“Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food”

The market for local and regional foods is small but growing rapidly.¹ One reflection of that growth is that Wal-Mart, the largest food retailer in the world, announced in 2010 that it plans to double its purchases of sustainable, locally grown produce in the United States by 2015.² Wal-Mart and other food retailers are responding to consumer demand for what marketers are calling “sustainability brand” products³—a demand that stems from a backlash against mainstream agribusiness and what is seen as the relentless production of highly processed, unhealthy foods.

Many in the local and regional food movement—a “movement” is a fair characterization at this point⁴—are seeking a more direct link to the farmers who produce the food they eat. Not only Wal-Mart but USDA has picked up on this desire. In 2009, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack launched the ‘Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food’ initiative, which could be the agency’s most deliberate effort in decades to reestablish a linkage between agriculture and rural development. “Reconnecting consumers and institutions with local producers will stimulate economies in rural communities,” said Vilsack. “American people [who] are more engaged with their food supply will create new income opportunities for American agriculture.”⁵

In April 2011, Secretary Vilsack announced plans to begin sourcing more foods locally as part of a joint effort to improve the quality of school-meal programs and support economic development in rural communities.⁶ Vilsack’s focus on improving the quality of school meals advances the agenda laid out in the 2010 reauthorization of child nutrition programs, the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. This legislation governs the National School Lunch and Breakfast programs and several other programs that benefit school-age and preschool children. Passage of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act was one of the few examples of bipartisanship in the last Congress. A significant share of the credit for this achievement is due to the tireless efforts of anti-hunger and pro-nutrition groups, including Bread for the World, who worked patiently to bridge partisan differences.

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