Update to the RI Food Assessment:
2011 - 2016 and Beyond
July 2016
prepared by Karen Karp & Partners
for the RI Food Policy Council
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Update to the Rhode Island Food Assessment
CONTENTS
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................3
Rhode Island’s Food System ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 4
Who Are Rhode Island Eaters? ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 4
Population Demographics.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 4
Food Insecurity in Rhode Island ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 6
Federal Food Benefit Programs: SNAP and WIC ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 8
Where Do Rhode Islanders Get Their Food? .................................................................................................................................................................................. 9
Supermarkets, Grocery Stores and Convenience Stores ....................................................................................................................................................................... 9
Institutional Food Programs .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 11
Restaurants ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 12
Farmers’ Markets ..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................13
Farm Stands and CSAs .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................13
Emergency Food ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 14
What Do Rhode Islanders Eat?................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 18
What Health Outcomes Relate to the Food System? ....................................................................................................................................................... 19
Obesity and Diet Related Disease ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 19
Public Health Initiatives Related to Food .................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 21
What Foods Are Produced and Harvested In RI? ..................................................................................................................................................................24
Agriculture and Aquaculture............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 24
Farm Direct Marketing .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 26
Farmland ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................28
Farmers and Farmworkers ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 29
Fisheries ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................30
Community and Home Garden Production ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 32
What is the Nature of the Food Processing and Distribution sectors in Rhode Island? .............................................................. 33
Processing ..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................33
Storage and Distribution ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 34
What is the Economic Contribution of Food and Agriculture in RI? .................................................................................................................. 34
How is Food Waste Handled? .................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 43
What is the Relationship between Agriculture and the Environment in RI? ............................................................................................. 43
How Safe is the Food System? ................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 45
Leverage Points ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 46
Food and Health.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 47
Retail and Access ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 48
Production ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 50
Food Processing and Distribution ........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 52
Food and the Environment ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 56
Policy, Planning and Regulation .................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 57
Appendix I – Mapping Sources and Methods ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 60
Appendix II - Endnotes ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 63
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INTRODUCTION
In 2011, when the RI Food Policy Council (FPC) was still in the process of formation, the Food Policy Council Design Committee
contracted Karp Resources (now Karen Karp & Partners, or KK&P) to conduct a food assessment for the state of RI, the
purpose of which was to serve as a comprehensive resource for diverse stakeholders across the state in their work to
strengthen the food system. The resulting Assessment described the then-current capacity of RI’s food system, identified
priorities for the RI FPC and other stakeholders working to increase community food security, described the gaps in the state’s
food system and identified assets that could be leveraged to fill those gaps. With members of the FPC Design Committee
coming to the table from diverse food system perspectives (agriculture, urban agriculture, environmental impact, food
marketing, public health, emergency food, food safety, planning, education and more), it was determined that the report should
focus on the intersection of local food and food security.
Much has happened in RI’s food system since that report was completed, and much is poised to happed in 2016 and 2017,
including the creation of a new position housed within the Department of Environmental Management to coordinate food policy
activities at the state level and Governor Gina Raimondo’s 2015 announcement of intent to create the state’s first plan for food
and agriculture. To set the stage for successful creation of that plan, the RI FPC reached out to KK&P to update the 2011 Food
Assessment, focusing on ensuring that all data therein comes from the most up to date sources; to ensure that the most
significant food system milestones of the past five years are catalogued; and to re-center the assets, gaps and leverage points
identified in 2011 to 2016’s context and realities. Whereas the 2011 Assessment honed in on the intersections of local food and
affordable food access, the 2016 update sought to focus on public health, economic development and the intersections
between the two as they play into and play out in the state’s food system.
It is no secret that Rhode Island is a small state. The smallness of the state can be enabling: For example, governmental
departments that in many places would exist at the county level (transportation, health, e.g.) are integrated at the state level,
making it easier in some cases to pull leaders together and create sweeping and impactful changes that are felt statewide. At
the same time, there can be significant fragmentation— for example there are 36 school districts, each with their own food
service contracts and 39 municipalities, each with their own comprehensive plans and land use planning information structures.
While the requirement of comprehensive plans at the municipal level is seen as progressive, these plans and related information
are not gathered at the state level.
The Food Policy Council sees the state itself and the state’s food system as a potential laboratory, a place where innovative
activity at the nexus of production, food, health and economy can be (and are being) trialed, and where even a trial level effort
can have meaningful impact. The update to the 2011 Food Assessment was created to provide information on the status of the
food system and the ways in which it has changed over the past five years to serve as a foundation for the next phases of local
food system planning and growth.
METHODOLOGY
The Assessment update process launched with a kick-off conversation with RI FPC leadership, followed by a round table
discussion with the full food policy council, to pin down and align on the goals of the update. The research team then conducted
an in-depth review of the “Current Conditions” section of the 2011 Food Assessment to identify sources of existing
data/statistics that could be updated or improved upon, new sources to build enriched sections on public health and economic
development, as well as data sources focused on the municipal level (rather than state or county, which was the geographic level
of detail most prominent in the 2011 Assessment). The research team conducted five interviews and facilitated one focus group
with leaders around the state in the fields of public health, agricultural land access, economic development, economic impact of
the food system, and access to capital and technical assistance for farm and food businesses. Based on statistics and interview
findings, the team revised the two anchor sections of the 2011 Assessment: Current Conditions and Leverage Points.
Dovetailing with this research and analysis and with guidance from the client, the KK&P team created maps focused on three
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different topic areas: 1) economy and employment, 2) the food access landscape, and 3) health indicators and public health.
Those maps and supplementary tables are included herein, and an appendix at the end of this report provides a detailed
mapping methodology and source list.
RHODE ISLAND’S FOOD SYSTEM
Food system is a comprehensive term that encompasses all of the people, processes, and infrastructure that move food from
farm and fishery to table, or that impact the way that foods are moved from producer to eater. The Rhode Island local
food system is comprised of RI producers (farming, fishing, and aquaculture), food processors, distributors, retailers, institutional
food programs, restaurants, emergency food providers, consumers, and waste recovery, as well as food safety regulations and
oversight, patterns of access to food, and consumption trends. The food system also includes the factors that impact these
processes and players, such as natural resource management, physical infrastructure, planning and design, technology, policy
and regulation, advocacy, education, marketing, economy, food preferences, and society and culture.
Considering the Rhode Island food system as a whole allows for a comprehensive understanding of the current food landscape
in Rhode Island. In addition, examining the entire food system provides an opportunity to identify and leverage the strengths of
particular actors, processes, or relationships to increase community food security and to create a vibrant, resilient food system
in Rhode Island.
WHO ARE RHODE ISLAND EATERS?
Population Demographics
This section focuses on the resident population of the state, as identified by the U.S. Census Bureau. In 2014, the Census
i
Bureau estimated that the state’s population had grown slightly to 1,056,298 from 1,052,567 in 2010. The population of
Rhode Island has been mostly stable over the course of the past 15 years, increasing between 2000 and 2010 by just .4
percent and between 2010 and 2015 by .8 percent.
Based on the latest Census data, the median age in Rhode Island is 39.7 years (2014), which increased by 0.8 years within the
five-year period, from 38.9 years in 2010. Of the five counties in RI, only Providence County, where the median age is 37 years,
ii
has a population aged below the national median age of 37.4 years. According to the RI Division of Elderly Affairs, compared to
other states in the nation, RI ranks in the top ten for population over 50, and ranks in the top five for population over 70. The
Census Bureau notes that RI has the largest percentage of population 85 years and older, at 2.5 percent. And all counties in RI
had higher percentages of population 65 and older than the national average.
iii
Median Age in Rhode Island, By County (2014)
Rhode Island counties
Median Age
Bristol County
43.6
Kent County
43.2
Newport County
43.7
Providence County
37
Washington County
42.8
In the 2010 Census, 82 percent of Rhode Islanders identified themselves
as white; just under 5.9 percent identified themselves as black or African
American; 2.9 percent Asian; under one percent American Indian, Alaska
Native, Native Hawaiian, or other Pacific Islander; and over 12 percent of
iv
Rhode Islanders of all races identified themselves as Latino. Based on
Census Bureau estimates, the demographic characteristics of Rhode
Island’s population are estimated to have changed less than one percent
per race category for the period between 2010 and 2014, as follows: 8 1.3
percent of Rhode Islanders identified themselves as white, 6.3 percent as
Black or African American, 3.1 percent as Asian, and only 0.5 percent as
American Indian and Alaska Native. There was an estimated increase of 1.5
percent of Rhode Islanders who identify themselves as Hispanic or Latino
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v
(of any race), totaling 13.3 percent of Rhode Islanders in 2014.
The percentage of Rhode Islanders living below the poverty level in 2014, defined as annual income of $24,230 for a family of
vi
vii
four , was estimated to have increased to 14.2 percent , from 12.2 percent in 2010, when the federal poverty threshold for a
family of four was defined as an annual income of $22,315. The national poverty rate has been higher than the state’s over the
same period of time, but where RI’s population in poverty increased in the most recent years, nationally the rate declined (from
viii
15.3 percent in 2010 to 14.8 percent in 2014.)
In 2010, 16.7 percent of children in Rhode Island lived below the poverty level, compared to 21.6 percent of U.S. children living
below the poverty level that year. The percentage of children living below the poverty level in RI is estimated to have increased to
ix
x
20.1 percent as of 2014. This is slightly lower than the national poverty rate for children in the U.S. in 2014, 21.1 percent.
Overall, the number of Rhode Islanders living below the poverty threshold has steadily increased over the past 10 years, from 10
xi
percent in 2006-2007 to 11.6 percent in 2008-2009, and to 14.2 percent by 2014. Census Bureau data indicate that
poverty rates in RI increased for all races/ethnicities between 2010 and 2014, as shown in the table below. However, people of
color in RI are disproportionately impacted by poverty. Latino and Black/African American populations have the highest poverty
xii
rates in the State, at 33.7 percent and 28.3 percent respectively.
xiii
Poverty Rate in Rhode Island: By Race/Ethnicity (2010 and 2014)
Race/Ethnicity
Percent below poverty level 2010 Percent below poverty level 2014
White (non-Latino)
9.2
11.2
Asian
17.2
15.9
Black
25.2
28.3
Hispanic or Latino (of any race)
28.4
33.7
Population characteristics vary widely across RI, with the highest population density, racial and ethnic diversity, and greatest
number of people living below the poverty level in Providence County, Rhode Island’s most urban center. This has remained true
since the 2011 RI Food Assessment.
Rhode Island Population by Race/Ethnicity, By County (2014)
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Rhode Island
County
Percent
White (%)
Percent
Black (%)
Percent
Latino (%)
Percent
Asian (%)
Percent American Indian, Alaska Native,
Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander (%)
Bristol
95.3
1.1
2.4
1.8
0.0
Kent
93.4
1.9
4.2
2.5
0.4
Newport
90.7
4.1
5.3
1.8
0.5
Providence
79.7
11.4
20.9
4.4
1.2
Washington
93.7
1.4
3.0
2.1
0.9
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As shown in the table below, in 2014, Providence County’s poverty rate was significantly higher (18 percent) than in the other
four RI counties, followed by Washington County (9.4 percent). Similarly, in 2014, the percentage of children under 18 years
living below poverty level was significantly higher in Providence County (26 percent) than in the other four RI counties, followed
by Washington and Newport (10.1 percent). Between 2010 and 2014, households in poverty declined in Bristol and Kent
Counties, and increased in Providence, Washington and, most precipitously, Newport Counties.
Rhode Island Median Household Income and Poverty Rate, By County 2010 and 2014)
Median Household Income ($) Poverty Rate (%)
xv
Child Poverty Rate (%)
County
2010
2014
2010
2014
2010
2014
Bristol
68,333
69,240
8.6
6.8
3.7
4.2
Kent
61,088
62,976
10.8
8.8
9.1
11
Newport
67,239
72,702
5.8
8.5
9.9
10.1
Providence
48,500
49,139
17.6
18
21.8
26
Washington
70,285
72,784
8.7
9.4
6.2
10.1
The Census Bureau’s American Community Survey 2010-2014 also estimates the poverty rate for 65 county subdivisions (a
statistical subdivision used by the Bureau, not aligned with the 39 municipalities in the state.) Nine of these have poverty rates
higher the statewide poverty rate of 14.2 percent. In order of highest to lowest poverty rate, these nine subdivisions are: Central
Falls city (31.7 percent), Providence city (29.7 percent), Woonsocket city (26.1 percent), Kingston CDP (22.1 percent), Pawtucket
city (21.4 percent), Narragansett town (16 percent), West Warwick town (16 percent), Melville CDP (15 percent), and Pascoag
CDP (14.9 percent). Four out of the five county subdivisions with the highest poverty rates in Rhode Island are located in
Providence County, as shown in the table below.
County Subdivisions with the Highest Poverty Rates in Rhode Island (2010-2014)
County Subdivision (i.e. County, Town)
xvi
Percent of people below poverty level
Central Falls city, Providence County
31.7
Providence city, Providence County
29.7
Woonsocket city, Providence County
26.1
Kingston CDP, Washington County
22.1
Pawtucket city, Providence County
21.4
Food Insecurity in Rhode Island
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As of 2014, there were 147,460 food insecure individuals in Rhode Island. The food insecurity rate indicates that, at least
once over the course of the year, fourteen percent of households in RI could not access enough safe and nutritionally adequate
food without emergency food services, such as food pantries, soup kitchens, or government feeding programs. In 2010, RI’s
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xviii
food insecurity rate was slightly higher than the national average, at 14.5 percent , and as of 2014, it is equal to the national
xix
average, 14.0 percent.
Over the past few decades in Rhode Island, the rate of food insecurity has followed national trends, growing from 10.2 percent
of households in 1998 to 14.7 percent in 2010 (national rates increased from 11.8 percent to 14.5 percent over that same time
xx
xxi
period ). Then between 2012 and 2014, food insecurity in RI decreased from 14.7 percent to 14.0 percent , echoing the
statistically significant, cumulative national decline in food insecurity.
Food Insecurity in Rhode Island, Overall and Child, by County (2014)
County
xxii
Overall food insecurity rate
Child food insecurity rate
Providence
15.1%
21.8%
Newport
12.5%
19.0%
Kent
12.1%
19.0%
Washington
11.5%
17.3%
Bristol
11.1%
15.8%
State Total
14.0%
21.3%
According to the RI Community Food Bank, 4.7
percent of households (about 20,000) report
“very low food security” (or hunger). In each
month of 2016 so far, the Food Bank has
served approximately 60,000 Rhode Islanders,
including 33 percent under the age of 18 and
20 percent over the age of 60. The Food Bank
reports that 44 percent of the households it
serves have one or more employed adults, 70
percent report having to choose between
paying for food and paying for utilities, and
another 62 percent report choosing between
paying for food or rent at some point each
xxiii
year.
Feeding America data from 2012 to 2014 indicates that Providence County had the highest rate of food insecurity in the state,
but that the food insecurity rate declined each year during that time period. The remaining four counties had food insecurity
rates below the state and national average of 14 percent in 2014. Newport and Kent counties had the second and third highest
food insecurity rates in RI.
xxiv
In 2014, 21.3 percent of children in the state were food insecure (46,150 children). In each of the five counties, the child food
xxv
insecurity rate exceeded the overall food insecurity rate: Providence County had a child food insecurity rate of 21.8 percent
compared to its 15.1 percent overall food insecurity rate, followed by Newport and Kent counties, each with child food insecurity
rates of 19 percent, as shown in the table above.
In 2016 the White House Council of Economic Advisors released a report, The Long-Term Benefits of the Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which highlights the connections between food insecurity, health, child development and
adult life performance and experience. The report notes that food insecurity increases the need for medical care and increases
incidence of depression across populations, but disproportionately in children, new mothers, the elderly and people with certain
health conditions. “Alleviating food insecurity though food assistance programs like SNAP thus has the potential not only to
xxvi
immediately reduce hunger, but also to promote good health and improve children’s life chances.” Food insecurity also
interferes with a patient’s ability to adhere to diets recommended for diet-related disease management, and it affects children’s
ability to perform at full capacity in school. The report cites research that demonstrates that as SNAP recipients exhaust
benefits over the course of the month, adult hospital admissions increase, student test scores decrease, and disciplinary
xxvii
incidents increase.
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Federal Food Benefit Programs: SNAP and WIC
The USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps, is the nation’s largest food
and nutrition assistance program, providing benefits that low-income people can use to purchase food. The program’s economic
impacts are significant: in the 2015 fiscal year, $75 billion was spent on the SNAP program nationally, 93 percent of that in the
form of benefits paid directly to eligible households. In that same fiscal year $282,777,163 in benefits were redeemed in Rhode
xxviii
Island.
