By SUSAN MYKRANTZ
Ohio Correspondent

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Everyone is talking about trends taking place in the food movement, according to Katie Myers-Griffith, farmland programs coordinator with Countryside Conservancy, based in northeastern Ohio.

“Agriculture and agriculturally related industries are still Ohio’s number-one industry,” she said. “Incorporating food and fiber policies is important and the timing is ripe.”

Myers-Griffith, a panelist during a discussion of “Land Use Planning for Local Food Systems” at the recent 2010 Land Use Conference sponsored by The Ohio State University extension, told city planners, township trustees and other officials that policies and zoning can do much to assist with local food production.

She defined “local food” as an alternative to the industrial global model, rather than a replacement. Myers-Griffith said the definition of local food is not based on miles or geographical boundaries.
“It is an important economic development tool,” she said. “It can be incorporated at the community level. Temporary structures are a big issue, as is access management at on-farm markets and how many cars can access the highway from the farm market.”

The advantage to local food is food security, both from a safety aspect as well as an adequate supply of food; however, the challenge to the local food movement is to determine how much food can be produced locally, according to Myers-Griffith.

“There is a lot of food and fiber raised in Ohio,” she said. “But right now, we don’t have the supply to meet the demand for local food.”
Myers-Griffith stressed the need for communities to look at the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (a S.W.O.T. analysis) to expanding the role of agriculture in the area’s comprehensive plan.

“If a community knows that they have a vital agricultural business; but is it to their best advantage to try something else, or should you work on strengthening agriculture?” said Myers-Griffith. “But many comprehensive plans in Ohio are not consistent. Communities need to incorporate agriculture in all sections of their comprehensive plans.”

Myers-Griffith said it takes a grass roots effort for a community to promote the importance of agriculture in these plans. “You don’t need to hire a consultant, but you need to use local resources and a local steering committee,” she said. “You need to involve all of the stakeholders, even the ones who drive you crazy.”

She added a full audit of the comprehensive plan is not necessary, but at least prepare an addendum and look at parts of the plan that do not make sense.

“Utilize existing programs, don’t recreate the wheel,” she said. “Once your plan is adopted, redo the zoning in the area. It is also important for your zoning inspector to keep up with the change in the laws.”

Holly Mattei, executive director of the Fairfield County Regional Planning Commission, told the group there are many innovative things going on in Ohio. “There are a lot of good zoning codes out there,” she said.

Fairfield County is one of the fastest growing counties in the state, but 55 percent of the county is still in farmland.

“Agriculture and farmland preservation needed to be the centerpiece of the Urban Services Plan,” Mattei said.

She said that plan looks at development plans, water and sewer services and their location, land evaluation, soil yields, site assessments and areas affected by development pressure. It also identifies areas of the county that should have its farmland preserved.

She credited the countywide plan for the success that Fairfield County has had in protecting farmland through the state’s Agricultural Easement Purchase Program. An added benefit to the work that has been done in the county was that landowners were successful in obtaining a property tax reduction for grain storage areas.

Mattei concurred that Fairfield County is seeing an increase in the amount of local foods and farmers’ markets.

“Partnerships are the key,” she said. “Buying local foods spurs growth in other areas. Make sure that economic development efforts are linked to agriculture. When you create large bands of land available for agriculture, zoning techniques can promote agriculture.”

Initiatives and land use work together, according to Mattei. “The local food (initiative) facilitates the growth and demand for our local farmers’ markets, which strengthens farmland preservation efforts,” she said.

“Farmers’ markets generate business in the downtown area and encourage the agricultural economic development for processing and distribution facilities.”

Local food efforts can play a role for land available for local production with zoning regulations, but at the same time, subdivision regulations can encourage sprawl and discourage cluster-type developments.

“More counties are creating plans and supporting farmland preservation and local food land use policies,” Mattei said. “They are establishing best practices planning and zoning standards, and modernizing Ohio land use statutes.”

She said it is important for communities to think outside the box when it comes to farmland supporting polices.

“It is important to promote the education and awareness of agriculture in the county,” she said. “People must make the connection of where their food comes from. It is important to forge partnerships with the business community to promote agricultural economic development.”