The county's Health Leadership Network used grant funding from the California Endowment to contract with the Lake County Marketing and Economic Development Program to administer the assessment.
Surveys were sent out earlier this fall, seeking information about local food producers and the availability of locally grown food, as Lake County News has reported.
Susan Jen, director of the Lake County Health Leadership Network, told the Board of Supervisors at its Dec. 15 meeting that the network was working on the project under the auspices of an obesity prevention grant, which had two main pillars – increasing access to recreation and to nutritious foods.
Jen said the cost to the county for health care and lost productivity due to obesity is more than $78 million. She did not specify if that was on an annual basis.
She said the food assessment is meant to identify what kinds of food production are available locally and how to expand markets, with a view toward increasing consumption.
The team that worked on the assessment included JoAnn Saccato, Hileri Shand, David Goolsbee and consultant Andrew McLeod.
Saccato said a community food assessment is an evolving tool to help define gaps and opportunities with regard to local food systems, sustainability, food security, emergency preparedness and local economies.
Lake County's emphasis is on food production. with plans to create a local food guide and a coordinated online ordering and distribution system, said Saccato.
She said they looked mainly at “farm to fork” producers.
Assessment findings showed a slight drop in vegetable crop production, from 50 acres in 2007 to 35 acres in 2008, for a dollar value reduction of $16,000.
Saccato said 70 percent of local vegetable production is organic by method. Despite the decrease in acreage, there was a 22.5 percent increase in local farmer's market growers since 2008, and a 56-percent increase in farmer's market growers since 2002.
A survey of local growers showed a variety of crops are being grown locally. Saccato said 80 percent of local growers indicated they were willing to market locally, 66 percent would be willing to commit more acreage to production if the market was secured, and 95 percent were interested in participating in online ordering and distribution.
The Lake County Hunger Task Force produced more than 6,000 pounds of food in 2009 and oversaw six gardens, Saccato said. Countywide, there are eight school gardens.
The county is home to a small number of value-added producers who offer such products as cheese, oils, preserves, breads, pickles, salsas and honey. The assessment found “great opportunity” for expansion of such value-added products, said Saccato.
She said there is no commercially coordinated food distribution system for small local producers, and no coordinated distribution system to get small producers' products to regional and outside markets. The Lake County Community Co-op is the one coordinated distribution system for local producers and consumers.
Supervisor Rob Brown asked about pears and walnuts and their distribution. Saccato said the assessment focused on diverse food production. Shand noted that those distribution systems weren't open to smaller growers.
Brown asked if they had spoken to walnut and pear producers. Saccato said no, but that was a proposal of the assessment.
Saccato said there are alternative local distribution systems, include numerous farm stands, five farmer's markets, farm to institution programs and the community supported agriculture program the community co-op has, which sources from 10 local producers.
The assessment targeted numerous institutions to get a picture of interest in local food distribution, including 35 retail food stores, 100 restaurants, five farmers markets, 20 school sites belonging to five school districts, the two hospitals, five senior centers with nutrition programs, two correctional facilities, and 12 beds and breakfasts and bakeries.
They had 24 respondents for a 14-percent return rate, said Saccato. Survey respondents shows high interest in local produce, with 93 percent indicating a willingness to purchase more locally produced foods.
Expense wasn't the biggest concern when measuring interest in local products, Saccato said. Delivery registered a 47.5 percent rate for concern, with concern about what's available coming in at No. 2 with 40 percent. Expense came in at No. 6 with 12.5 percent.
“This was pleasant news for us,” she said.
An online ordering system, she noted, would help address delivery and availability issues.
They also found, in a small sampling of products, that locally grown produce appeared to be more affordable than produce brought from out of the area. Saccato suggested that was an area that she wanted to research more carefully and, if it's proved true, an education campaign about the value of local crops should be considered.
Saccato also discussed sustainable food systems and food security issues. In 2008, 14.6 percent of Americans were food insecure, meaning they don't have enough food to meet their basic needs. This year, the number of Americans receiving food stamps is at an all-time high, and in 2007 Lake County registered a 16.4 percent poverty rate.
The Lake County Community Action Agency, which offers several food distribution programs, has seen a 30-percent increase in its client load, while Catholic Charities has reported a 130-percent increase in clients in Middletown and 238-percent increase in Kelseyville, Saccato said.
Food security is of increasing concern in Lake County due to current economic concerns, she said.
Brown was concerned about what he considered was an implication in the assessment that Lake County is running out of food, which he said isn't true.
“We're combining the issue of priorities,” he said, noting that some people need to give up things like smoking and gambling in order to feed their families.
Supervisor Jim Comstock, who said he worked in the grocery business for 18 years, noted that after the California Lottery was approved by voters in 1984, staple grocery sales immediately dropped by 5 percent, “and it did not return,” with those funds shifting to lottery tickets.
“Obviously it was directly attributed to the lottery because it was the only change. And it happened. I watched it,” he said.
Board Chair Denise Rushing called the 5-percent shift a “stunning statistic.”
Rushing noted during the meeting that while some people aren't making wise choices, in other situations that isn't the case and they're struggling anyway. “So it's a little bit of both.”
Brown said it was important to acknowledge reality if they were going to go through the exercise of funding a study.
“It should all be accurate. It should paint both sides of the picture,” he said.
Brown said the study was designed to support an agenda, and that it had assumptions and information that weren't totally accurate.
Saccato said she didn't think it was fair to say the study had inaccurate information, and questioned if he disagreed with the assumptions.
In response, Brown pointed to a page in the report that stated that Lake County doesn't have a coordinated local food distribution system in the context of emergency preparedness. He suggested that the Office of Emergency Services has such a system, and added that he didn't think the county's food supply was very susceptible to disruption.
The study team said they hadn't talked to OES when Brown asked them if they had. Rushing asked Brown if OES has such a plan; he suggested they should check.
The assessment encourages a number of actions, including diverse, year-round crop production, study of long-term water supply, study of a coordinated online distribution and ordering system, further analysis of cold storage facilities as well as existing distribution routes and partnering opportunities, study of commercial kitchen availability, encouragement of more value-added production, analysis of current consumption patterns and connecting local food programs. They also suggested more study of food security and emergency preparedness.
“We think that Lake County could be seen as a model for other communities,” said Saccato.
She said the report was a collaborative community effort.
Rushing said that one of the best forms of health insurance is to eat your veggies.
But not zucchini, interjected Comstock. “I can't stand the stuff.”
In addition to zucchini, Comstock took issue with a statement in the assessment about conventional farming practices being unsustainable. He said local conventional farmers have worked hard to protect the environment from pollution, and he felt that statement unfairly targeted them.
Saccato said that referred to the larger industrial agriculture model. Rushing said that she's not sure they have that model here, although grape production is close.
Jen thanked the board for taking the time to listen to the presentation and provide some scrutiny.
“It helps us to think through our process and our priorities,” she said, adding, “There are many implications to food.”
For more information on local food issues, visit the Lake County Food Policy Council's Web site, http://lakecountyfood.groupsite.com .
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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