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Eating In, a series examining food and food culture in New Hampshire, ran May 17-21, 2010.

A Long Haul For Localvores: An Edible Minute

The localvores are curious: Could we raise most of our food here in New Hampshire?

A recent study out of the University of New Hampshire suggests we’re a long way from self-sufficiency:

One of the things we were originally asked about is can New Hampshire meet 100% of its food needs through local foods, and there’s a pretty big gap.

That’s Matt Magnusson, co-author of the study.

Currently, we can produce just 6% of what we need. Compared to Maine and Vermont at nearly 40%, we’re lagging far behind.

One reason: our mostly small farms have trouble producing the volume the large chains prefer. But that’s not the biggest problem:

New Hampshire has the lowest farm profitably, basically, in all of New England.

Increasing farm profitability, the study suggests, would be the best first step to a strong local food economy. But for the foreseeable future, the Buy Local mantra will remain more food for thought than the actual food most of us see on our plates.

Sean Hurley lives in Thornton with his wife Lois and his son Sam. An award-winning playwright and radio journalist, his fictional “Atoms, Motion & the Void” podcast has aired nationally on NPR and Sirius & XM Satellite radio. When he isn't writing stories or performing on stage, he likes to run in the White Mountains. He can be reached at shurley@nhpr.org.
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