Cooking Schools Guide: Agriculture Resources
In the United States alone, according to the USDA, there are 255 million acres of farmland devoted to the eight most common types of crops alone: soybeans, corns, wheat, and so on. The U.S. also produces over half the world’s corn, a third of which goes to the production of bio-fuel, and exports nearly a billion bushels of wheat. The sheer size of the industrial farming industry, which is currently the only way to support a world population in the billions, in addition to biotechnology and sustainable agriculture movements, make agriculture an exciting and ever-changing field that affects everyone and crosses over into other disciplines.
The following sections briefly survey some of the ways that agriculture affects dependent industries before listing some essential online resources on the subject. This page will be most useful for researchers who are new to the field and students who are considering agriculture or one of the other professions discussed here as fields of study. The websites, databases, directories, and libraries linked in the paragraphs below were selected for their authority and/or thoroughness, although the focus is largely American due to the extreme breadth of the topic.
Agriculture and the Food Industry
The food industry is the second step between agriculture and the consumer’s plate, and has a profound effect on farming practices. The University of Minnesota’s Food Industry Center maintains a number of research projects classified as Farm to Fork, which conduct studies on how consumers’ perceptions of farming practices (such as local vs. industrial farming) affect their buying behaviors at grocery stores. A summary of similar projects by the Farm Foundation is also available. According to the National Restaurant Association, half of food sales are from restaurants — $600 billion, to be exact — who also enter into discussions of sustainability and other topics that directly concern agriculture. Finally, for the big picture, Plunkett Research, Ltd., compiles the most general statistics from a variety of government of agencies into one table, and provides some of its own estimates. For example, the company states that total U.S. food sales equal $1.6 trillion. Industrial farms compete to sell their products to the top restaurant chains in the country.
Agriculture and Food Distribution
At any given time, famine or malnourishment is a reality, even in developed countries. If one were to compare the production of food to the world’s population in a strictly statistical sense, there is enough food to go around. Unfortunately, getting food into the hands of those who need it can be a complicated endeavor, one that is dependent on both transportation networks and the price of food worldwide. The USDA lists several programs devoted to food distribution efforts in the U.S. alone, including the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program and the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations. On the international stage, the World Food Programme (WFP) is the largest organization devoted to fighting hunger. Most of the WFP’s donations are in the form of cash, so the association is a major purchaser of food (2 million metric tons yearly). Because the WFP tries to buy its food from as close a source to the point of distribution as possible, its efforts can have a major impact on local agriculture.
Agriculture and the Culinary Arts
Chefs and farmers are united in more than just the obvious ways. For example, the Culinary Institute of America has a number of sustainable agriculture initiatives, such as a commitment to purchase from local farmers (in the Hudson Valley, especially) where possible and, via the CIA Garden Society, encourage culinary students to gain hands-on experience in farm work: weeding, harvesting, and so on. Also, culinary science is often found within the same department as agriculture at universities, including Iowa State, one the top “Biological/Agricultural” schools in the nation according to U.S. News and World Report.
Additional Resources
- Agriculture and Food is a 250-page report by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that discusses the infrastructure of the U.S.’s food industry from the farm to the kitchen. Because all food industries are almost entirely in the hands of private companies, the report is aimed at protecting the U.S. food economy from competitors abroad.
- The American Society of Agronomy represents the scientific side of agriculture and soil, providing certification and promoting the exchange of research through publications and meetings. The society is also responsible for offering consultations to farmers all over the world to improve the viability of their land.
- The National Agricultural Law Center is a repository of major legislation pertaining to farms, research articles on the subject, and links to references. Nearly all of the resources are categorized by subject, including agritourism, biotechnology, and crop insurance.
- The National Agricultural Library, hosted by the USDA, provides introductory information on different crops, nutritional facts, and the history of American farming. Links to external resources, especially official information centers on the care of animals, invasive species, food safety tips, and so on, are also available.
- The National Organic Program, also hosted by the USDA, maintains the federal government’s official policies on what counts as “organic,” starting at the agricultural level. The program maintains lists of “certified organic operations,” “Suspended and Revoked USDA Organic Operations,” and more.
- The University of Colorado at Boulder’s University Libraries resource page offers links to most of the major agencies, organizations, and databases on agriculture that are available.
- The U.S. Department of Agriculture, or USDA, is the first stop for anyone who wants to conduct research on agriculture in the United States, maintaining separate sections for different kinds of visitors: educators, journalists, farmers, and others. Numerous and detailed reports from the Economic Research Service are released regularly, many of which are state- and region-specific.
Image is by Christopher Neumuller, and accessed via Wikimedia Commons.
