I read an interesting story about a hypothetical agricultural management question: could the city of San Francisco feed itself using only crops grown within 100 miles of the city? The answer, perhaps surprisingly, is that yes, they probably could – and in fact, they’d still be exporting most of what’s grown locally.

Farms and ranches within a hundred miles of San Francisco produce about 20 million tons of food each year – while the entire Bay Area consumes only 5.9 million tons. There is one problem with this thought experiment: while there are more than 80 different crops and animal products produced locally, a number of San Francisco’s favorite foods aren’t produced in adequate quantities, or at all, in the local “foodshed”. Eggs, citrus fruit, wheat, corn, pork and potatoes are the big missing links. -So local farmers would have to change some priorities in order to feed San Francisco locally. Still, it’s somewhat reassuring to know that at least for one major US city, the local farm market is adequate to meet nutritional needs for the population.

Interest in local food has grown with increasing awareness of the environmental impact of transporting food from one place to another, and the market is weighing in on the practice - $4 a gallon gasoline has a way of making people ask, “is this trip necessary?” The local food movement is in its infancy, however – less than three percent of US retail food sales can be called “local” in terms of where the food was produced. However, local food is growing rapidly as producers see the wisdom in selling to local buyers when they can.

There are limits to the localization of food. San Francisco would be a great candidate for a local food push, but that is because it is located within an amazingly productive agricultural zone. Denver isn’t going to feed itself locally anytime soon, or anytime at all, for that matter. Still, as food prices rise and people begin to have a stronger desire to eat food produced nearby, farmers can look for significant marketing opportunities by selling their products into local markets where possible.