Re: food gardening up or down?

**Jeff Ball j*@usol.com**

Fascinating data which unfortunately is not surprising.  I'll bet if  
you looked at the number of farmers markets for the same years there  
would be a substantial increase in the past ten years.  I know I no  
longer grow corn or potatoes and winter squash because I can get very  
fresh versions at a reasonable price at my Flint farmers market.
Jeff Ball
jeffball@usol.com
810-724-8581
Check out my daily blog at www.gardeneryardener.blogspot.com
Check out my extensive web site at www.yardener.com

On Apr 19, 2006, at 12:27 PM, Roger Doiron wrote:

These are the latest stats (1984-2004) for home food production as
calculated by the USDA based on farmer surveys where

A=value of foods purchased by Americans for home consumption

B=value of foods purchased by Americans for consumption outside the home

C=value of foods grown at home

D=total value of foods purchased and produced (A+B+C)

E=value of home-grown foods as a percentage of total (C divided by D)

	A		B		C		D		E
1984	222,847	161,046	8,610		392,503	2.19%
1985	232,993	168,831	6,998		408,822	1.71%
1986	241,642	181,695	7,185		430,522	1.67%
1987	238,120	199,913	7,535		445,568	1.69%
1988	253,951	217,774	7,618		479,343	1.59%
1989	272,871	231,917	7,310		512,098	1.43%
1990	297,532	248,778	7,726		554,036	1.39%
1991	311,323	260,106	7,264		578,693	1.26%
1992	311,236	263,722	7,078		582,036	1.22%
1993	320,893	278,988	6,709		606,590	1.11%
1994	334,941	291,722	7,130		633,793	1.12%
1995	343,633	302,981	7,026		653,640	1.07%
1996	359,187	312,695	6,774		678,656	1.00%
1997	376,147	332,254	5,860		714,261	0.82%
1998	385,751	350,309	6,181		742,241	0.83%
1999	406,522	366,291	6,720		779,533	0.86%
2000	411,775	390,247	6,640		808,662	0.82%
2001	426,976	405,117	6,392		838,485	0.76%
2002	425,759	419,174	6,724		851,657	0.79%
2003	439,299	440,558	6,992		886,849	0.79%
2004	460,793	474,826	7,405		943,024	0.79%

So, if farmers are a bellweather of home vegetable gardening in the US,
we're about as low as we go right now.  I've read that the slight  
uptick in
2002 was a reaction to 9/11 and the recession.

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