3 Billion Dollars in Potential Profits From Fruits and Veggies…

The research conducted at Iowa State University by David Swenson can also be applied to the entire world and the benefits of going back to our farming roots and really make use of the land to create more sustainable communities.
Swenson has indicated that if 28 vegetables and fruits(apricots, asparagus, mustard greens, bell peppers, onions, broccoli, peaches, cabbage, pears, cantaloupe, plums, carrots, raspberries, cauliflower, snap beans, collard greens, spinach, cucumbers, squash, eggplant, strawberries, garlic, sweet potatoes, kale, tomatoes, watermelon and lettuce.) were grown more in the states of Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois and Wisconsin the impact of such an increase on the local economy could be very significant. According to Swenson’s research paper states small parcels of land can be used to supply fruits and vegetables to Midwestern towns and cities. One such statistic is that less than 100 acres of land can generate produce for a town of 10,000.
David Swenson says,"fulfilling the six state region’s produce demand annually could be accomplished with 270,025 acres of cropland, or roughly the equivalent size of one county in Iowa." In his model, the produce grown on those acres could equate to $882 million dollars of sales directly from farms, and three billion at retail outlets. The study also proposes that if half of the produce was sold by
farmers directly, there would be a need to create 9,652 jobs which in turn would supply over $260 million in worker incomes.
The research also found that Wisconsin has about 75 percent of its cropland in sweet corn and potatoes as well as Minnesota and needs to look to Michigan's, diverse fruit and vegetable production; that's enough to be a national player in that sector economically.