According to the SNAP Outreach office at the University of Rhode Island, every $5 provided in SNAP benefits
xxix
generates $9 in community spending.
The number of Rhode Islanders who are enrolled in SNAP has expanded significantly since late 2007. In December 2007,
80,138 RI residents received SNAP benefits. As of April 2011, that number had nearly doubled to 161,381. And by fiscal year
xxx
2015, an average of 175,025 Rhode Islanders from 100,949 households participated in the SNAP program each month. This
increase is attributable to a range of factors including changes to SNAP enrollment criteria. However, one of the most influential
drivers of the increase has been the economic recession, from which RI has been slower than other U.S. states to recover.
As of 2014 (when RI SNAP participation was approximately 174,000), 34 percent of RI’s SNAP participants were households
with children, compared to 43.6 percent nationally. RI had more elderly residents utilizing SNAP than the national average at
23.7 percent (compared to 19 percent) and more households with people with disabilities (26.8 percent compared to 20.4
percent). As of 2014, 88 percent of RI SNAP participants were U.S. born. Approximately, 11,000 participants were naturalized
citizens, 2,000 were refugees, and approximately 10,000 were categorized as “other noncitizens”. Of the noncitizen RI residents
xxxi
participating in SNAP, 23.4 percent were children and more than 16 percent were elderly adults.
Along with expanded enrollment, redemption of SNAP benefits has significantly increased since the economic recession of
2008. SNAP redemption data at the county level is available up to the year 2012 through the USDA’s Economic Research
Service Food Environment Atlas. The redemption rates from 2008 to 2012 were above 50 percent in all RI counties, reaching
above 95 percent in Washington County, and over 86 percent in Providence County, as shown in the table below.
SNAP Redemptions by Rhode Island County (2008- 2012)
xxxii
County
SNAP redemptions/SNAPauthorized stores (2008)
SNAP redemptions/SNAPauthorized stores (2012)
SNAP redemptions/SNAP-authorized
stores (% change) 2008-2012
Bristol
229,600
349,446
52.2
Kent
167,356
293,433
75.33
Newport
104,197
174,951
67.9
Providence
172,145
321,352
86.68
Washington
107,665
210,635
95.64
Preliminary USDA data for fiscal year 2016 shows an average monthly rate of 20,672 participants in the Special Supplemental
xxxiii
Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) in Rhode Island. This is a drop in participation compared to the
xxxiv
average 25,525 Rhode Islanders who participated monthly in 2010.
The decline in WIC participation in RI is in line with a
nationwide decrease in WIC participation in the last five years, including 2014 in which the program experienced its largest onexxxv xxxvi
year decrease in participation since the program began in 1974. ,
This decline has been attributed to a range of factors
including a decrease in the national birth rate (which would impact the overall eligible population), overall economic improvement
in the post-recession years (though SNAP utilization has increased dramatically during that same time), and lack of ease of use
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(WIC benefits are not digitized, as SNAP benefits are, in RI or in many other states, and regular visits to an administration office
to meet with a nutritionist and receive the benefits are required).
WIC redemption data at the county level is currently available up to 2012, and the decline in WIC participation described above
was already palpable between 2008 and 2012 in all five RI counties, ranging from a 4 percent drop in Washington County to a
28 percent decline in Providence County, as shown in the table below.
xxxvii
In 2015, only 59 percent of eligible Rhode Islanders were participating in the WIC program, which is a decrease from 2011
when 70 percent of eligible Rhode Islanders were participating. Only four municipalities had participation rates above the state
xxxviii
average: Central Falls (71 percent), Pawtucket (60 percent), Providence (65 percent), and Woonsocket (67 percent).
According to Kids Count Rhode Island, in the fall of 2015, 70 percent of WIC participants were white, 17 percent were black or
xxxix
African American, 3 percent were Asian, and 10 percent identified as other races or more than one race. Forty-five percent
of WIC participants in RI identified as Hispanic or Latino.
WIC Redemptions by Rhode Island County (2008- 2012)
County
xl
WIC redemptions (2008) WIC redemptions (2012) WIC redemptions (% change) 2008-2012
Bristol
90,920
84,207
-7.38
Kent
122,990
96,089
-21.87
Newport
134,990
100,011
-25.91
Providence
95,309
68,488
-28.14
Washington
62,922
60,338
-4.11
WHERE DO RHODE ISLANDERS GET THEIR FOOD?
Rhode Island’s permanent residents, seasonal residents and visitors get their food in a variety of ways and in a variety of forms,
from grocery stores to school cafeterias, convenience stores to farmers’ markets, the fast food drive-thru to fine dining
establishments.
Supermarkets, Grocery Stores and Convenience Stores
According to a survey from the 2016 RI Farm to Table Strategic Marketing Plan (release pending), 76 percent of the Rhode
Islanders surveyed cited grocery stores as the place that they shop most frequently for food. 87 percent “wanted their grocery
xli
store to offer more locally grown food,” and 77 percent said they are “willing to pay somewhat higher prices for locally grown.”
As of April 2016, the RI Department of Health (DOH) classifies 1,184 businesses as active “markets” (down from 1,209 in 2011),
xlii
defined as any business that sells food of any kind. DOH records do not distinguish between markets that carry fresh foods
and those that do not.
The table below illustrates the density of grocery stores, convenience stores, and fast food restaurants across Rhode Island
xliii
counties and relative to the resident population of those counties. The table gives a broad picture of food access across the
state’s counties: for example while Bristol, Kent, and Newport counties have lower supermarket density than Providence and
Washington counties, it is important to note that supermarket distribution across each county may leave some consumers with
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limited access. The data also show that in all five counties across Rhode Island, the density of fast food restaurants is greater
than the density of grocery stores and convenience stores combined.
Rhode Island Selected Food Options: By County (2012 unless otherwise noted)
County
Bristol
#
Grocery
Stores
(2012)
xliv
%
Grocery
Change
#
Convenience
#
Supercenters
#
Specialized
Stores /
Grocery
Convenience
Stores /
Supercenters & club stores Specialized food stores
1,000
Stores
Stores
1,000 pop & club stores
1,000 pop food stores 1,000 pop
pop
(2007(2012)
(2012)
(2012)
(2012)
(2012)
(2012)
(2012)
12)
7
0
0.14
12
0.24
0
0
3
0
Kent
23
0
0.14
64
0.39
2
0.012
13
-55.17
Newport
16
33.33
0.2
31
0.38
1
0.012
12
50
Providence
136
5.43
0.22
233
0.37
3
0.005
52
-23.64
Washington
30
-3.23
0.24
43
0.34
2
0.015
12
-25
As of April 2016, 981 firms (more than ¾ of RI Department of Health licensed markets) were authorized to accept
xlv
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.
Rhode Island: SNAP Authorized Stores (2009 & 2016)
xlvi
County
# SNAP-authorized
stores (2009)
# SNAP-authorized
stores (2016)
Bristol
23
28
Kent
119
130
Newport
46
53
Providence
687
683
Washington
64
87
This is an increase of 42 authorized firms since 2009, when there was a total of 939 SNAP authorized retailers in RI.
Providence County currently has 683 authorized stores, followed by Kent County with 130 stores, and Washington County with
xlvii
87 authorized retailers, as shown in the table above.
In 2015 as in 2010, across the nation, the majority of SNAP benefits—over 83 percent—were redeemed at supermarkets and
xlviii
superstores. This is true despite the fact that supermarkets and superstores make up only 14.3 percent of all SNAP
xlix
authorized firms.
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Update to the Rhode Island Food Assessment
Retailers across the five Rhode Island counties are authorized to accept WIC, as shown in the table below. As of January 2016,
Providence County had 158 WIC authorized stores, the greatest number for all five RI counties— Kent County was a distant
second with 15 authorized stores.
Rhode Island: WIC Authorized Stores (2009 & 2016)
County
l
# WIC-authorized stores (2009) # WIC-authorized stores (2016)
Bristol
3
4
Kent
16
15
Newport
6
8
Providence
145
158
Washington
13
12
The USDA Food Environment Atlas also includes information about the Rhode Island population that has low access to food
stores (living more than one mile from a food store in urban areas or 10 miles in rural areas). The USDA uses this data to
determine the locations of food deserts, which are census tracts that are considered low-income (meeting the New Markets Tax
Credit low-income definition) and low-access (where at least 500 people have low access OR the percentage of people in the
tract with low access is at least 33 percent). The following table illustrates a county-by county breakdown of food deserts in
Rhode Island, and highlights access issues for senior citizens and children. The maps that follow this section depict low income
and low access census tracts across the state.
Rhode Island: Food Deserts
li
County
% population living in
food desert
% children living in
food desert
% senior citizens living
in food desert
Bristol
11.62
9.26
8.73
Kent
5.68
6.96
4.71
Newport
6.1
7.42
6.2
Providence
4.62
4.05
3.07
Washington
8.66
6.05
4.88
Institutional Food Programs
Rhode Island institutions are a daily food provider for a large number and significant range of Rhode Islanders. Institutional food
programs include food programs at day cares and early childhood education programs, elementary schools, colleges and
universities, hospitals (patient and visitor meals), corporate campuses, nursing homes, senior centers, adult day cares, and
prisons. Some are “self-operated” by staff hired directly by the institution, and other institutional food service programs are
contracted out to third party food service companies. Data on how many meals are served is tracked by each institution, and is
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not currently available in aggregate. Some examples follow to give a sense of the scale of the institutional food sector in Rhode
Island.
The school lunch program is an anchor source of food and nutrition for low-income children in the state (as nationally). In RI 320
schools participate in in the National School Lunch Program, including public, private, charter schools. In the fiscal year 2015, the
USDA reported that 76,254 lunches were served daily in RI as part of the National School Lunch Program (down from 79,006
in 2011). Total participation in the breakfast program was over 32,000 (with minimal changes over the preceding years), and
lii
average summer food service attendance was 10,705 (up from just 6,820 in 2011). Sixty nine percent of lunches served in RI
are free or reduced price—free and reduced price lunches are available to children from households within 185 percent and 130
liii
percent of the poverty line respectively.
Additionally, approximately 9,500 meals were served in child and adult day cares in RI in 2014, according the USDA’s Food
liv
Environment Atlas. The RI Department of Corrections serves 10,000 meals every day. And one of the state’s many institutions
of higher education, the University of Rhode Island has 13,000 undergraduates, many of whom take advantage of university
meal services.
Institutional meal programs represent a significant food source to many RI eaters and a significant potential marketplace for
many farmers. At the regional level, Farm to Institution New England estimates that the institutional market purchases $59
million in food annually. In a survey conducted by that organization, distributors (self-reporting) estimated that 21 percent of
their sales were of local foods.
USDA’s 2015 Farm to School Census data shows that during the 2014-2015 school year, 90 percent of school districts in
lv
Rhode Island were purchasing foods from local farmers, making RI the national leader in farm-to-school participation. In the
2011-2012 school year, RI public schools spent approximately $175,000 on food from RI farmers, with apples representing
about $100,000 of those sales. RI farm to school efforts began within the organization Kids Count, but are now housed at Farm
Fresh RI.
In 2015 Farm Fresh RI's Market Mobile Program saw $170,145.51 in sales to institutions including schools, universities and
hospitals. This was an increase of 88 percent over the previous year ($79,664.03). Farm Fresh RI expects significant growth in
local food sales to the institutional food market in 2016 as well schools, universities and hospitals.
Restaurants
lvi
lvii
According to the USDA Food Environment Atlas, there were 806 fast-food restaurants and 1,102 full-service restaurants in
Rhode Island in 2012 (the most recent year available from that source) for a total of 1,908 restaurants. Rhode Islanders spent
$636.55 in fast food per capita and $790.68 at full-service restaurants per capita in 2007 (the most recent data available).
The Rhode Island Department of Health, however, lists 2,832 licensed restaurants the state. This disparity is likely due to the
different definitions used by each entity to define a “restaurant”.
Additionally, Rhode Island’s tourist population provides an important economic driver to the state’s agriculture, food and
beverage industry. Every year, $1.63 billion in wages and salaries alone are generated by the state’s tourism industry, according
lviii
Visit Rhode Island, the official tourism organization of the state. It is also estimated that each visitor generates about $460 in
overall expenditures per visit. Wholesalers of fish and seafood, meats, produce, alcoholic beverages, and other suppliers to
restaurants all also indirectly benefit from the tourist economy in Rhode Island.
Rhode Island restaurants stand to benefit from the tourist population. In addition to the data above showing the economic
benefits of tourism, culinary tourism is on the rise nationally. According to the “American Culinary Traveler Report”, published by
Manadala Research, the percentage of U.S. leisure travelers who travel to learn about and enjoy unique dining experiences grew
lix
from 40 percent to 51 percent between 2006 and 2013. That same report says that 77 percent of America’s leisure
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travelers that among leisure travelers (the leisure travelers category includes about 170 million Americans) can be classified as
culinary travelers, seeking out food festivals, memorable meals, and other food experiences as a key part of their travel plans. Farmers’ Markets
lx
In 2015, there were 55 farmers’ markets in Rhode Island . Farm Fresh Rhode Island (FFRI) manages 10 of those, while, the
Department of Environmental Management (DEM) Division of Agriculture, community groups, and farmers manage others. RI is
rich in year-round farmers’ markets as well, with a total of eight spread across the state, in Pawtucket, Woonsocket, North
lxi
Kingstown, South Kingstown, Bristol, Wyoming, Eat Greenwich, and Middletown.
In a survey from the 2016 RI Farm to Table Strategic Marketing Plan, 88 percent of respondents were aware of farmers’
markets and farm stands in RI. 75 percent of them had visited one in the past year, 24 percent four to nine times per year, and
27 percent visited farmers’ markets or farm stands in RI 10 times or more per year. However, most of the customers (64
lxii
percent) reported being only light to moderate farmers’ market users. Of those who reported buying food at farmers’ markets
lxiii
and farm stands, 93 percent said they were “very satisfied with the quality, freshness, and nutritional value” of the food. As a
part of the same Strategic Marketing Plan creation process, a focus group was convened which listed the following
recommendations to improve customers’ experience at farmers’ markets in RI:
•
•
•
•
•
Increase hours and days of operation
Expand product offerings
Provide recipes and samples, as lack of knowledge about the produce and how to prepare it can limit buyers
Accept credit cards
Increase marketing via web, social media, maps, and improve signage
Approximately 30 of Rhode Island’s farmers’ markets accept SNAP benefits, with customers using an Electronic Benefit
lxiv
Transfer (EBT) card that is similar to a debit card. Farm Fresh Rhode Island’s 10 markets and 12 other farmers’ markets
accept Bonus Bucks, FFRI’s privately funded program which increases the value of SNAP dollars spent at farmers’ markets: for
every $5 spent at a farmers’ market using SNAP, consumers receive an additional $2 to spend at the market. Additionally,
lxvlxvi
approximately 33 farmers’ markets in RI accept WIC Farmers Market Nutrition Program coupons.
According to the USDA, in 2015, 26 farmers’ markets in RI (compared to eight in 2008) were authorized to make SNAP sales.
lxvii
In 2015, $105,271 worth of farmers’ market products were purchased with SNAP dollars.
The Rhode Island DEM Division of Agriculture and Rhode Island Department of Elderly Affairs administer Rhode Island’s Senior
Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program (FMNP), which provides seniors with three vouchers worth $5 each, for $15 total, for
purchases at farmers’ markets or farm stands. In 2015, a total of 42 farmers’ markets accepted the Senior FMNP coupons. A
total of 19,600 eligible seniors and handicapped people living in elderly housing redeemed 44,339 coupons, out of 58,800 that
were distributed that year, resulting in a redemption rate of 94% which exceeded FMNP’s goals for 2015 and resulted in
lxviii
$221,695 in revenue for RI farmers. This however is a decline from 2010, when seniors and others eligible for the FMNP
lxix
redeemed 49,000 vouchers worth $245,000 at RI farmers’ markets and farm stands. According to the Division of
Agriculture, this decline is attributable to a decrease in overall funding for the program, not a decrease in redemption rates.
Farm Stands and CSAs
In addition to farmer’s markets, farmers make sales directly to consumers at farm stands, often located on-farm and through
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), a model in which members purchase a “share” of a farm’s product for the season. As
lxx
of March 2016, there were 35 farms offering CSA shares in Rhode Island. This number has remained unchanged since 2011.
Data on the number of farmstands and CSA’s that accept SNAP was not available.
