Do you give much thought to your fruit and vegetable purchases?
Do you wonder where that grocery store tomato or apple came from as you're placing it into your cart?
If you do, the obvious anwser is a farmer. But which farmer? Where is that farmer located? Is he/she local or from another state? Could you be buying produce from a farmer in another country? Let's dig a little deeper into that subject.
The University of California in Davis tracks the migration of fruits and vegetables that are brought into the U.S. each year. In 2023, the U.S. imported 60% of the fresh fruit and 40% of the fresh vegetables available to U.S. residents. Those numbers refer to the produce you see at your grocery store.
Those are huge numbers, especially compared to the number of farms in the U.S. In 2023, the number of farms in the United States was 1,894,950, which is a decrease of 5,700 from the previous year. The number of farms has been steadily declining since 2007, when there were about 2.2 million farms.
What is happening to our farms? It might have something to do with a farmer's revenue. Last year, 48.3% of farms had less than $10,000 in sales. With numbers like that, it makes it easy to understand why farms are getting sold off to developers. Are you tired of seeing fields of corn, soybeans or cotton turning into neighborhoods? If you are, then maybe it's time to start rethinking how your shop for produce.
It's important to understand that many farmers are selling their produce at largely reduced prices to grocery stores because some money coming in is better than not being able to pay the electric bill or the payment on a critical piece of equipment for the farm.
Yes, there are many produce items produced in the U.S. that aren't available in the quantities necessary to meet the demand of the consumer, so importing is required. A good example of this is the avocado industry. California is a large producer, but they need the help of Mexico farmers to keep enough avocados on the grocery store shelves. However, many fruits and vegetables are plentiful in each state, such as tomatoes, onions, and peaches.
Getting your produce from a local farmer is a great way to support small businesses and ensure you're getting freshness directly from the source. Let's put our hard earned money back into America whenever possible. Let's build up our farmers so they can afford to continue doing what they do for their families and you, as a consumer.
Shop your town's farmers market, stop at roadside stands, and visit farms near you for as much seasonal produce as possbile. In the end, you'll be glad you did.