Obama Administration's stimulus package: Small Farm revitalization is a missed opportunity

Press Release -- April 17, 2009

Contact:
Eric Holt-Giménez, executive director of Food First
510-502-5050 (cell)

Miguel Altieri, University of California, Department of Environmental Science
510-642-9802 (work)

In a report by Food First released on April 17, 2009 Professor Miguel Altieri of the Department of Environmental Science states that "despite the fact that so-called "green jobs" will be a key economic driver during the Obama reign, small-scale and organic agriculture has been totally left out of the economic recovery strategy."

Dr. Altieri goes on to say that USDA Agricultural census data shows that, "the smallest category of farm, with an average size of two acres, netted between 10-50 times more in $ per acre than the largest farms." Dr. Altieri notes that "not only do the top quarter of sustainable agriculture farmers, which are mostly small to medium in size, exhibit higher yields than conventional farmers, but also have a much lower impact on the environment."

Dr. Altieri's report on the value of small farms as part of creating more "green jobs," A tragic omission in Obama’s economic stimulus package: Small farm revitalization
http://www.foodfirst.org/en/node/2416

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