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Additionally, FFRI operates the Veggie Box program through which shares are delivered weekly to workplaces, community
centers, and schools around the state. As of 2016, the Veggie Box program works with 38 mid-sized farms in RI, over 4,000
lxxi
Rhode Islanders have signed up for the boxes, and boxes have been distributed to 164 sites (mostly workplaces).
Emergency Food
According to the Food Bank, an increasing number of Rhode Islanders are turning to emergency food providers. Before the
recession the number of residents in the state using emergency food services was 33,000 each month. Between September
2009 and August 2010, emergency food providers in Rhode Island served 55,000 people each month, and by 2015 the same
lxxii
network served 60,000 Rhode Islanders per month. During the fiscal year 2014, the Rhode Island Community Food Bank
distributed food to 214 emergency food pantries, meal programs, shelters, transitional housing, group homes, senior centers,
day care, and after school programs sites (down from 257 sites in 2011). The Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless
estimates that homelessness decreased in RI between 2012 and 2014 by nearly 20 percent, though potential reasons for that
lxxiii
decline were not available. These numbers include only homeless individuals who had accessed shelter or transitional housing
services—those living outdoors or in the houses of families or friends were not included in this count. Of the estimated 4,067
homeless individuals in RI in 2014, 3,422 (84.1 percent) were living in emergency shelters. Of the eleven individual adult and
family shelters in Rhode Island, nine provide meal service in some form.
In another effort aimed to increase food security, Raising the Bar on Nutrition, is the RI Community Food Bank’s cooking and
nutrition education program, designed to help the Food Bank’s clients plan and execute healthy affordable meals. The multiweek workshop series is planned around utilization of ingredients available through the Food Bank, and additional supplementary
ingredients are distributed to participants.
There are also partnerships between emergency food providers and RI gardeners. For example, emergency food providers on
Aquidneck Island provide clients with fresh local produce grown at the Methodist Community Garden, and Grow Up! Community
Garden in Woonsocket requires that gardeners donate 10 percent of their harvest to select area food pantries.
At the end of summer 2011, FFRI launched its farm to pantry program, picking up produce leftover at the end of its farmers’
markets, aggregating that product in its packing facility, and then trucking it out along Market Mobile routes two days each week.
Creatively using their existing infrastructure (markets, relationships with farmers, and available truck and cooler space), FFRI
distributed hundreds of pounds of fresh produce donated by 11 farmers to seven food pantries that serve over 1,500 families in
lxxiv
that first year alone and the program has continued since that time.
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WHAT DO RHODE ISLANDERS EAT?
There is very little data collected at a large scale over time about what people eat, how they make decisions about what they eat,
or how household structure or other factors influence these choices. However, several sources provide some insights and are
presented below.
The Consumer Expenditure Survey data from 2013 and 2014 covers the northeast region, not RI alone, shows how consumers
spend their food dollars. In that time period, residents of the U.S. northeastern region spent 60 percent of their food budgets on
lxxv
lxxvi
“food at home” and 40 percent on “food away from home”. Of the “food at home” category, fruits and vegetables
represented 19 percent of food budgets (including fresh and processed produce), meat represented 21 percent, eggs 1 percent,
lxxvii
and dairy products 11 percent. This breakdown was more or less consistent across income groups. In the northeast, the
average annual expenditure for food away from home was $2,789, with significant variation across income groups.
Interestingly, households with less than $5,000 in annual income spent $1,629 on food away from home. Households with
incomes between $5,00 and $15,000 spent less than $950 per year on food away (27 to 30 percent of their total food
spend). In the $15-20,000 income group, expenditures increased again to $1,324, and then continue to increase as income
increases.
The most recent U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) State Indicator Report on Fruits and Vegetables
(F&V), released in 2013, 32.9 percent of adults and 36.5 percent of adolescents in Rhode Island reported eating fruits less
then one time per day. Similarly, 20.7 percent of adults and 35.3 percent of adolescents in RI said they ate vegetables less than
one time daily.
Behavioral Indicators for Fruit and Vegetable Consumption in Rhode Island, 2013
Adults
lxxviii
Adolescents
Percentage who report
consuming fruits and
vegetables less than 1 time
daily
Median intake of fruits and
vegetables (times per day)
Percentage who report
consuming fruits and
vegetables less than 1 time
daily
Median intake of fruits and
vegetables (times per day)
Fruits
Fruits
Fruits
Fruits
32.9
Vegetables
20.7
1.2
Vegetables
1.6
36.5
Vegetables
35.3
1
Vegetables
1.3
The median intakes of fruits and vegetables among adults in Rhode Island are currently 1.2 and 1.6 times per day respectively.
The median intake of fruits by adults in RI is slightly higher than the national median daily intake of 1.1 times per day. However, the
daily median intakes of vegetables by adults, as well as the median daily intakes by adolescents in RI (depicted above) are in line
lxxix
with the national averages. Overall, consumption of fruit and vegetables in RI, as nationally, is low.
According to the CDC, due to changes in the way that data was collected, fruit and vegetable intake data from 2011 onward
cannot be compared to previous estimates. Though the measures are not parallel, according to the CDC, in 2009 less than 15
percent of RI adults and less than nine percent of RI adolescents were consuming the recommended amount of fruits and
vegetables daily (at least two servings of fruit and at least three servings of vegetables). Data collected at the regional level in
2006 indicated that purchases of fruits and vegetables by Rhode Islanders equaled 151 pounds per person per year and per
capita purchases of packaged sweet snacks equaled 115 pounds per person per year. For every one-pound of fruits and
vegetables purchased, over three-quarters of a pound of sweet snacks were purchased.
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Rhode Islanders' Consumption of Fruits and Vegetables (2009)
lxxx
Fruit: 2 or More
Servings (%)
Vegetable: 3 or
More Servings (%)
Both Fruit (2 or more)
and Vegetable (3 or
More) (%)
Adults (aged 18
and over)
36.4
25.9
14.6
Adolescents
(grades 9-12)
30.9
11.7
8.6
A study by researchers from Harvard’s School of Public Health and Tufts University, published in the American Heart
Association’s Circulation journal, found that price interventions, such as a 10 percent subsidy on fruits and vegetables, would
increase consumption of fruits and vegetables, and in turn significantly decrease cardiovascular disease (CVD) outcomes. The
benefits would include reducing non-fatal strokes by 25 percent and 24 percent, respectively, and would lead to 5- and 20lxxxi
year reductions of CVD deaths by 8 percent and 10 percent, respectively. The study estimated the combined benefits of 10
percent subsidies on the prices of fruits, vegetables, and grains, and a 10 percent tax on sugary beverages would prevent more
lxxxii
than 3.5 million CVD deaths and over 4 million CVD events by 2035.
WHAT HEALTH OUTCOMES RELATE TO THE FOOD SYSTEM?
Obesity and Diet Related Disease
lxxxiii
In the U.S., in 2015, over 30 percent of adults were considered obese. The Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) and the Robert
th
Wood Johnson Foundation’s (RWJF) latest State of Obesity report for 2015 indicates that Rhode Island has the 12 lowest
lxxxiv
adult obesity rate in the nation , at 27 percent, up from 16.9 percent in 2000, and from 10.1 percent in 1990.
Obesity Rates Nationally and in Rhode
Island by Race/Ethnicity, 2015
Obesity Rate (%)
60
50
40
47.8
National
Rhode Island
42.5
31.3
30
28
32.6
26.6
20
10
0
Black
Latino
White
Race/ Ethnicity
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The CDC data indicate that at the county
level, as of 2012, Kent County and Providence
County had the highest obesity rates in RI, at
27.7 percent and 27.6 percent respectively,
followed by Washington County (23.9
percent), Newport County (21.7 percent), and
Bristol County (21.3 percent).
The graph (left) compares national and Rhode
Island (RI) obesity rates by race/ethnicity,
indicating that RI’s obesity rates are currently
significantly lower than the national rates
across populations. Obesity affects Rhode
Islanders disproportionately by race/ethnicity,
with the black/African American population
having the highest rates at 31.3 percent (47.8
percent nationally), followed by Latinos at 28
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Update to the Rhode Island Food Assessment
lxxxv
percent (compared to 42.5 percent nationally); and the white population at 26.6 percent in RI (32.6 percent nationally). In
lxxxvi
2012, RI men had a higher obesity rate (27.8 percent) than women (23.8 percent). This differs from the national average,
lxxxvii
were female obesity rates (36.5 percent) were higher than male obesity rates (33.1 percent) as of 2013.
In 2014 adults between the ages of 45 and 64 years old had the state’s highest obesity rates at 29.5 percent. This was
compared to Rhode Islanders aged 18 to 25 years at 17.9 percent; 26 to 44 years, 28.6 percent; and 65 years and over, 26.1
lxxxviii
lxxxix
percent.
This follows trends nationally, in which middle-aged adults have the highest obesity rates.
While RI’s obesity rate overall is lower than the national rate, among the 41 states that maintain data on childhood obesity,
xc
Rhode Island has the second highest rate of obesity for children aged 2-to 4- years from low-income families, at 16.6 percent.
Additionally, 13.2 percent of 10-to17 year-olds in RI are considered obese, and 10.7 percent of RI high school students.
Several policies have been implemented over the past decade, focused on child health and food at school. A 2005 amendment
to the RI General Laws that charged school committees with addressing the health and wellness of students and employees
and with establishing school board subcommittees, or wellness committees, to decrease obesity and address school health and
wellness policies for students and employees. Further, the 2006 and 2007 amendments to the RI General Laws that defined
healthier foods and beverages, and required all RI schools (that sell or distribute beverages or snacks) to offer only those that
meet “healthier” criteria.
Rhode Island’s current hypertension rate among adults is 33.8 percent (2013), up from 28.3 percent in 2009, and 22.9
xci
xcii
percent in 2000. The rate of hypertension in RI is 15th highest in the nation.
xciii
In 2010, there were 64,987 cases of heart disease in Rhode Island, and 17,094 obesity-related cancer cases. It is projected
that by the year 2030, the number of cases of heart disease and obesity related cancer will rise to 301,251 and 43,619
xciv
respectively.
As described in the Population Demographics section above, RI has a significant and growing population of senior citizens. How
this population trend correlates to increases in chronic and diet related disease is an area for further exploration.
Diabetes is a growing concern in RI as the percentage of adults in Rhode Island who reported ever being told by a health
xcv
professional that they had diabetes increased from 4.6 percent in 1995, to 7.3 percent in 2010, and to 8.3 percent in 2014.
xcvi
According to CDC data, the total, age-adjusted diagnosed diabetes rates in RI in 2010 and 2014 remained below the national
median of 8.3 percent and 9.1 percent respectively. In 2014, diagnosed diabetes rates for all age groups in Rhode Island also
remained below the national medians: 2 percent of adults aged 18-44 (2.8 percent national median); 12.1 percent of adults aged
45-64 (13.2 percent national median); 21.8 percent of adults aged 65-74 (22.2 percent national median); and 20.4 percent of
xcvii
adults aged 75+ (21.2 percent national median).
Diagnosed diabetes rates vary among RI counties, with Providence and Kent having the highest rates at 9.5 and 9.4 percent
respectively, followed by Bristol County with 8.7 percent, Washington County with 8.5 percent, and Newport County with 8.1
xcviii
xcix
percent. The CDC classifies overweight and obesity as leading risk factor[s] for type II diabetes , and, as shown in the table
below, Providence County and Kent County have the highest rates of both obesity and diabetes in Rhode Island.
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Rhode Island Diagnosed Diabetes & Obesity Rates, By County (2012)
County
c
Obesity (%)
Diagnosed Diabetes (%)
Kent
27.7
9.4
Providence
27.6
9.5
Washington
23.9
8.5
Newport
21.7
8.1
Bristol
21.3
8.7
Nationally, and in RI, there is a significant lack of geographically specific health data below the county level. However, Providence
is one of four cities nationally that will be involved in a pilot program (of the White House Strong Cities Strong Communities
Initiative, in partnership with New York University and with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation) that will
ci
“pioneer” the gathering and use city-level data to inform policy and investment related to health in coming years.
The RI DOH provided an estimate (based on research by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation) that $663 million was spent
(combined, by all parties) on preventable obesity related health care costs in RI in 2012, and that that number grows to $1.2
billion when costs related not just to obesity but to overweight are included as well. It is estimated that nationwide in 2011, $153
cii
billion worth of productivity was lost in 2011 due to obesity and related health problems.
Public Health Initiatives Related to Food
According to interviews, over the past five years, the RI Department of Health is taking an increasingly integrated and “holistic”
approach to food, nutrition and related health outcomes, by investing in RI communities to develop clinical, social and
environmental solutions to public health problems, and is investing in DOH’s capacity to support them and share their learnings.
The RI Department of Health’s director as of 2015, Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott, has identified healthy equity and the elimination
of health disparities, including the social and environmental determinants of health, as priority areas for the state, with a focus
on the state’s most vulnerable populations. In 2015, in partnership with the CDC, the RI Department of Health established
Health Equity Zones (HEZ) to promote place-based strategies to build healthier communities. Eleven HEZ grantees spread
geographically across the state have been engaged to generate and implement innovative solutions to public health problems.
As a part of the health equity work, the Providence, West Warwick and Woonsocket HEZ’s are developing strategies and plans
to improve food security and the food environment over the course of the next three years.
The DOH chairs the Inter-Agency Food and Nutrition Policy Advisory Council (IFNPAC), created by statute with the Local
Agriculture and Seafood Act (LASA) in 2012. IFNPAC has grown from three to now eight state agencies—including the
Departments of Environmental Management, Health, Administration, Corrections, Human Services, Education, Elderly Affairs,
and Commerce. The council meets quarterly and has a formal working relationship with the state’s Food Policy Council.
The DOH has also partnered in recent years with the Dunkin Donuts Center and its food service provider, Delaware North, to
improve the range of healthy offerings and align offerings with DOH’s nutrition standards.
The RI Department of Health also helped develop the Eat Smart Move More RI: A Plan for Action 2010-2015 to coordinate
ciii
obesity prevention efforts in childcare centers, schools, communities, and worksites.
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All data for PUBLIC HEALTH INDICATORS
are from the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
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Update to the Rhode Island Food Assessment
Health Care and Social Assistance
Establishments per 1000 Households
1.3
19.7
Health Care and Social Assistance Establishments
are based on NAICS code 62, which includes the
following subsectors: Ambulatory health care
services, Hospitals, Nursing and residential care
facilities, and Social assistance
The data sources for ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE are as follows:
Health Care and Social Assistance Establishments: U.S. 2012 Economic Census;
Total Number of Households: American Community Survey 2010-2014 5-year estimates;
Federally Qualified Health Centers: Rhode Island Health Center Association.
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WHAT FOODS ARE PRODUCED AND HARVESTED IN RI?
Agriculture and Aquaculture
The overall trajectory in the size and number of Rhode Island farms since the late 1970s has been a decrease in farm size
concurrent with an increase in the number of farms statewide that positions RI as a leader in U.S. small farm growth. The
number of farms increased 42 percent from 858 farms in 2002 to 1,219 farms in 2007 (ten times the national average
civ
growth in that time period) and up to 1,243 in 2012.
According to the USDA’s 2013 New England Farm Cash Receipts report (released in 2015), sales of Rhode Island agriculture
cv
products totaled $59.1 million in 2013, down from $62 million in 2010 and $69 million in 2008. The majority of Rhode
Island’s farm sales included in this number are greenhouse and nursery products (also called “green” or “ornamental” products).
However, as demand for ornamentals has decreased with instability in the economy and housing markets since 2008, Rhode
Island’s green industry (and thus overall agricultural) sales and production have declined.
As a complement and counterpoint to the data prepared by the USDA Census and National Agricultural Statistics Service, a
formal analysis of the green industry’s economic impact in RI was undertaken as a cooperative effort between the University of
Rhode Island, Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM), Rhode Island Economic Development
Corporation (now called Commerce RI), Rhode Island Nursery and Landscape Association, Rhode Island Turfgrass Foundation,
and the Rhode Island Agricultural partnership. The report was published in January 2013 and updated in early 2015 as “The
Economic Impact of Rhode Island Plant-Based Industries and Agriculture.”
Overall, the report values RI agriculture at four times the USDA’s estimates, and calculates the number of jobs in agriculture at
1.4 times the USDA’s calculations. The report estimates that agricultural sales in Rhode Island reached $238.9 million and that
the agriculture sector accounted for 2,563 jobs, not including more than 2,000 jobs for farm operators and their family
members (also not included in the USDA’s calculations of job impacts). The RI economic impact study breaks these numbers
down by agricultural subsector, reporting that greenhouse, floriculture, and nursery industry sales in 2014 reached $110 million
and accounted for 1,251 jobs; crop production accounted for $63.1 million in sales and 776 jobs; animal production accounted
for $44.1 million in sales and 366 jobs; aquaculture production accounted for $3 million in sales and 105 jobs; and grape
vineyards accounted for $18.5 million in sales and 65 jobs.
