode Island and the region but decided to end that approach after it become too complicated to coordinate.

“And farmers markets [don’t] work for us because the whole bottom line is that we need to have consistent volume of product,” explained Katherine H. “Kitty” Pennington, RIH director of food and nutrition.

The hospital couldn’t say precisely what percentage of its produce is sourced locally, but purchasing coordinator Kate Garabedian said it requests all of its distributors to source “as much locally and regionally as possible.” Coming up with enough local produce isn’t always an easy task, especially within the cyclical harvest season.

“In serving these 5,000 people we would need 60 pounds [per day] of one vegetable in our cafeteria alone,” Garabedian said.

Daniel Van Etten, RIH executive chef, says he sees the whole industry changing compared with 10 to 15 years ago.

“Just look at the distributers having morphed into something else because that’s what the people want,” he said. “They really had no choice but to adapt to the change. These big companies are establishing connections with local businesses to promote sustainability and offer local products, so that’s the trend you’re seeing.”n

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