Introduction
Governments and economic actors are focused on throughput, without much attention to the economic qualities of the output. This can be found in GDP measures, which often don't distinguish between "good" and "bad" economic activity, those dimensions that contribute to sustainability, health and equity, and those that do not, and get in the way. Expenditures on treating preventable illness and conditions, for example, essentially show up as a positive on GDP accounts, while preventing such illnesses would barely register. Similarly, the depletion of biodiversity and natural resources, and activities that accelerate climate change appear as GDP positive. This demonstrates the perverse nature of the account.
Food system economic development often does not get its due from economic development officials.
"While impact studies vary greatly in their approach and methodology, their conclusions are almost always the same: investments in local food systems yield positive economic impacts (Conner, Knudson, Hamm, & Peterson, 2008; Gunter & Thilmany, 2012; Hughes, Brown, Miller, & McConnell, 2008; Hughes & Isengildina-Massa, 2013; Mullinix et al., 2016; Tuck, Haynes, King, & Pesch, 2010; ). Yet the magnitudes of these impacts and the methodologies used to derive them are a topic of debate. It is also not clear which types of food systems initiatives render the best returns on investment. Results can vary widely depending on the locale, the quality and quantity of the data available, the assumptions made, the different scenarios modeled, and the validity of the approach taken (Crompton, 2006)." Goldenberg, M. P., & Meter, K. (2019). Building economic multipliers, rather than measuring them: Community-minded ways to develop economic impacts. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 8(Suppl. 3), 153–164.
Good clear description of economic impact modelling in Goldberg and Meter, with limitations well described. "However refined these quantitative methodologies, and however useful I-O may prove when analyzing relatively stable larger industries and regional economies, the underlying I-O data used in the most common economic impact assessment tools are not precise enough for estimating impacts for emergent small food firms at the local level." and "Because strong linkages are essential for strong multipliers, the emphasis should be placed on building larger multipliers by nurturing the growth of dozens of independent yet interconnected small businesses owned by local residents, and to foster local purchasing of locally produced goods and services." and "In general, when a sector consists of larger firms, local multipliers (positive local economic impacts) are smaller (Swain, 1999; and personal communication, Feb. 12, 2001; Swain & Kabes, 1998). " Connectivity also reduce transaction costs.
“Safe and Just Space” or “Doughnut Economic” framework (Raworth, K. (2012). Comment A Doughnut for the Anthropocene: humanity ’ s compass in the
604 21st century. Lancet Planet Health, 1(2), e48–e49. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(17)30028-1; Raworth, 2017) an emerging area of research into meeting human needs for wellbeing with sustainable resource use (Fanning, A. L., O’Neill, D. W., & Büchs, M. (2020). Provisioning systems for a good life within planetary boundaries. Global Environmental Change, 64, 102135. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2020.102135; Dearing, J. A., Wang, R., Zhang, K., Dyke, J. G., Haberl, H., Hossain, M. S., Langdon, P. G., 459 Lenton, T. M., Raworth, K., Brown, S., Carstensen, J., Cole, M. J., Cornell, S. E., Dawson, 460 T. P., Doncaster, C. P., Eigenbrod, F., Flörke, M., Jeffers, E., Mackay, A. W., … Poppy, G. M. (2014). Safe and just operating spaces for regional social-ecological systems. Global Environmental Change, 28, 227–238. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2014.06.012). The Doughnut Economic Framework adopted by the City of Amsterdam (Charlton, E. (2020). Here’s why the world’s recovery from COVID-19 could be doughnut shaped. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/05/doughnutmodel-amsterdam-coronavirus-recovery/)
Indigenous economic strategy 2022 by 5 organizations including the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business
Regulationist theory, regulating the accumulation processes of capital
https://anserj.ca/index.php/cjnser/issue/view/36
https://journals.brandonu.ca/jrcd/article/view/2308/619
The problems of the import - export economy
Rural community challenges
the national population) (Statistics Canada, 2012a) are undergoing dramatic changes, including low rates of business creation; boom-bust natural resource cycles; out-migration; loss of agricultural land; fewer and more capital-intensive farms; the decline of domestic food production; growing concentration and consolidation in supply, processing, and food retail distribution networks; depressed farm product prices induced by global commodity pricing and trade issues; consumer demand for the cheapest food regardless of its origin or cost or conditions of production; chronic under- and unemployment nationally;"Cameron, G., & Hanavan, L. (2014).
Regional economic development theory
Local food system economic impacts and mulipliers,
Shideler, D., & Watson, P. (2019). Making change through local food production: Calculating the economic impact of your local food project. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 8(Suppl. 3), 165–177.
Miller, S. R., & Mann, J. T. (2pp020). Measuring the importance of local food in the Chicago foodshed. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 9(2), 101–122. Firm effects vs system effects. A farm may generate more revenue with direct sales (lots of literature suggests that often happens) but that doesn't mean the system effects are positive. It is important to account for the offsets because local producers are foregoing sales to conventional chains and not all conventional sales are imports.