The report also separately analyzes the economic impact of agricultural support and related industries, including farm
machinery and equipment wholesalers; farm management services; produce, grocery and related wholesalers; support activities
for animal production; and wineries. Together these agricultural support and related industries represent $550.6 million in
economic activity, with produce wholesalers comprising the largest share ($505.6 million) followed by support activities for
animal production ($16.9 million) and wineries ($16.1 million).
The economic impact report explains that the USDA Census of Agriculture does not fully estimate the value of the Rhode
Island’s agricultural revenues. Due to the small size of the state, the report states that the typical sampling and estimation
methods used by the USDA are not representative of Rhode Island’s agriculture sector. Further, the report explains, the USDA
Census does not typically include the value of value-added products or farm services (beyond products), which are a significant
income source for RI farms. This research is significant not just for its summary findings, but for the methodology it developed
and relied upon. The research team notes that while “micro-level” statistical data from federal sources is often a foundation of
economic development and planning at the local/municipal level, federal data is rarely available in a disaggregated way or at
detailed levels of geography (such as the zip code level). As a result, a method was developed which combined federal Census of
Agriculture data with an outside statistical sample, a method to be built upon for future research in this arena. The RI economic
impact study used economic data, including revenues and employment, which were collected through a survey of over 200 local
green-related businesses, and combined with records from Reference USA, a frequently updated, industry-standard database
of 14 million U.S. firms. For known businesses where individual economic data were unavailable, conservative estimates were
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Update to the Rhode Island Food Assessment
derived from state-level profiles including the 2007 USDA/NASS Agricultural Census, contractor and business listings from
the RI Secretary of State’s office, and licensing information from the RI Department of Environmental Management. According
to the report’s authors, the 204 surveyed farms in the research sample alone accounted for sales almost three times as high as
the USDA’s 2007 Census numbers for all 1,219 farms combined.
This study’s methodology and its findings are widely viewed in RI as more inclusive and more representative of the economic
value of the state’s agriculture sector than are the USDA data. However, because the RI economic impact research is not
currently funded to occur at regular intervals over the course of many years, as the USDA Census of Agriculture does and
because USDA data remains the national standard for metrics related to agricultural production, KK&P has included findings
from both sources.
Due to changes in recent years in USDA agricultural data classifications, the greenhouse and nursery industry is now reported
cvi
under the new “Other Crops” category, which in Rhode Island is primarily comprised of greenhouse and nursery products. In
cvii
2013, “Other Crops” totaled approximately $34.3 million, or 57.9 percent of Rhode Island’s total agricultural sales that year.
cviii
This was down from $42.4 million in 2008 and $38.4 million in 2010.
By value, vegetables represented the next largest agricultural sector in RI, followed by other livestock, fruits, milk, poultry and
feed crops, in order of descending value as depicted below.
Rhode Island Cash Receipts (2013)
By Commodity in 1,000 Dollars
Milk , $3,684
Vegetables, $10,301
Fruits, $4,298
Other Crops, $34,261
Poultry, $1,316
Feed Crops, $977
Other Livestock, $4,308
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service. New England Field Office. New England Farm Cash Receipts 2013.
According to the USDA, RI farms averaged $47,990 in sales in 2012, down 11 percent from $54,067 in 2007. Just 24 RI
farms reported sales of $500,000 or more in 2012, with the majority of farms (75 percent) reporting annual sales of less than
cix
$20,000. (It is important to note that the USDA Census uses a low cash receipt value in its definition of a farm: a place from
which at least $1,000 of agricultural products are sold in a normal production year.) The “Farmers and Farmworkers” section
below includes some detail about the share of RI cash receipts represented by young and beginning farmers in the state.
Diverse crop production is fairly common among all categories of Rhode Island farmers. For example, in 2012, in addition to their
vegetable production, of the state’s 139 farms categorized as vegetable producers, 20.9 percent of the farms also sold fruits,
nuts, and berries (down from 28.4 percent in 2007); 32.4 percent produced nursery and greenhouse products (up from 20.6
percent in 2007); 22.3 percent produced poultry and eggs (up from 13.5 percent in 2007); 1.4 percent raised cattle for beef
(down from 7.8 percent in 2007); and just 1.4 percent raised sheep and goats (down from 11.3 percent in 2007). Additionally,
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over 20 percent of RI fruit farmers also grew vegetables in both 2007 and 2012, however the number of farms classified as
cx cxi
fruit and nut farms notably decreased from 92 in 2007 to just 65 in 2012. ,
The 2011 Food Assessment found that ornamental producers were diversifying their production to include native plants, trees,
and perennials as well as corn, tomatoes, and other vegetables, and were adding green roof, garden installation, and agri-tourism
activities (such as hay rides or corn mazes) to their farms, and the most recent USDA Census information bears out that trend.
In 2012, of the 256 farms classified as nursery, greenhouse, floriculture and sod farms that made $32.8 million in sales, 45
farms (up from 29 in 2007) also made sales of vegetables and melons (with 4 of them selling more than $50,000 worth of
these crops), 7 made sales in fruit and tree nuts (1 selling more than $50,000), 17 sold “other crops” (e.g. hay), 6 were involved in
cxii
beef cattle ranching and farming and one was engaged with aquaculture. Despite this diversification, $31.5 million of the
$32.8 million in sales made by farms classified as nursery, greenhouse, floriculture and sod were in greenhouse, nursery and
floriculture products. Anecdotally the research team learned that some growers who have diversified into food crops have
experienced challenges building differentiated markets for these products.
According to the USDA Census, while greenhouse and nursery sales have declined each year since 2006, during the same
period, fruit and vegetable sales (including sweet corn, apples, berries and other fruits and vegetables) have increased by nearly
cxiii
cxiv
two-thirds, from $9.4 million in 2006 to $15.2 million in 2010 and $16.8 million by 2012. This illustrates both the
diversification of ornamental producers into food crops, as well as an overall increase— among the full range of RI agricultural
producers—in fruit and vegetable production
In RI, aquaculture is overseen by the DEM’s
Division of Agriculture, along with land-based
food production.
The Coastal Resources Management Council
reports that the farm gate value of
aquaculture products in RI totaled
$5,433,948 in 2015 (significantly more than
the $3 million counted in the RI green
industry economic impact report described in
cxv
the preceding section). The graph (left)
taken from the 2015 Annual Status Report
on RI aquaculture shows the total value of the
sector from 1995 to 2015, including
significant industry growth since 2005.
As of 2015, RI had 61 active aquaculture farms on approximately 241 acres, and oysters continued to be RI’s leading
cxvi
aquaculture product, with over 8.2 million pieces sold for consumption in 2015. According to experts and regulators, one of
the most significant limits to increasing aquaculture production (in terms of number of acres of water committed to
aquaculture) is not environmental carrying capacity or availability of space, but social carrying capacity: the extent to which
aquaculture ventures compete with other water users (e.g. waterfront homeowners, boaters, recreational water users) for
access.
Farm Direct Marketing
Since the 1980s, RI farmers have moved from wholesale marketing, dairy production, and mono cropping into diverse
production and direct retail sales to consumers at farmers’ markets, farm stands, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), and
cxvii
other channels.
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Between 2002 and 2007, the value of the products sold directly from RI farmers to consumers through farm stands, CSAs,
and farmers’ markets (referred to as direct to consumer sales, direct retail, or direct marketing) grew from $3.70 million to
cxviii
$6.29 million. In 2007, direct to consumer sales represented 9.5 percent of Rhode Island’s total agricultural production,
cxix
significantly higher than the national average of 0.4 percent. In 2012, 30.2 percent of all RI farms were engaged in direct to
cxx
consumer sales (up from 20.4 percent in 2007). Nevertheless, the value of agricultural products sold directly to consumers
cxxi
declined slightly to $6.25 million in 2012, representing 10.5 percent of RI’s total agricultural production. Despite the slight
cxxii
decline, this percentage was still exponentially higher than the national average of direct to consumer sales of 0.3 percent.
As described in the Agriculture section above, the USDA Census data may not be fully representative of the value of RI
agriculture. But in order to illustrate what percentage of food grown in Rhode Island might have been purchased by Rhode
cxxiii
Islanders, KK&P started with the USDA’s estimated total value of 2013 agricultural sales ($59.1 million) then subtracted
cxxiv
cxxv
greenhouse and nursery products ($34.3 million) and agricultural food exports ($8.7 million) to arrive at $16.1 million in
domestic non-green industry sales. As mentioned above, direct sales to consumers account for $6.25 million of these sales.
Thus an estimated 39 percent of Rhode Island’s non-green agriculture industry sales are made directly to consumers in the
state.
Data from 2010 describes the flow of RI milk across the region. In 2010, of the 1.6 million pounds of milk produced in RI, 26
percent was processed in state, 45 percent in Connecticut and 29 percent in Massachusetts. It bears noting that Rhody Fresh,
which represents a large portion of the fluid milk produced in RI, is processed in Connecticut but is then sold in RI. Since 2010, RI
milk production has remained relatively steady.
According to the USDA’s latest Census of Agriculture, New England (along with Alaska and Hawaii) had the largest percentage
cxxvi
of farms selling directly to retailers such as restaurants, schools, grocery stores, or other businesses that sell to consumers.
Rhode Island is among the top states in direct sales to retailers, with 14 percent of farms doing so. This is higher than the
cxxvii
national average of 2.3 percent in 2012.
On average, RI farms are small in acreage, cash receipts and volume of production, while very large national food distributors
and food retailers (such as Sysco and Stop and Shop) are significant players in the state’s food system. Because of this
imbalance of scale, access to wholesale markets can be challenging for the state’s smaller commercial farms. Still, in addition to
RI farmers’ direct to consumer marketing, there are a number of retail establishments around the state that purchase
agricultural products directly from RI farmers. These foods are not always distinguished as local foods at point of sale, making
tracking their prevalence at retail difficult. Anecdotally, a number of retailers are known to prioritize and feature local foods,
including Dave’s Marketplace (with nine locations in Providence, Kent and Washington Counties), Belmont Market (one
Washington County location), Clement’s (one Newport County location), Roch’s Fruit and Vegetable (two locations in Kent and
Washington Counties), Whole Foods (three Providence County locations), and Eastside Marketplace (one Providence location).
Rhody Fresh (fluid milk and a growing line of value added dairy products) is perhaps the state’s highest profile and most widely
distributed local product line. The above mentioned retail establishments carry Rhody Fresh products, as well as over 18 other
cxxviii
retailers including at multiple Stop and Shop locations, Shaw’s, and CVS pharmacies.
Farm Fresh RI’s Market Mobile works with family farms in RI and Massachusetts to distribute local produce, dairy and meat to
hundreds of restaurants, grocery stores, schools and hospitals that serve the local population in Providence, Newport, Westerly,
cxxix
and Boston. Market Mobile’s sales for the first few months of 2016 (as of April) totaled $613,238 in fresh food from 77 local
producers to 227 customers. The program has sold more than $10 million worth of local foods since 2009.
According to Farm Fresh RI’s 2015 Rhode Island Farm to Institution report, 86 percent of institutional purchasers surveyed
said they buy local to support the local economy, and 67 percent said that their cafeteria patrons are requesting local foods.
Regarding obstacles that institutional purchasers face to buying local, 71 percent cite price constraints, 57 percent cite
distribution obstacles, and 48 percent cite insufficient volume. Institutional purchasers also cited food safety certifications (GAP,
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HACCP) and high liability insurance as hurdles local farmers would need to clear in order to sell to institutional markets.
Nevertheless, 100 percent said they want to buy processed local produce, and 57 percent said they would buy more local
product if a supplier could provide more information on product availability.
In order to support RI farmers in meeting this demand, recommendations from the 2015 RI Farm to Institution survey report
include increasing the number of produce processing facilities, creating markets that drive harvesting of B-grade produce for
processing, increasing institutional commitments to local sourcing, and building awareness (among farmers and institutional
cxxx
purchasers) of regional marketing opportunities and regional supply chain networks.
Since the 1990s, Rhode Island has had a local procurement policy in place that gives public agencies flexibility in procurement of
Rhode Island products in what is otherwise a rigid state contracting system, and Master Price Agreement 435 includes “Buy
Local Requirements.” In recent years, state agencies, including DEM Division of Agriculture and the Department of
Administration, partnered to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the procurement policy. A 2009 administrative
policy included language about local food within new nutrition criteria for school food contracts, and is seen as a pre-cursor for a
statewide school food service model that has the potential to increase local procurement in schools.
Farmland
According to the 2012 USDA Census, Rhode Island’s farmland increased by 3 percent in the period between 2007 and 2012—
farmland now totals 69,589 acres, with 32.5 percent in cropland (a decrease in acreage since 2007) and 9.3 percent in
cxxxi
pasture (an increase since 2007).
In 2007, of the state’s 67,800 acres of farmland, 6,144 acres were in pasture and
cxxxii
24,457 acres of cropland.
Rhode Island, like many states along the Eastern Seaboard and nationally, saw a startling amount of farmland go out of
production during the 20th century, for a range of reasons including (but not limited to) shifts in agricultural technology and
mechanization, industry consolidation, shifts in transportation infrastructure, and urbanization and development patterns. RI has
cxxxiii
lost more than 80 percent of its farmland since the 1940s, when there were 300,000 acres in production.
Keeping land in
production is a particularly acute challenge in Rhode Island where, at close to $14,000 per acre, the statewide average value of
cxxxiv
farm real estate is the highest in the country.
The high per acre price of farmland in RI, according to one interviewee, has
meant that very few beginning farmers are able to purchase their own land, and innovative lease structures are emerging to
provide farmers with the stability needed in order to invest in soil improvements and in new infrastructure on land they do not
own. Multiple organizations—including RI DEM and the Division of Agriculture, American Farmland Trust, Land for Good, and the
Conservation Law Foundation— are currently working in RI to generate creative solutions to matching aspiring beginning
farmers with stable arrangements on quality farmland. But absent a clear “matchmaking” service or process, beginning farmers
are depending on their networks to find land to farm, resulting in what many see as unequal access to farmland in RI.
To improve aspiring farmers’ ability to access farmland in RI, Southside Community Land Trust created Urban Edge Farm, a 50
acre farm incubator that is currently host to seven farm businesses. DEM and the Northern RI Conservation District have
partnered in recent years to lease portions of the 150 acre historic Snake Den Farm to young and beginning farmers in the
state.
th
In December 2014, the RI Agricultural Lands Preservation Commission purchased the development rights to its 100 farm.
Since the program began in 1985, 102 farms and over 7,000 acres of working farmland have been protected. The RI
Agricultural Partnership estimates that this farmland provides the state with approximately $90 million worth of ecosystem
cxxxv
services (including habitat value, flood prevention, carbon sequestration and better air quality).
Research by Dr. Cory Lang at URI applied hedonic pricing principles to farm and forest land preservation to build an
understanding of the value those lands confer to the towns and cities they abut. He found that for every $1 spent on funding
public open space, new home-buyers will pay $2.34; thus investing in open space increases property values more broadly. While
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Update to the Rhode Island Food Assessment
this increase in “willingness to pay” would have some positive economic outcomes on a town’s assets and economy, this research
suggests that land preservation investment could lead to a rise in the value per acre of farmland, paradoxically decreasing
cxxxvi
farmers’ land access.
Several RI policies relate to land use planning at the state and municipal level. In 2011, a statute was amended to require that
agriculture be considered in the economic development element of city and town local comprehensive plans (RIGL § 42-22.2-6
cxxxvii
(b)(7)).
And in January of 2016, the RI Comprehensive Planning Standards created a guidance handbook related to
“Planning for Agriculture” for municipal planners, which introduces and defines agriculture, explains the value of its inclusion in
planning, refers, provides guidance on alignment with state goals and policies related to agriculture, and connects agriculture to
other Comprehensive Plan standards and topic areas. Policy LUP19 from “Land Use 2025: RI’s State Land Use Policies and
Plan” instructs planners to “preserve the best farmland and active farms in the State for active agricultural use.”
Farmers and Farmworkers
In 2007, a total of 1,219 principal operators managed RI farms, and by the 2012 USDA Census that number had increased
cxxxviii
slightly to 1,243.
Almost half of all farm operators (49.8 percent) listed farming as their primary occupation in 2012, up
slightly from 48 percent in 2007. Given that 75 percent of RI farms sell less than $20,000 per year, it is not surprising that
over half of RI farmers also hold other jobs.
