Hochul’s Local Food Initiative and the Future of its Sourcing
Rhinebeck farmers market farmers selling their fresh produce. Credit: Axel Anderegg-Durwood '24
Local farmers in New York State are feeling a renewed sense of optimism since Governor Kathy Hochul recently signed an executive order to increase local food sourcing.
On a gloomy day in Rhinebeck, NY, when many stayed inside to keep dry and warm, farmers Charlotte Olver and Alexis Krenner braved the suboptimal conditions to sell their fresh produce. They sell sheep and goat milk products, respectively.
Within the executive order, Hochul is calling for state agencies to increase the amount of food from New York State farmers and producers to 30% of their total purchases within five years. Alongside this, it included a jump from $4 million to nearly $400 million to acquire and purchase food from New York farmers.
Hocul’s recent signing has led farmers like Olver and Krenner to reflect on the importance of their work in making fresh produce available to people, as well as what kinds of changes they would like to see in the future for the farmers’ economy and local food sourcing.
“One of the biggest benefits of sourcing food from farmers is addressing our environmental issues,” said Olver. “If all of our wheat comes from Ukraine, etc., that system can collapse so easily and has constantly in the past. A place like New York City has run into that issue numerous times, when something happens in a place like Nebraska and then you can’t get your produce.”
Olver shared other benefits of local food sourcing, such as “a lot more food security, putting money into the local economy, the preservation of land and the stabilization of the environment.”
Olver believes a crucial next step in the incentivization of local food sourcing is subsidization.
“We already subsidize so much big agriculture like big corn and big dairy – and it’s not like that food is healthy for you,” said Olver. “I think subsidies would make fresh produce a lot more accessible to people. It would also make farming a more financially sustainable way of life.”
Krenner’s thoughts on local food sourcing aligned with Olver’s. “Increasing local food sourcing helps local businesses,” Krenner said. “What you get in the store is not what you get from local small farms and businesses. Buying fresh produce from farmers helps boost the local economy and supports these small businesses, and it gives people jobs.”
Krenner agrees with Olver in her belief that farmers need to be better supported and subsidized.
“We need the economy to accommodate for all of the factors that go into making this stuff,” said Krenner. “The gas prices go up, which makes the tractors that make the grains for the animals more expensive, then feeding the animals becomes more expensive, and then we have to bump our prices up in order to keep business sustainable.”
According to Krenner, the accumulating costs for farmers making fresh produce are ample.
Dr. Zion Klos, associate professor of environmental science at Marist, envisions some constructive changes that could shift the food economy from industrial to local. He brought up measures such as the carbon tax, which has been heavily debated in legislation for quite some time.
“It uses up a lot of carbon and fossil fuels to move stuff to where the markets are,” said Klos. “When you take into account the actual cost of the carbon, then local agriculture can compete more. But right now, we subsidize the cost of carbon.”
“Agriculture is the backbone of our state. By increasing the amount of food State agencies must buy from local growers and producers, we are further investing in farm production and food processing in New York,” said Gov. Hochul at the New York State Fair on Aug. 23. “We will continue taking bold action to support our next generation of farmers and the future of our agricultural industry for decades to come.”