ERL et al 2015.
Thilmany McFadden, D., Conner, D., Deller, S., Hughes, D., Meter, K., Morales, A., . . . Tropp, D. (2016). The economics of local food systems: A toolkit to guide community discussions, assessments and choices. Washington, D.C.: USDA, Agricultural Marketing Service. Retrieved from https://www.ams.usda.gov/publications/content/economics-local-food-systems-toolkit-guide-community-discussions-assessments
Conner, D. S., Knudson, W. A., Hamm, M. W., & Peterson, H. C. (2008). The food system as an economic driver: Strategies and applications for Michigan. Journal of Hunger and Environmental Nutrition, 3(4), 371–383.
The demise of local food system infrastructure
Small scale abattoirs have been disappearing resulting in capacity limitations. SK, for example, has no federally inspected plant since 2010 and there are only a dozen plants for the entire province under provincial inspection programs (Briere, K. 2021. Producers call for processor incentives. WP July1, p. 46).
Part of this is loss of food processing from cities.
"Regina is surrounded by crops and livestock. We might expect that much of that
food would flow toward the city, however, that is not the case. ... Even if a cow or
pig or bushel of wheat is raised a dozen kilometres from downtown, in order to get
to a Regina table, those agricultural products are usually trucked away from the
city.... A key reason is that food processing plants, once numerous in and around
Regina, have been shut down, with production concentrated in a few very large
plants, mostly in other provinces [or cities].... These ... plant closures have re-
patterned food flows and severed Regina from its surrounding foodshed...."
Darrin Qualman et al., “Environmental Scan: Conventional and Indigenous Food Systems and Gaps in the Regina Area, SK. Regina Community Food Systems Steering Committee, 2013
Redundant trade and coercive and convenient economic relations
The failings of current ED approaches (Michael Shuman)
Shuman's principles of comparative resilience, https://michaelhshuman.com/comparative-resilience-8-principles-for-post-covid-reconstruction/
The beneficiaries and the marginalized in the dominant approach
Farmers and fishers as price takers
The challenges of SME food and fish processors and meeting local needs
Hansen Sterne, R., & van Duren, E. (2019). Supply management and the business activities of Ontario meat processors. Canadian Food Studies / La Revue Canadienne Des études Sur L’alimentation, 6(2), 26–50.
Vulnerabilities related to processing inputs such as carbon dioxide, used for stun guns, fruit and vegetable post-harvest handling, carbonation. Disrupted by border closings, natural gas price hikes (often a side production from fertilizer manufacturing).
Retail concentration and difficulties for independent retailers
Chain restaurants
Remote, northern and indigenous communities
Legislative, regulatory and programmatic measures that support the import-export economy
The fragmentation of the milk economy
Food safety for export
Whole foods and localization
agritourism in quebec https://canadianfoodstudies.uwaterloo.ca/index.php/cfs/article/view/612/567
The dominant innovation approach: superclusters, grant programs and the R&D agenda
Increasing the focus on diversity: SMEs and a wide range of socio-cultural actors in all the sectors (inputs, farming, processing, retail, food service)
Canadian Venture Capital Association and agtech startups in AB and SK. Provincial RandD spending support. SK ADvnatage Technology Fund, SK Technology Startup Incentive, MB Small Business enture Capital Tax Credit and INNOVation Growth Program
Efficiency
Local currencies and market bucks
Culinary tourism
NB tax credit for local investment
Optimizing second hand markets
Complexity of modern machinery has helped collapse second hand machinery markets Other factor is slow dispearance of mid size farmers what were stalwarts of the xecond hand market. How to keep equipment from being obsolete, how to keep updating the electronics, often the first thing to go. Alot of expensive orphaned iron. trade every 3-5 years? That's alot of second hand machinery. Cycle may be lengthening now. Lyseng, R. 2020. Can farm equipment be sustainable? Jan. 3 WP p. 31.
Substitution
Subsidizing restaurant transition - adapt COVID recovery program, cross-compliance
Subsidizing consumer restaurant bills
as done in the UK during COVID, Eat Out to Help Out, covers 50% up to 10 pounds of the bill / customer and generated a 60% increase in bookings when it started from the same period a year earlier. Reimbursements every week to help with cash flow. Some 84000 restaurants had participated. Government program evaluation? Waldie, P. 2020. UK program to coer half of restaurant bill proves appetizing. G&M Sept. 3, A5. How long did it last. Cost gov about 500 million pounds?
SME grants and investments for marginalized peoples and communities
Transforming Farm Credit Corporation to a transition and patient capital organization
Debt relief as part of transition supports
Shorefast for Fogo Island, https://shorefast.org/
Mundler, P., & Laughrea, S. (2016). The contributions of short food supply chains to territorial development: A study of three Quebec territories. Journal of Rural Studies, 45, 218–229.
Redesign
Financing the transition
Federal Economic Development Agency funding projet for blak led entrepreneurs, https://www.foodpreneurlab.com/