In 2012, 937 principal farm operators in RI were men while 306 were women, roughly the same proportions as demonstrated
by the 2007 Census. Since 2011, RI has held an annual ‘Women in Agriculture Conference’, with organizational leadership from
URI Cooperative Extension and, increasingly in recent years, from the Farm Bureau to support women farmers.
The USDA collects data about up to three operators per farm. Based on the 2012 data, 1,975 RI operators reported being
white (up from 1,840 in 2007), 9 were black/African American (up from a reported 1 in 2007), 20 were Asian (down from 28 in
cxxxix
2007), and 7 were American Indian (down from 11). In 2012, 17 operators were of Spanish, Hispanic or Latino origin.
The predominance of white farm operators in Rhode Island aligns with the predominately white population in RI’s four less urban
counties. However, there is significant diversity among farm workers in Rhode Island. In 2011 interviews, farmers described a
workforce comprised of people from Portugal, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Southeast Asia, and Central America. The Department of
Labor and Training’s state plan for 2016 includes a section on agriculture, which noted that the top five labor-intensive crops in
RI are apples, greenhouse/nursery, dairy, aquaculture and sweet corn. The DLT estimates that during the most recent peak
season there were 34 migrant seasonal farmworkers and 27 migrant farmworkers in RI, the majority of whom come from
Jamaica and speak Jamaican Patois. The DLT’s 2016 plan includes objectives for increased outreach to farms and
cxl
farmworkers.
In 2016, the Southside Community Land Trust (SCLT) is introducing a farming apprenticeship for veterans and minorities, with
funding from the USDA’s Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers Program. SCLT will place apprentices on three RI
farms for paid, part-time assignments. This approach intends to mitigate the impacts of lack of affordable farmland and
resources related to agriculture for these groups to enter farming as a career. The goal of the apprenticeships is to “clear a
path,” which includes developing a business plan for potential to start a farm business at SCLT’s farm incubator Urban Edge in
cxli
Cranston.
RI farmers, like farmers across the country, are aging. The average age of principal farm operators in Rhode Island increased to
56.7 years in 2012 (up from 54 in 2007), still below the national average age of 58.3 years (which has also increased since
cxliicxliii
2007).
According to the American Farmland Trust, there are 363 farmers in RI aged 65 or older (senior farmers), and
they are proprietors of approximately 31 percent of farms in RI, which generated 22 percent of RI’s agricultural market value in
cxliv
cxlv
2012. Most of these senior farmers (roughly 90 percent) currently lack a young farm operator working alongside them.
However, according to a focus groups of 67 participants convened by the American Farmland Trust, farmers in RI want the land
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to stay in farming and are willing to explore a variety of succession options, including farm transfer to operators who are not
cxlvi
family members. Interestingly, interviews conducted by KK&P revealed that some young and beginning farmers in RI
experience significant resistance to the idea of land transfers to non-family members. Further discussion across generations of
RI farmers will be needed to clarify this inconsistency.
At the same time, over the past five to ten years, there has been a surge in new farmers (of all ages) RI. Beginning farmers in RI
(defined as farmers who have less than 10 years of experience as farm operator) manage 10,725 acres of land and generated
$5.7 million in agriculture sales in 2012. Young farm operators (under age 45) increased by 13 percent between 2002 and
2012. This contrasts the New England regional trend, which saw a decrease of 15 percent in young farmers during the same
cxlvii
period.
RI also has a higher number of beginning farmers than the region as a whole (30 percent compared to 25 percent),
and like rest of the region has a prevalence of older beginning farmers—62 percent of beginning farmers are older than 45
years old, likely coming to farming as a second career. Twenty percent of RI’s young farmers have over ten years of experience,
but most of the state’s young farmers are categorized as beginning farmers as well. Among beginning farmers, young farmers
tend to require more financing and access to capital opportunities than older beginners who are often bringing resources with
them from previous careers. Young farmers are gravitating towards vegetables as their primary commodity more so than their
cxlviii
older counterparts who grow more greenhouse/nursery, beef, and fruit.
In RI since 2011, a Young Farmer Network has
emerged and strengthened, focused on information sharing, trainings, and capacity building through network building.
To support senior, young and beginning farmers, the American Farmland Trust recommends providing them with technical
assistance regarding transfer and succession and encouraging all farmers to plan for succession early in their business venture.
For young farmers, the group recommends policies that increase their access to land and financing, as well as business skill
cxlix
development. An interview conducted as part of the Assessment Update process revealed that in order for succession
planning to truly take hold in RI, there is a cultural rift that will need to be navigated carefully as well, between farmers of differing
generations, mindsets, and approaches to production.
Fisheries
Since the publication of the RI Food Assessment in 2011, seafood—including fisheries and aquaculture— has incrementally but
increasingly become a more significant part of the food systems conversation nationwide. According to the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), in 2014, Rhode Island commercial fisheries landed 91,359,000 pounds of fish and
cl
shellfish valued at $86.2 million, $27 million more in value that the state’s agricultural cash receipts. According to NOAA, in
2012, Rhode Island’s commercial fishing industry generated $1.2 billion in sales, $296 million in income, and $469 million in
cli
value added impacts. It generated 10,509 jobs in the state in 2012, of which the retail sector generated 4,423, followed by
importers, which generated 2,793 jobs, and commercial harvesters, which generated 2,197 jobs.
In RI and New England, a complex set of policies and management programs at the state, federal and regional level guide what
fisherman can catch (in the form of catch quotas based in part on stock assessments and other ways of assessing the health of
the fisheries) and thus are thus foundational in defining the scope of the industry.
In RI, since 2011, at least two Community Supported Fisheries have emerged (based on the Community Supported Agriculture
membership/share model) in RI, and seafood is more often to be found at the state’s farmers’ markets. Increasingly, seafood
direct marketers are focusing on “under-marketed” species— those species that are abundant in RI waters, known and
celebrated by many local fishermen, but lesser known among consumers. There has been a focus on these species in order to
create new market opportunities for fishermen while introducing new sustainable seafood species to RI eaters that might
replace species on which significant catch limits (quotas) have been placed.
American lobster and squid are key revenue generating species in Rhode Island. Of the $54.7 million in shellfish landings in
2014, longfin squid represented $13.97 million and American lobster $11.79 million. Among finfish, with a total landings value of
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Update to the Rhode Island Food Assessment
$31.6 million, summer flounder represented $7.3 million, scup (known as porgy elsewhere) $4.1 million, and butterfish $3.6
clii
million.
In 2014, Eastern Oysters had the highest average price per pound in RI ($25.12), followed by softshell clam ($13.29), sea scallop
($12.22), and northern quahog ($6.67). Several species caught in very high volumes in RI had prices below $1 per pound
including silver hake, Jonah crab, butterfish, skate, scup, little skate squid (northern shortfin and longfin), and Atlantic herring.
While some of these are valued below $1 per pound because they are used for bait rather than directly entering human food
cliii
supply chains, others are simple lesser known, undervalued, and “under marketed”, as described above.
Landings of several species have been significantly reduced since the late 2000’s in Rhode Island. Softshell clam landings
cliv
drastically declined by 97 percent between 2007 (263,627 pounds) and 2014 (7,732 pounds); Atlantic mackerel decreased
by 90 percent from 2012 (5.5 million pounds) to 2014 (500,000 pounds); and blue mussels landings reduced by 99.9 percent
clv
from 2010 (2.9 million pounds) to 2014 (2,700 pounds). Interestingly, snails (conchs) landings grew 127 times between 2007
(2,597 pounds) and 2014 (332,086 pounds).
In response to what NOAA classified as a “groundfish disaster” in 2013 (resulting in significant quota reductions which adversely
affected the industry in the immediate term), approximately $2.65 million has flowed to the RI fishing industry, in the form of
clvi
direct payments to fishermen and supports for industry recruitment and workforce training programs.
The most recent economic impact analysis from NOAA was published in 2014 using data from 2011. Though almost five years
old, this report provides a high level of detail on the subsectors of the state’s fishing industry. It indicates that at that time there
were 13 firms conducting seafood product preparation and packaging in RI. Nine of these are “nonemployer firms” (small, owneroperated businesses with no paid employees)—though the number of these firms in RI has increased since 2005 (up from 6),
their total receipts have declined (from $2 million in 2005 to $1.2 million in 2011). In 2011, there were four seafood product
preparation and packaging firms in RI with employees, down from seven in 2003. The number of people employed by these
firms declined by almost 50 percent in that same time period, from 3555 in 2003 to 178 employees in 2011, and payroll
clvii
decreased in a consistent way (46 percent, from $10.4 million to $5.5 million).
At the time that NOAA’s economic impact analysis was released, there were 34 seafood wholesale establishments in RI, a
decrease of 10 percent from 2003 (38 establishments). The number of employees working in seafood wholesale decreased by
42 percent in that time period, from 355 employees in 2003 to 230 employees in 2011. Total payroll in this sector was $10.3
clviii
million in 2011.
The seafood retail sales sector in Rhode Island in 2011 included 25 nonemployer firms, an increase of 56 percent from 16 firms
in 2003, and had receipts totaling $3 million in 2011. There were also 23 employer establishments conducting retail sales,
down from 29 firms with $2.2 million in receipts in 2003. These firms hired 33 percent less employees in 2011 than in 2003,
clix
23 and 29 employees respectively. Total payroll in the seafood retail sector was $2.2 million in 2011.
In addition to the commercial seafood landings and industry, RI has a robust recreational marine industry. RI saltwater anglers
clx
have landed, on average, over 4 million pounds of fish annually since 2010. While the use of these fish is not known, many of
the species caught in high volumes are popular seafood species (tuna, flounder, cod, porgies, blue fish, and sea bass for example),
and it is likely that they were eaten by local and visiting anglers.
State efforts are focused on creating a quality seafood marketplace that will ensure fisherman a better and more stable income.
In 2011, a statute was passed to establish the Rhode Island Seafood Marketing Collaborative (chaired by the Department of
Environmental Management) with the goal of supporting the local food system, specifically seafood. Since that time, the
clxi
Collaborative key activities have included:
•
The creation of a logo and branding campaign to distinguish local seafood
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Update to the Rhode Island Food Assessment
•
An educational poster for distribution to supermarkets, restaurants, and other venues, illustrating seafood species that
are available in Rhode Island based on the season
•
Seafoodri.org, an informative website to help connect consumers and businesses that sell local seafood, and
SeaFoodRI’s Facebook page with currents news and events
•
A promotional video of the Rhode Island seafood industry
•
Participation in local festivals and events focused on promoting local seafood
In 2016, the Collaborative continues to actively promote Rhode Island’s seafood and educate consumers and businesses,
though as a grant funded initiative, it faces constraints.
Community and Home Garden Production
In addition to independent home gardens, a number of organizations promote and support urban food production in RI. In 2013,
the Southside Community Land Trust (SCLT) was supporting a network of 47 community gardens and farms in Providence,
enabling an estimated 850 families to harvest more than 45,000 pounds of vegetables, fruits, and herbs and save
clxii
approximately $132,000 in food costs. The organization coordinates the Providence Community Grower’s Network, providing
residents with the resources and training necessary to help them grow food safely in the city, and has been creating “hubs” in
Providence neighborhoods to serve as headquarters for gardening materials, resources, workshops and events.
While farmers in Rhode Island are primarily white, in Providence County there is a diverse group of urban farmers and
gardeners. For example, the African Alliance of Rhode Island (AARI) runs a community garden initiative on Providence’s south
side, promoting and growing traditional African foods in an effort to make the foods Africans in RI want more available to them.
Additionally, the initiative promotes healthy eating, environmental awareness, and jobs to low-income residents in the South
clxiii
Side of Providence. Another example, the SCLT, works with a diversity of men and women who come from all over the globe,
clxiv
from Haiti to Laos. And the West Elmwood Housing Development Corporation in Providence has also become a leader in this
field, integrating new affordable housing developments with an urban community farming land base.
As part of the 2011 RI Food Assessment, KK&P and SCLT developed a gardening survey that was implemented, with help from
the African Alliance, at SCLT’s 2011 Plant Sale. These findings were not updated as part of the 2016 Assessment update
process, but findings are included herein because they remain the most up to date findings of their kind on this topic. While this
was an informal survey of self-selected gardeners, likely representative of Providence and Pawtucket more than Rhode Island
as a whole, it does give some insight into food gardening in RI. Of 460 survey respondents, 79 percent reported that they grow
food at home, 16 percent grow food at a community garden and 13 percent do not grow food. The majority of food gardeners
grow vegetables (97 percent) and herbs (82 percent), 34 percent grow berries, and 15 percent have fruit trees. Less than 4
percent reported raising chickens for eggs or for meat.
Ninety-three percent of food gardeners eat the food they produce at home and 54 percent share with friends or neighbors. Six
percent donate food to a food pantry or soup kitchen. Just four respondents sell the food they grow at a market; however,
nearly one-quarter of gardeners who grow food responded that they would be interested in selling food from their garden.
When asked what resources would allow them to increase the amount of food they produce, current food gardeners most often
reported access to land, compost, and educational workshops.
Twenty percent of food growers reported that they already grow enough food, and do not wish to grow any more.
Respondents who do not currently grow food but would like to start, reported that educational workshops are the number one
type of support they need, followed by access to seeds and land, as well as web-based and print instructions.
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WHAT IS THE NATURE OF THE FOOD PROCESSING AND
DISTRIBUTION SECTORS IN RHODE ISLAND?
Processing
RI food processing and distribution businesses are key players in the local food system, ensuring that food moves efficiently and
safely, employing Rhode Islanders, donating food to the RI Community Food Bank, and, in some cases, buying from RI farmers.
Rhode Island’s food processing sector is comprised of hundreds of food businesses, small and large, that process and
manufacture a range of products, including seafood, dairy, meats, poultry, fresh cut produce (fresh produce that is sliced, diced,
chopped, etc.), baked goods, fermented foods, pastas, beverages, and prepared foods.
The Rhode Island Department of Health licenses and inspects processors, as well as the distributors that transport food
products. While some data about these businesses is available and is listed in this section, because they are private sector
businesses most of the detail about their operations is not available publicly.
While this section focuses on licensed food processing businesses, Rhode Islanders also process agricultural products at home,
using freezing, canning, and other preservation techniques, for example. There is a lack of available data about the type, volume,
and value of Rhode Islanders’ home processing.
clxv clxvi
Active licensed processors in 2016 include: ,
•
Sixteen non-profit food processors (up from nine in 2010), including the RI Community Food Bank and Farm Fresh
Rhode Island’s Market Mobile and Harvest Kitchen (a 15 week culinary and job readiness program for youth within the
Division of Juvenile Corrections through which youth process local fruits and vegetables into value added foods);
•
Sixty-nine meat/ poultry processors (down from seventy-four in 2010), a designation that includes retail and
wholesale businesses that processes meat, ranging from butchers to, for example, diners that grind beef for burgers;
•
Fifty-nine businesses that hold dairy licenses (up from thirty-eight in 2010), authorizing them to produce, process, haul,
and/or distribute fluid milk to RI businesses or consumers. Not all of the milk distributors are physically located in RI,
with businesses listed as far away as Utah, Minnesota and Indiana. Of the 59 listed businesses, 2 are milk haulers, 7
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are in-state milk processors (up from 5 in 2010), and an additional 17 are milk producers (up from 14 in 2010); and
•
Fifty are shellfish related businesses (down from fifty-one in 2010), including shippers, two shucker/packers, nine reclxix
shippers, and one re-packer.
clxvii
A key piece of food processing infrastructure emerged since the 2011 Food Assessment, in the form of Hope and Main, which is
now an anchor food business incubator in the state and home to almost 60 active and aspiring food businesses from around
the state. According to Hope and Main leaders, of the approximately 100 new food processing business licenses granted by the
state DOH in 2015, more than 40 were housed at this incubator.
The origin of processors’ and distributors’ raw materials, the location of the end consumers of their products, the specific
products processed, and the value of processed food sales are not public information. Interviews with processors and
distributors as part of the 2011 Food Assessment shed some light the geography of their supply chains.
Roch’s Fruit and Produce provides extensive fresh cut service to institutions, as does RI-based competitor, Robert’s Precut
Vegetables. According to Farm to Institution New England’s Toolkit for Institutional Purchasers Seeking Local Produce through
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a Distributor, 20 percent of Roch’s product mix is estimated to be local, as is three percent of Robert’s. As in 2011, anecdotally,
the key on-farm processors of fresh produce in 2016 include Schartner’s, Sweet Berry Farm, and Confreda.
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In 2015, the sandwich processor Greencore (whose customers include Starbucks and 7-11 stores) opened its eighth U.S. facility
in RI, at the Quonset Business Park in North Kingstown, creating an estimated 400 jobs in the 107,000 square foot facility to
function as the company’s hub for the northeast region.
There is one USDA slaughter facility, located in Johnston, RI. The 2011 Food Assessment found that the facility had been
exclusively processing animals purchased at auction until RI Raised Livestock Association began working with the processor to
develop a regular schedule for processing livestock raised by smaller scale local meat producers.
According to producer interviews conducted in 2011, most RI poultry farmers were slaughtering on-farm, independently or
utilizing a mobile poultry-processing unit. Many states offer an exemption from the federal Poultry Products Inspection Act for
farmers processing fewer than 1,000 birds per year. RI does not current have such an exemption, and the RI Young Farmer
Network has identified this as a barrier to increased poultry production and marketing for small farmers.
Storage and Distribution
According to the Rhode Island Department of Health, in 2016 there are 79 licensed food warehouse distributors in RI (up from
71 in 2010), which includes regional warehouse locations of Coca Cola, Frito Lay, and the food service management company
Aramark, as well as national distributor Restaurant Depot, and RI’s largest independent produce distributor, Tourtellot (which
primarily services the retail sector, and sources food from all over the country.) When in season, Tourtellot buys and sell a range
of vegetables and fruits (predominately apples and peaches) grown in Rhode Island, as well as Massachusetts and Connecticut.
Tourtellot also shares its warehouse space with Rhody Food on the Move (which grew out of the Fresh to You Market, as it was
known in the 2011 Food Assessment). A program of the RI Public Health Institute, Rhody Food on the Move is a mobile food
market that serves a range of worksites and public housing projects across the state, as a strategy to improve access to
affordable fresh foods.
Farm Fresh RI’s Market Mobile (described above) is the state’s only food distributor committed exclusively to distribution of
locally produced foods.
Sysco Boston (the regional division of Sysco) serves a number of institutions and restaurants across RI, and (as of 2011)
purchased from about 300 locally-owned and locally-based companies in New England, including RI farm businesses. While the
distributor deals directly with several large RI farmers, the majority of their local produce came via Robert’s Pre Cut Vegetables
in Providence (mentioned above), a processor that cuts, dices, and repacks produce.
United Natural Foods (UNFI), the country’s leading distributor of organic and natural foods, has housed its corporate
headquarters in Providence since 2009.
WHAT IS THE ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTION OF FOOD AND
AGRICULTURE IN RI?
The RI green industry economic impact study (described in more detail in the Agriculture section above) estimated that plantbased industries including agriculture in RI were responsible for $2.5 billion in annual sales and 15,826 jobs, with additional
clxxi
indirect economic impacts of $4.39 billion and 23,562 jobs. Included in this data were agriculture businesses and support
businesses, as well as landscaping industries, golf courses, and cemeteries. The study estimated that agriculture alone (animals,
aquaculture, crops, grapes, fruit, nursery, sod and horticulture) had economic impacts of 2,563 jobs and $238.9 million in
clxxii
value.
Farm Fresh RI too has sought to understand the economic impact of their Market Mobile wholesale distribution program. Based
on research from Iowa State University, Market Mobile estimates that its economic impact so far in 2016 is $1.4 million. Farm
Fresh RI’s Market Mobile, sold $554,081 of fresh food from 77 local producers to 219 customers that include restaurants,
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grocers, schools, and hospitals in the first quarter of 2016, and uses an economic multiplier (the number of times a dollar gets
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cycles in the local economy) of 2.6 times the initial sales, because both its suppliers and customers are local.
At the state level, agriculture and food have increasingly garnered attention from economic development strategists and
officials. Over the course of 2013, Commerce RI and the RI Foundation convened 20 sessions with over 200 business leaders
from around the state to identify “unique market opportunities at the intersection of industries” to inform the RhodeMap RI
economic development planning process that would take place in 2014. That report estimated that plant-based industries,
agriculture, and the commercial fishing sector together contribute more than 19,000 jobs to the RI economy. It identified lack of
access to capital as a key challenge stymying growth in these industry sectors. The report recommended “strengthening the
food value web to increase food-related jobs.” Specific recommendations focused on growing the agriculture sector, raising
awareness of RI grown and raised foods for consumers and wholesale buyers (including institutions), incubating small food and
beverage businesses. Further, a unique opportunity was recognized in “coordinating and enhancing entrepreneurship and small
business support services for the food-health nexus.”
The 2014 Actions for Economic Development in RI report (produced by the economic development consulting firm Fourth
Economy for Commerce RI) identifies the food and beverage industry cluster as one that can support the growth of a more
resilient economy for the state. According to this report, over the course of a decade, industries involved in “purchased meals
and beverages” grew from $1.6 to just under $1.8 billion, jobs in food services and drinking places grew by 10 percent, and jobs in
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food and food-related occupations grew by 9.3 percent.
With a Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant, the RhodeMap RI economic develop planning process took place in
2014. One goal identified was to “support industries and investments that play to Rhode Island’s strengths”, and creating policies
that support and strengthen the state’s growing agriculture, aquaculture, fishing, food processing and food sales businesses.
Development of wholesale markets for RI producers was identified as an important opportunity. The report lists agriculture and
food service as independent sectors, but notes that the intersection of agriculture with food service and “the food system is the
key to Rhode Island’s niche.” Key challenges identified include a lack of training and assistance, lack of affordable land access, and
the dominance of traditionally low wages in the food and agriculture sectors.
An analysis of the state’s financial resource capacity across industries (also part of RhodeMap) identified significant gaps in
funding availability for young companies, defined as those in the seed and start-up phases through to “viable business” status.
Since 2015, Commerce RI has increased its investments in food businesses and in the food cluster and has created several new
pools of funding that are beginning to benefit the local food system, including the Innovation Network Matching Grants (Social
Enterprise Greenhouse’s new food business accelerator was one of four grantees) and the Industry Cluster Grants. The state’s
economic development initiatives focus heavily on job creation (and the kind of wages attached to those jobs) and Commerce RI
sees an opportunity for the food industry to create good, mid-wage jobs, many of which have been lost in recent decades in RI
as manufacturing has declined. Commerce RI also sees food science as an area of great interest and potential growth, and is
working closely with the state’s higher education institutions to support innovation and business growth in this field. Commerce
RI is also focusing increasingly on the state’s restaurant sector, one of the highest volume business categories in the state, to
streamline the process of creating and growing food businesses.
In early 2016, Commerce RI retained the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings, resulting in the Rhode Island Innovates
strategy. The strategy highlights “design, food and custom manufacturing” as an advanced industry growth area for the state,
highlighting the “maker movement” and its role increasing the prevalence of small, artisanal food businesses nationwide and in RI,
and noted that a vibrant food scene contributes to the state’s “quality of place.” Food services and perishable food
manufacturing were both identified as opportunity industries, both of which employ a great number of Rhode Islanders (40,865
and 2,934 respectively) and are growing at a pace faster in RI than in the nation as a whole. The state experienced 16 percent
employment growth in food manufacturing between 2009 and 2013, exceeding the national rate of growth in the sector by 3+
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percent, However, based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational-Industry Matrix, it was noted that just 34 percent of
the jobs in the cluster including food processing qualified as “good jobs” (a calculus that balances wages with cost of living in
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Rhode Island). This report too identified the nexus of food and health as an economic growth opportunity for the state, with
Johnson and Wales University as a leading hub of competency in this arena. Other food industry notable statistics included:
•
9.5 percent job growth and 2,500 jobs in the grocery wholesaling sector
•
Warehousing and storage is a growing sector in RI, but additional cold infrastructure (including for transport) will be
needed for the state to compete regionally and nationally.
•
Food industry activity is concentrated in Providence metro and in the northern parts of Kent County, and Newport and
Bristol were described as having a “foothold” in the food industry.
•
RI’s 3,000 restaurants generate a collective $2 billion in annual sales.
•
RI ranked second in the nation in density of eating and drinking establishments in 2014.
•
More than 7,000 businesses and 65,000 jobs comprise the state’s food system (a statistic taken from the RI Food
Policy Council)
In preparation for meeting these opportunities, the University of Rhode Island, the state’s land grant university, has increased
attention and resources to food systems. Since 2011, URI has developed and implemented graduate and undergraduate degree
programs in sustainable agriculture and food systems; fully funded its agriculture extension agent; built capacity in its
agricultural economics department (which took a lead in preparing the green industry economic impact report cited above); and
clxxvi
initiated a strategic planning process to direct and build cooperative extension services and capacities.
As part of the research process to update the 2011 Assessment, KK&P facilitated a round table discussion (attended by leaders
from local philanthropies, incubators and business accelerators) focused on key issues facing food system businesses as they
start-up and as they grow. Building off of industry mapping work that the RI Foundation led in 2015, the group identified the
transition from early to mid stage business – roughly defined as the moment when business owners start paying themselves—as
a danger zone for RI businesses, a place where supports, capital and technical assistance resources are far less available than
during start-up. The group noted that new resources like these need to be specific to businesses’ stages of growth but also to
their intentions and goals (e.g. different kinds of capital for the business that wants to grow to be a national player and for the
business that is focused on supplying a community with food). An opportunity also exists for state and municipal level economic
development officials to work with real estate developers to build much needed post-incubator shared use space for food
businesses in RI (those poised to outgrow the Hope and Main incubator in Warren).
Access to capital was discussed extensively as well. A key resource for start-up agriculture, aquaculture, fisheries and food
businesses is the Local Agriculture and Seafood Act (LASA) small grants program (created in 2012) through which $210,000
was awarded to 15 recipients in 2015. The grants program is a public-private partnership between the sate, the van Beuren
Charitable Foundation, the Henry P. Kendall Foundation and the Rhode Island Foundation.
The group also noted that there are a number of sources of capital across New England (Capital Good Fund and Fair Food Fund,
for example) that could be accessible to RI farm and food businesses, including Community Development Finance Institutions
(CDFI), such as Coastal Enterprises Inc. in Maine, which are wholly committed to funding community businesses (including small
and micro businesses), are drawn to food system and social mission enterprises, and are structured to provide funding at the
levels and rates these businesses want and can tolerate (in terms of risk). Social Enterprise Greenhouse, the business
accelerator in Providence, which launched a food cohort in 2016, has a loan fund of $5,000 to $20,000 loans that has been
underutilized, as have other such funds around the state (this is known only anecdotally). While a shortage of technical
assistance to go along with loans may be one cause, research is needed to better understand this underutilization. It was agreed
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that while technical assistance does need to be housed locally within RI, the funding pools that go along with it perhaps do not. A
need was identified for a capital provider to convene or rally others in the field to take a lead on shaping a portfolio of
approaches to accessing capital for food businesses in RI, including potentially the creation of a CDFI and a Slow Money chapter
for the state. The group identified a need for a “concierge”, someone to guide businesses—based on their scale and goals—
through the start-up and regulation process, as well as technical assistance and capital/financing options as they grow. A role
for the philanthropic sector was defined as investing in the sector or the field, rather than in individual businesses—but a
challenge remains: identifying a priority areas over time for investment.
The maps and tables that follow illustrate the geographic distribution of farm and food industry employment around the state
as well as the number of jobs and average wages. Some discrepancies exist between the data depicted in these maps and
tables and data presented elsewhere in this Update. The discrepancies are explained in footnotes on the maps and tables that
follow and in the mapping methodology provided as an appendix.
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Farm Economy and Jobs in Rhode Island
Rhode Island
1,243 farms
2,055 farm operators
1,869 farm workers
$19.9 million in farm payroll
$59.7 million worth of farm products sold
Kent County
Bristol County
42 farms
66 farm workers
56 farm operators
$638,000 in farm payroll
$2.7 million worth of farm products sold
126 farms
146 farm workers
187 farm operators
$2.1 million in farm payroll
$4.4 million worth of farm products sold
Newport County
Providence County
214 farms
591 farm workers
370 farm operators
$5.8 million in farm payroll
$14.6 million worth of farm products sold
425 farms
443 farm workers
$3.4 million in farm payroll
721 farm operators
$14.1 million worth of farm products sold
Washington County
436 farms
623 farm workers
$7.9 million in farm payroll
721 farm operators
$23.9 million worth of farm products sold
The data source for FARM ECONOMY AND JOBS IN RHODE ISLAND is
the U.S. Department of Agriculture 2012 Census of Agriculture. Elsewhere
in this assessment, a 2012 economic impact study by the Department of
Environmental and Natural Resource Economics at URI describes a
significantly higher value of agricultural product in Rhode Island.
State and county outlines are not drawn to scale
The data source for NON-FARM FOOD SYSTEM ECONOMY AND JOBS IN RHODE ISLAND (following page) is the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Quarterly Census of
Employment and Wages (QCEW), 2014 Annual Averages. This table includes data from food-related 4-digit NAICS sectors (see Methodology section for more detail, including a
list of sectors). Data is sometimes suppressed by sector for privacy reasons. This table includes all non-suppressed sector data, but because of data suppression, does not
provide a complete picture of all food-related establishments and employment. Due to differences in methodology, sector definitions, and data vintage, these figures may be
inconsistent with similar figures from different data sources included elsewhere in this assessment. For example, the QCEW counts 2,302 restaurants in the state, while the
USDA Food Environment Atlas and the RI Department of Health list different numbers.
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Non-Farm Food System Economy and Jobs in Rhode Island
Rhode Island
Bristol County
Sector
Restaurants
Grocery stores
Grocery and related product wholesalers
Special food services
Bakeries and tortilla manufacturing
Other food manufacturing
Specialty food stores
Animal slaughtering and processing
Dairy product manufacturing
Fishing
Fruit and vegetable preserving and specialty
Support activities for animal production
# of Establishments
2302
358
162
207
103
22
126
11
13
27
7
14
# of Employees
36,615
9,653
2,282
2,996
1,582
624
990
434
189
77
35
28
Total Annual Wages
$611,241,958
$216,359,558
$142,657,505
$66,333,952
$43,204,924
$22,474,525
$20,908,823
$18,269,602
$7,047,207
$5,039,979
$823,490
$647,182
Average Annual Pay
$16,694
$22,414
$62,503
$22,141
$27,303
$36,007
$21,125
$42,104
$37,254
$65,596
$23,869
$23,183
Sector
Grocery stores
Food manufacturing
Grocery and related product wholesalers
# of Establishments
7
10
3
# of Employees
342
137
10
Total Annual Wages
$7,522,549
$4,589,408
$336,643
Average Annual Pay
$22,028
$33,499
$34,527
Food manufacturing is a higher-level (3-digit) NAICS sector. Wage data is suppressed for its subsectors, but they include Seafood product preparation
and packaging (4 establishments), Bakeries and tortilla manufacturing (4 establishments), Fruit and vegetable preserving and specialty (one
establishment) and Other food manufacturing (one establishment). Bristol County also includes 100 restaurants, also with wage data suppressed.
Kent County
Sector
Restaurants
Grocery stores
Grocery and related product wholesalers
Special food services
Specialty food stores
Bakeries and tortilla manufacturing
Sugar and confectionery product manufacturing
# of Establishments
365
38
23
36
16
10
4
# of Employees
6,931
1,505
213
586
190
99
36
Total Annual Wages
$111,178,386
$32,266,033
$15,320,983
$10,973,460
$3,373,152
$1,621,262
$663,555
Average Annual Pay
$16,040
$21,439
$71,958
$18,739
$17,715
$16,390
$18,692
# of Establishments
249
33
28
14
15
9
11
# of Employees
4,276
820
621
66
87
54
17
Total Annual Wages
$83,355,982
$18,315,683
$14,162,912
$4,192,754
$1,724,803
$835,221
$549,988
Average Annual Pay
$19,493
$22,350
$22,816
$63,849
$19,921
$15,491
$32,835
Providence County
# of Establishments
1,213
74
220
70
108
18
9
9
4
3
# of Employees
18,553
1,633
979
1,270
1,527
547
403
140
31
8
Total Annual Wages
$303,583,980
$103,747,107
$79,832,179
$37,445,468
$34,353,610
$20,093,854
$16,855,037
$4,821,836
$639,581
$133,798
Average Annual Pay
$16,363
$63,528
$81,552
$29,485
$22,495
$36,729
$41,876
$34,503
$20,521
$17,081
Washington County
# of Establishments
356
45
26
4
12
13
16
10
# of Employees
5,320
1,629
223
120
59
138
117
115
Total Annual Wages
$89,621,968
$37,423,360
$10,455,724
$7,385,681
$4,477,691
$3,516,939
$2,857,703
$2,409,457
Average Annual Pay
$16,847
$22,974
$46,887
$61,419
$75,893
$25,531
$24,530
$20,982
Newport County
Sector
Restaurants
Grocery stores
Special food services
Grocery and related product wholesalers
Specialty food stores
Bakeries and tortilla manufacturing
Fishing
Sector
Restaurants
Grocery and related product wholesalers
Grocery stores
Bakeries and tortilla manufacturing
Special food services
Other food manufacturing
Animal slaughtering and processing
Dairy product manufacturing
Fruit and vegetable preserving and specialty
Grain and oilseed milling
Sector
Restaurants
Grocery stores
Grocery and related product wholesalers
Seafood product preparation and packaging
Fishing
Specialty food stores
Special food services
Bakeries and tortilla manufacturing
State and county outlines are not drawn to scale. See footnote on preceding page for additional details on this table.
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Unemployment exceeds national average (9.2%)
$35,053
$103,937
The data sources for ECONOMY AND
FOOD JOBS maps are as follows:
Food Manufacturing and Food Service
and Retail Jobs: U.S. 2012 Economic
Census;
Median Household Income and
Unemployment: American Community
Survey 2010-2014 5-year estimates
Jobs figures are minimum estimates (see
Methodology section for more details).
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Unemployment exceeds national average (9.2%)
$35,053
$103,937
The data sources for ECONOMY AND FOOD JOBS maps
are as follows:
Food Manufacturing and Food Service and Retail Jobs: U.S.
2012 Economic Census;
Median Household Income and Unemployment: American
Community Survey 2010-2014 5-year estimates
Jobs figures are minimum estimates (see Methodology
section for more details).
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The data sources for ECONOMY AND FOOD JOBS maps are as follows:
Food Manufacturing and Food Service and Retail Jobs: U.S. 2012 Economic Census;
Median Household Income and Unemployment: American Community Survey 2010-2014 5-year
estimates
Jobs figures are minimum estimates (see Methodology section for more details).
Unemployment exceeds national average (9.2%)
$35,053
$103,937
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HOW IS FOOD WASTE HANDLED?
According the Rhode Island Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Plan, in 2014, RI generated 1.5 million tons per year of
solid waste, including recycling. Food waste was estimated to represent 14.5 percent of the total. Of the 1.5 million tons, 45
percent is estimated to come from municipal sources and 55 percent from commercial sources. Approximately 700,000 tons
of this is buried at the Central Landfill each year, while 200,000 tons are exported to neighboring states, and 25 percent is
recycled. Organic waste from yard and food waste is seen as “potentially the greatest opportunity” for diverting waste from the
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state’s overtaxed landfill.
In 2011, when the Food Assessment was originally published, in Rhode Island there was no coordinated, large-scale program to
keep compostable food waste out of landfills. In 2014, the RI General Assembly passed a new food scraps recycling law,
requiring institutions that generate two tons or more of food scraps to compost it, if they are located within 15 miles of
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composting facility or food digester.
While several such facilities are in various stages of development (described below), the
lack of infrastructure to recycle food waste currently limits the effectiveness of this policy. The regulation went into effect in
January 2016. The Environment Council of Rhode Island noted that additional laws will be necessary to regulate composting
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from small businesses and at the residential level. The RI Food Policy Council has worked with the Department of
Environmental Management since 2014 on changes focused on increasing composting infrastructure at various scales.
The 2011 Food Assessment reported that Rhode Island had set a goal for each municipality to divert 50 percent of its waste
from the Central Landfill. The 2014 Management Plan (described above) calls for an 80 percent capture of food waste, noting
that significant processing capacity that does not currently exist in the state will be required to achieve that goal. Currently, the
state’s only commercial composting facility is Earth Care Farm in Charlestown, RI. The Compost Plant is the first commercial
food scrap collection service in RI, collecting and delivering food waste to Earth Care for processing into compost, and is in
planning phases for a compost production facility in Warren.
With a focus on food scrap diversion for energy production (rather than compost), in 2015, a $19 million anaerobic digestion
facility broke ground near the Central Landfill. As reported in the 2011 Food Assessment, Orbit Energy of North Carolina will
operate the facility (though that report anticipated that the build would be complete by 2014). The plant will convert organic
waste to biogas fuel, which will be purchased by National Grid, a leading provider of electricity and natural gas. Another company,
NEO Energy from New Hampshire, is reported to have plans to build a digester at the Quonset Business Park, also focusing on
food waste as an energy source.
WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AGRICULTURE AND THE
ENVIRONMENT IN RI?
According to the USDA’s Economic Research Service, the acreage of farmland in conservation or wetland reserve program
significantly increased from 42 acres in 2002, to 503 conserved acres in 2012. Water quality protection is a key
environmental focus in Rhode Island, where there are 1,420 miles of rivers, more than 36,000 acres of lakes, ponds, swamps
and bogs, almost 72,000 acres of forested wetlands, 159 square miles in estuaries, 22 aquifers and more than 400 miles of
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coastline.
Climate change resilience, mitigation and adaptation are central issues facing agricultural producers, aquaculture producers and
fisheries in RI (as elsewhere). Sea Grant RI, in collaboration with several schools and research centers within the University of RI,
formed the RI Climate Change Collaborative in 2014 to link scientific research on climate change and its projected impacts with
residents, business owners and policy makers striving to plan for it. According to the Collaborative, average annual temperature
in RI rose 1.7 degrees between 1905 and 2006 (compared to 1.33 degrees globally). Narragansett Bay’s winter sea surface
temperatures have risen 4 degrees since the 1960s. RI has 47 square miles of land within 4.9 vertical feet of sea level—an area
st
projected to be inundated during spring high water by rising sea levels before the end of the 21 century. Further impacting
agricultural production in RI, precipitation has increased by 5-10 percent in the Northeast since 1900, with an increasing
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Update to the Rhode Island Food Assessment
proportion of rain (compared to snow). Farmers report extended growing seasons, but detrimental heat waves and shifting
insect populations. Changes in ocean temperature and pH have shifted species and quantities of fish present in RI waters as
well.
The state’s 2014 law related to Climate Change, the Resilient RI Act (2952 sub A) created an Executive Climate Change
Council, which “provides a framework for state government to adaptively plan for manage climate change impact”, and
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recognizes green infrastructure as a key component of adaptive planning.
To develop a workforce prepared to respond to these changes and challenges, the Rhode Island Nursery and Landscape
Association (RINLA), a trade organization representing the state’s “green” and plant-based industries, including but not limited to
agriculture and horticulture, in 2015 received significant federal funding (as part of relief money from the impacts of
Superstorm Sandy) to develop and implement a workforce training and placement program focused on green infrastructure
and green industries. RINLA also participates in the state’s 37 member Green Infrastructure Coalition.
According to the USDA’s 2012 Census of Agriculture, RI’s 26 organic farms sold $778,000, mostly in vegetables and
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melons.
However, as of 2014 (the most recent data available), the number of certified organic farms in RI dropped to 24
,
down from 27 in 2011, and 33 in 2000. Seventeen of these farms derive 100 percent of their income from organic products
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sold, and for another 4 farms, organic products represent 75 percent or more of their sales.
The state has also seen a
precipitous drop in the amount of acreage that is certified organic: 78 acres in 2014 compared with 284 in 2011 and 156 in
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2000.
Certified organic agriculture represents less than two percent of RI farms and less than one percent of the total crop
and pastureland in RI. There is likely a relationship between the high proportion of direct marketing and the low number of
certified organic farms in RI: nationwide, many farms that direct market choose not to become certified by the USDA or another
third party, even if their practices are in accordance with USDA National Organic Program standards, because of the cost and
other challenges associated with certification. Because they are able to communicate their agricultural methods and practices
directly to their customers, they see the third party certification as unnecessary. Further, consumer market research since 2012
has shown consumer demand for local outpacing demand for organic foods. Thus the decline in certified organic farms may not
represent a decline in output from farms producing in accordance with organic standards.
Agricultural production methods and related environmental impacts vary across organic farms, as well as farms that are not
certified but may follow many of the National Organic Programs standards or use techniques to reduce their pesticide use, such
as Integrated Pest Management (IPM). The range of RI production methods and impact on soil and air quality, and the health of
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Rhode Islanders is not currently catalogued or measured.
Nationally, nonpoint source pollution (NPS) is widely understood to be a key way in which agriculture negatively impacts the
environment, specifically water quality. NPS comes from diffuse sources, rather than one targeted, easy to identify source, and is
characterized as polluted runoff caused by water’s movement over and through the ground and is often caused by excessive
utilization or misuse of pesticides, fertilizer or irrigation water, poorly managed or poorly located animal feeding operations, and
overgrazing and over plowing. The 2004 National Water Quality Inventory (the most recent available) reported that agricultural
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NPS pollution is one of the nation’s leading source of water quality impairments in rivers, lakes, wetlands and estuaries.
With
a smaller scale of agriculture than most states and no concentrated animal feeding operations, this generalized finding may or
may not apply in RI, and state level data on primary causes of water quality impairments and the relationship of agriculture to
water quality was not readily available. Numerous federal programs and funding sources exist to help farmers and ranchers
implement best management practices. In Rhode Island, these programs are implemented by the USDA’s Natural Resources
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Conservation Service and the RI DEM’s Nonpoint Source Pollution Management Program.
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HOW SAFE IS THE FOOD SYSTEM?
According to several experts, food safety challenges in Rhode Island (as elsewhere in the country) emerge at every stage along
the food chain, in agricultural and seafood production and harvesting, distribution, broken cold chains, product packing,
processing, storage, restaurant kitchens, and homes. In Rhode Island between 2010 and 2014, there were 55 foodborne
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disease outbreaks, 3,857 illnesses, 212 hospitalizations, and 6 deaths.
Nationally, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention estimate that one in six (or 48 million) Americans get sick from an estimated 31 pathogens in food each year, with
cxc
3,000 fatalities and 128,000 hospitalizations.
According to the Chief of the Office of Food Protection within the RI Department of Health, Dr. Ernest Julian, in the fiscal year
2015, the DOH issued 1,071 new business licenses and 1,065 new managers were certified in food safety. That same year, the
DOH conducted over 9,000 inspections. 8,883 of those inspections, or over 98 percent of all inspections, were of retail and
milk, shellfish, and contract establishments. Twenty-six percent of inspections were re-inspections due to serious hazards to
health. Seventeen percent of inspections resulted in disposals of unsafe and adulterated food, and the DOH found an average
1.4 critical violations per inspection. These figures are a serious concern to the DOH, and are seen as a serious potential threat
to eaters’ health and businesses’ viability. Because food safety regulations and inspection processes and protocol vary by state,
town, city or county across the country, these numbers are not easily compared.
Despite the new licenses issued each year, according to the DOH, the total number of establishments remains stable, indicating
that on average, for every facility that opens, one tends to close. Many have a change of ownership at the same location. Annual
turnover in food establishments in Rhode Island is estimated at approximately 14 percent. Dr. Julian considers that assistance in
developing business and food safety plans would significantly support RI food business success and safety. He has discussed
the potential for the University of Rhode Island (URI) to establish a Processing Authority to assist the industry in developing safe
food operation plans.
The best approaches to mitigating the prevalence and danger of food borne illness are thought to be training for industry food
handlers at all steps along the food supply chain, as well as consumers, on food handling, cleaning, storage, cooking, and
processing. In Rhode Island, the Department of Health and the University of Rhode Island lead food safety efforts.
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LEVERAGE POINTS
Much has happened in the past five years, but from the standpoint of statistics, on many fronts little has changed. In addition to
the data challenges (discussed elsewhere in this report) that RI faces as a very small state in a very large nation, in general data
tends to lag in reflecting structural and cultural changes to food, the food system and the food business ecosystem. Shifting a
food system and the food culture that both underlies it and is produced by it is an iterative, long-term undertaking.
The 2011 Food Assessment’s central goal holds true in 2016: to define a path from the then current state to desired future
state of Rhode Island’s food system. The previous section offered a snapshot of the food system as it is in 2016 (in activities,
metrics, and inter-relationships) and measured progress and change over the past five years. The section that follows features
gaps (shortcomings) and leverage points (resources and assets that Rhode Islanders have, and have built) in the Rhode Island
food system. Most of the gaps and leverage points presented below were identified in the 2011 Food Assessment. The Update
takes these as a foundation and builds, identifying where key change or activity has occurred, as well as questions that remain
unanswered and improvements and progress yet to be made.
A breadth of RI food system activities, assets and innovations were identified in 2011. Many of those remain, and many more
have joined their ranks:
•
High quality and quantified accomplishments in local food system development and direct marketing initiatives;
•
Significant food system research and strategic planning to understand and leverage policy, planning, media, and other
mechanisms to improve health, grow the state’s agricultural economy and increase community food security;
•
Strong relationships and collaborations that are supported by the state’s small scale, including collaborations that
cross sectors (including nonprofits, private businesses and government agencies);
•
Grassroots organizing efforts that are engaging existing community leaders and building new leadership;
•
Progressive, well-established community gardens and community gardening resources;
•
Dedicated leadership in state-level agencies and organizations working toward a robust local food system and
community food security;
•
Changes in the health care industry that are shining a light on the links between food and health, on gaps in food
access, and on the public health consequences;
•
Research and soul searching about economic development, with food and agriculture as an emergent focus of
opportunity;
•
Emergence of increased support, acceleration services, incubators, and infrastructure for farm and food business
start-ups;
•
Seafood direct marketing initiatives that are being looked to as national models, a new marketing collaborative to
support them, and increased understanding of the central role seafood in the local and regional food system;
•
An innovative and profitable dairy marketing cooperative that represents a substantial percentage of the state’s
producers and is serving as a model for other states;
•
A local philanthropic sector that is catalyzing food system change and innovation, on its own and in partnership with the
public sector;
•
Planning at the regional level to support New England food systems, and RI’s committed inclusion the processes.
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Building on these rich assets, the leverage points described below span food system sectors, focusing on Food and Health; Retail
and Access; Production; Processing and Distribution; Food and the Environment; and Policy, Planning and Regulation.
FOOD AND HEALTH
Using im proved public health as a foundation for econom ic growth, and
econom ic growth as a foundation for im proved public health
Gap
Food insecurity is widely understood to be a symptom of economic insecurity at the household or community level, and
clear correlations have been made food insecurity with poor health outcomes (including mental health), poor school
performance, and reduced educational attainment and work opportunity. A growing body of literature explores not just
food insecurity as an outcome of economic insecurity, but food security as a precondition for economic security.
Leverage Point
This principle underlies the provision of free and reduced school meals to improve student performance and long-term
outcomes, but it has not often been applied to adults. An opportunity exists to explore increasing investment in
community food security as a strategy for improving public health outcomes, decreasing public health spending, and,
perhaps, catalyzing economic growth at the state level.
2011-2016 …And Beyond
•
•
•
•
The implementation of the Affordable Care Act in RI and the creation of the health insurance exchange has
driven an increase in primary care spending, which experts hope will result in improved health outcomes,
increased preventative care, and reduced hospitalizations.
The RI Department of Health is increasingly focused on health equity, one component of which is healthier
communities through increased food security.
At the same time, structures are increasing to enforce collaboration across agencies focused on food,
economic development and health at the state level (IFNPAC).
The findings of this update indicate that poverty, food insecurity and negative health impacts associated with
both are experienced disproportionately in RI (as in the rest of the country) by people of color. An opportunity
exists to increase the integration of food and nutrition access and education, health care services, workforce
development programs, and economic development investments to improve capacity and quality of life for
the state and all of its residents.
Using com m unity partnerships to build dem and for fresh foods, from the field
and the sea
Gap
Research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2006 showed that for every one-pound of fruits
and vegetables purchased, just over three-quarters of a pound of sweet snacks were purchased by Rhode Islanders.
Increased consumption of fresh healthy foods is a priority.
Leverage Point
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Community organizations and partnerships are successfully using farmers’ markets, gardens and school cafeterias as
influential education and marketing tools to build demand for fresh, healthy foods—local or not—because as one
organizational leader put it, “Local food experiences change the way people eat.”
2011-2016 …And Beyond
•
•
•
•
•
•
RI has emerged as a leader in the region and in the nation in farm-to-school efforts
Local seafood direct marketing initiatives are increasing as are events featuring under-marketed species.
Since 2014, the Coastal Resources Center at URI has been working to increase seafood’s presence in food
system planning at the state and regional levels, while pursuing a range of strategies and providing funding for
research focused on increasing market opportunities for RI fishermen.
Awareness has increased that healthy foods need not always be fresh – partnerships and programs are
needed that support producers in accessing processing infrastructure and support Rhode Island eaters in
accessing and using healthy affordable foods in a variety of forms.
New and more educational programs are emerging to promote and build skills around healthy foods (Healthy
Foods Healthy Families)
A connection between food and health in the clinical setting (such as Thundermist South County’s
demonstration kitchen) is emergent
RETAIL AND ACCESS
Im proving coordination and consistency of farm ers’ m arkets
Gap
RI’s farmers’ market sector is fragmented, with most markets run by individual operators, resulting in inconsistent
guidelines and operating practices that confuse consumers and producers.
Leverage Point
RI consumers have strong connections with farmers, and the state has effective organizations that build and support
these connections. These organizations can be leveraged to examine the state’s markets as a whole (hours, locations,
parking, outreach, regulations) in order to increase coordination across markets and build the existing capacities of
markets’ producers and operators. Such coordination will create consistent market “operating principles” that ensure
that farmers’ markets are reliable food sources, profitable marketplaces and accessible to consumers and producers
alike.
2011-2016 …And Beyond
•
•
•
Though the value of direct-marketed local foods has not increased significantly since 2011, consumer
familiarity with the idea of local foods and of farmers markets has.
The field of farmers’ markets has grown, including a notable increase in year-round farmers’ markets, but
steps have not yet been taken to increase their coordination.
Market research has shown that RI eaters have a strong awareness of local foods and markets they can visit
to get those foods. This research recommended focusing on increasing the frequency of shoppers’ visits to
markets and increasing the amount they spend when they come (through increased reliability of markets and
diversity of products).
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•
•
Coordination of farmers’ markets themselves, improving the diversity and consistency of vendors, and
coordinating farmers’ market promotion (perhaps at the state level, housed within state government) would
serve this end as well.
A RI Farmers’ Market Coalition is in formation to coordinate the markets themselves. Conversations between
DEM Division of Agriculture, Farm Fresh RI, the RI Agricultural Partnership and others are exploring how best
to coordinate farmers’ market promotion statewide.
Increasing the value of SNAP and W IC at farm ers’ m arkets
Gap
In 2011, less than half of the state’s 46 farmers’ markets accepted Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
(SNAP) benefits, and farmers and market managers don’t always know how to accept Senior and Women, Infants, and
Children (WIC) Farmers Market Nutrition Program vouchers.
Leverage Point
Rates of SNAP redemption at farmers’ markets in Rhode Island are among the highest in the United States, almost
four times the national average. Expertise housed within markets that do accept SNAP, social service organizations
advancing food access initiatives, and successful advocacy work that has led to these high rates can be leveraged to
expand this capacity. RI could leverage its success nationally, in support of ongoing federal policy work toward universal
SNAP access at markets. Further, extending public financial resources to FFRI’s Bonus Bucks program would increase
the value of each dollar spent at markets. And successful outreach approaches that have doubled SNAP enrollment
since 2007 can be applied to increase SNAP and WIC redemption at farmers’ markets.
2011-2016 …And Beyond
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
EBT wireless terminals are available at far more farmers’ markets in 2016 (50% of markets now compared
with just 17% in 2011) and organizational expertise in this arena (e.g. Farm Fresh RI) has been leveraged to
make that happen.
The USDA created a new pool of funding, the Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive grants program (FINI),
specifically focused on these types of incentives, and several RI organizations have been awarded grants.
Attention has been paid nationally to the ways in which the economies of some towns rise and fall with the
renewal of SNAP benefits (Woonsocket has commanded attention in this arena).
Provision of incentive dollars from public sources in RI— including potentially economic development budgets—
has yet to be undertaken.
WIC participation and WIC farmers’ market coupon redemption remains low in RI. An opportunity exists to copromote the potential for use of SNAP and WIC benefits (as well as incentive dollars).
RI is home to many CSAs, and an opportunity exists to explore the possibility of expanding CSA capacity to
accept SNAP and then providing incentives for CSA shares.
Beyond RI’s borders, pilot programming is underway (by Wholesome Wave and Fair Food Network and the
USDA) to test potential use of SNAP incentives for local foods purchased at corner stores and supermarkets,
not just farmers’ markets, and for SNAP incentives to be applied to “healthy” foods, not just local foods. RI local
food leaders are watching these pilots closely, looking for applicability and lessons to inform potential adoption
in RI.
In the fall of 2016, FFRI (in partnership with the Pawtucket Central Falls Development) will be opening a retail
store in downtown Pawtucket that will incentivize SNAP purchases, including prepared foods.
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PRODUCTION
Keeping farm land in production and bringing new land into agriculture
Gap
In 2011, approximately one-fifth of Rhode Island cropland, 5,132 acres, was not in production. And much cultivated land
in RI is farmed by farmers who will soon retire—more than one quarter of the state’s farmers are over 65 years old.
Leverage Point
While around the country the number of farms decreases each year, the number of farms in RI is increasing, up 42
percent from 2002 to 2007. New farmers seeking land could be matched with farmers set to retire, through more
integrated and more comprehensive succession planning, farmland protection outreach and “land link” matching
programs.
2011-2016 …And Beyond
•
•
•
•
•
•
RI farmland actively in agricultural use increased by 3% between 2011 and 2016, as new farms emerged,
others grew and others were preserved through purchase of development rights.
As the average age of farmers (in RI and the nation) climbs, farmers struggle with creating desirable farm
succession plans, while beginning farmers (including young farmers, but also immigrant farmers, urban
farmers seeking to expand, second career farmers, and others) struggle to access affordable farmland,
financing, and technical assistance.
Food systems conversations—formal and informal- are increasingly focused on equity and justice. This is true
of the land access conversation as well, ensuring equitable access and a clear path to accessing productive
farmland in rural, urban and suburban areas.
There are coordinated New England/regional efforts to address land access issues, including web-based
services for matching owners with farmers, led by American Farmland Trust and Land for Good. New
research has revealed the specific nature of the need in RI and policy recommendations have been shaped.
Providence has led the way in making city-owned land available to urban farmers and gardeners.
Comprehensive services related to finding land, financing the purchase/transfer of a farm business, and
succession planning do not yet exist in RI.
Increasing season extension and winter food production
Gap
Year-round demand for RI foods is strong, yet many buyers identified the short growing season and a lack of storage
crops (like squashes and potatoes) as factors limiting local food procurement.
Leverage Point
Several RI growers are participating in a USDA-funded pilot to test high tunnels, a non-fossil fuel based approach to
winter food production. Existing year-round marketing channels are already available to growers and can be leveraged
and expanded, including the state’s processors, grocers and distributors; three winter farmers’ markets; and FFRI’s
Market Mobile distribution service.
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2011-2016 …And Beyond
•
•
•
•
Funding is now available annually through the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service for building
high tunnels on land that is already in agricultural cultivation.
The number of year-round/winter farmers’ markets around the state is increasing (up to 8 from 3 in 2011),
and these markets are populated by vendors representing a diverse product mix, including stored product
(root crops and apples), value added product, meats, eggs, seafood, honey, etc. Fresh product has a presence
at these winter markets, but still a small presence.
Increased coordination between producers and potential winter markets and other buyers, along with
increased support for investment in high tunnel infrastructure, is a next step in encouraging producers to
extend the season.
Increased promotion of RI seafood as a local product that shifts seasonally but is available year-round is
needed.
Increasing urban food production
Gap
Providence County (home to RI’s largest urban centers) has highly effective urban agriculture resources, yet relatively
few residents grow food. Potential growing areas including roofs, yards, and empty lots remain underutilized and
uncultivated.
Leverage Point
Collaborations between city planning officials, businesses and non-profits could bring more land into cultivation to
increase fresh food access and spark community development. Southside Community Land Trust’s (SCLT)
Community Growers Program’s “hub and spoke” model will enable increased replication of urban food production, and
SCLT’s garden-to-market programs are ripe for leveraging and replication. Current urban farming resources
centralized in Providence County could be leveraged for expansion statewide.
2011-2016 …And Beyond
•
•
•
•
Urban agriculture energy and initiative have continued to grow in Providence. In 2012, SCLT partnered with
the City of Providence to launch the Lots of Hope initiative, which seeks to transform unused ~400 cityowned properties in urban farms and gardens and, in the process, institutionalizes urban agriculture in
Providence.
Urban agriculture is being integrated into affordable housing developments in Providence.
Community gardens have been established in other RI cities and towns, but few produce as much food and/or
supplementary income potential as those in Providence. An opportunity remains to leverage this expertise
and models elsewhere in the state, particularly other urban centers with high levels of food insecurity and
unemployment.
Organizations focused on improving quality of life and food self-sufficiency in urban communities (e.g. the
African Alliance) are beginning to look beyond market gardening to fishing and direct seafood marketing.
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Supporting diversification of non-food agricultural producers into food
production
Gap
Greenhouse, nursery, turf and sod producers are already beginning to diversify into food production. Many are large
farms, with sufficient acreage to serve as consistent anchors to farmers’ markets and/or to meet increasing wholesale
demand for local food. But they need support in accessing profitable and desirable food markets. Historically, in RI and
nationally, resources for farmers of food and non-food crops have been separate.
Leverage Point
Increased partnerships between associations of producers of food and non-food crops could support nursery growers
seeking to meet rising demand for local food (with services including production planning, packing, marketing, etc.),
through direct marketing or wholesale markets. Leveraging existing services provided by the Small Business
Development Corporation or the Rhode Island Center for Agricultural Promotion and Education (RICAPE), a “hub” of
business, finance, technical assistance and marketing supports for farmers of all products could support successful
diversification. And new partnerships with wholesale food buyers interested in supporting diversifying farms with
contracts for produce and technical assistance could be sought.
2011-2016 …And Beyond
•
•
•
•
Nursery, greenhouse, floriculture and sod producers in RI have continued to diversify into food crops, even as
the number of total businesses in that sector has declined. Anecdotally, the research team heard that
marketing these new crops has been a challenge for some. Targeted production and marketing assistance for
producers of all kinds interested in diversifying could support the food system’s growth.
The Small Business Development Corporation (SBDC), housed at Johnson and Wales in 2011, moved to the
URI Kingston campus. The co-location of a land grant university, extension services and the SBDC presents
an opportunity to focus small business resources in on these industries and businesses.
Technical assistance offerings for producers and harvesters across sectors remain thin in the state, as do
sources of industry specific and scale appropriate capital (see below).
An opportunity remains to connect wholesale-ready producers in RI with local wholesale buyers of all scales
(from incubator-housed start-ups to UNFI in-state and to buyers throughout the region).
FOOD PROCESSING AND DISTRIBUTION
Facilitating win-win relationships between growers, distributors, processors
and buyers
Gap
RI buyers’ needs and growers’ product availability aren’t always communicated clearly or effectively. Wholesale buyers
increasingly seek local foods, yet few RI farmers are familiar with buyers’ volume, packing, cold storage, insurance and
food safety compliance standards—and few have the current capacity to meet these standards.
Leverage Point
RI organizations (such as the DEM, FFRI, and Kids First) have achieved great success in facilitating increased local food
procurement (including public procurement). This can be leveraged by facilitating a coordinated, strategic focus in this
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Update to the Rhode Island Food Assessment
area. A “public interest broker” working on a statewide level could enhance these efforts, working across organizations
to make critical connections between buyers and producers (fisheries included), illuminating opportunities and
eliminating obstacles to local food procurement.
2011-2016 …And Beyond
•
•
•
•
As local food increasingly moves to center stage in RI (in media, on menus, in economic development planning
and strategy), a neutral person (one not prioritizing the needs of an individual program or business) is this role
is increasingly needed.
Joining the organizations listed above in having this kind of brokering capacity in house, the RI Public Health
Institute received a significant grant award from the USDA’s Local Food Promotion Program to hire a “local
food broker” to increase local food marketing capacity for its mobile markets.
As seafood harvesters increasingly seek to build shorter more traceable local and regional supply chains, it is
vital that this role serve both land and marine based production and harvesting industries.
Thinking about the services a role like this could provide has expanded since 2011 to include “concierge”
services—a person who could service as a guide to businesses navigating new markets, regulatory
requirements, technical assistance offerings and sources of capital.
Linking farm ers and food entrepreneurs with new, sm all scale processing
infrastructure
Gap
On-farm processing capacity that would enable producers to “add value” to their products is a mainstay of small
diversified farm profitability, yet such infrastructure is rare in Rhode Island.
Leverage Point
New processing endeavors—mobile, on farms and in cities and towns— are springing up and growing around the state,
including Hope and Main in Warren, mobile poultry processing, and Harvest Kitchen in Pawtucket. Producers,
entrepreneurs, and consumers could be better connected to these resources, ensuring that businesses can add value
to foods through processing and that these facilities themselves are operating efficiently, profitably, and at capacity.
2011-2016 …And Beyond
•
•
•
•
With such a significant number of very small farms, this approach to shared infrastructure, rather than
privately held on-farm infrastructure, works for RI and has been embraced here.
Hope and Main, in the development process in 2011, is now an anchor incubator and home to almost 60
active and aspiring food businesses from around the state. In addition to growing out its current facility to
meet demand, the organization anticipates and is planning to meet the need for “next stage” infrastructure for
companies that successfully grow past the start-up or incubation phase.
Other shared use commercial kitchens are emerging as well, including one in Woonsocket (a project of
NeighborWorks) and another is anticipated in Wakefield at the Food Coop (with LASA funding).
In the seafood sector, increasing attention is being paid and support is needed for processing of undermarketed species such as scup (by machine or by hand) to improve consumer ease of preparing and eating
seafood that is abundant here, to create new markets for RI fisherman and promote what’s abundant and
sustainable in RI waters.
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Innovative approaches to food distribution
Gap
With just two delivery days each week in 2011, Market Mobile changed RI’s food distribution landscape, increasing
buyers’ access to RI producers of all scales. Yet other mainstream distributors (national players like Sysco and
independent distributors like Tourtelott) move food around the state seven days per week, in larger quantities to a
broad range of RI businesses and institutions. Locally grown and processed foods may represent just a small portion of
their overall inventory.
Leverage Point
Innovative partnerships with distributors, such as the one forged by the Fresh to You market program, can be
leveraged to increase distributors’ presence in dialogue and action on community food security. Efforts to increase
local food procurement in institutional and retail marketplaces can engage distributors—their logistics and sourcing
expertise and their infrastructure—in ways that ensure that new partnerships are profitable for the distributors and
result in increased access to high quality affordable foods for consumers.
2011-2016 …And Beyond
•
•
•
•
As the program has grown and Farm Fresh RI has girded up programming around it, Market Mobile and FFRI
are increasingly looked to as a national model of a successful and impactful food hub. Market Mobile has
trucks on the road five days per week, is expanding from two to four ordering cycles per week in 2016, and
exploring several new logistics, brokerage and distribution models and services.
Tracking progress on this point is both labor-intensive and sometimes not possible, as many distribution firms
do not share their supplier lists, volumes, or purchasing data.
Farm to Institution New England, a cross sector network focused on increasing and meeting demand for
regional foods by regional institutions, emerged in 2010 and has grown substantially since then, supporting
distributors, food service companies, food processors and buyers across the region to increase local food
procurement. Several successful pilot initiatives with institutions, distributors and food service companies are
underway around the region. An opportunity exists to increase the organization’s focus on RI opportunities.
Farm to Institution New England work has also included a region-wide metrics project to provide “at a glance”
data local food supply chain development and successes in the sector.
Creatively using existing, m ainstream infrastructure
Gap
Slaughterhouses, fresh cut facilities and dairy processors exist in and around RI, but the mechanisms (including
relationships, communication, marketing) that connect small farmers to them need to be rebuilt and re-imagined.
Leverage Point
Rhode Island’s food system includes a robust and diverse food processing industry. The physical infrastructure and
local industry expertise could be better activated to increase local farms’ reach into institutional and other wholesale
markets, and ultimately reach a broader segment of RI’s population. Groups like Rhody Fresh (dairy) and RI Raised
Livestock Association (meats) are building new conduits into existing mainstream processing infrastructure in RI and
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the region. Their strategies for ensuring that producers, processors and consumers are all well-served can be
replicated. Rebuilding these mechanisms will result in more regional food reaching more markets, including institutional
feeding and emergency feeding programs.
2011-2016 …And Beyond
•
•
•
•
A robust and vibrant local food system includes a diversity of kinds and scales of food businesses and
infrastructures and cultivates mutually beneficial business-to-business connections between them.
Models of this approach that were ongoing (described above and in the 2011 Food Assessment) have
continued and grown. A new example that emerged in the course of research for this Update is that Fresh To
You (renamed Rhody Food on the Move) now shares warehouse space with Tourtellot. In another case, a
start-up seafood processor is partnering with one of the state’s largest seafood processors as a supplier.
Support for these creative partnerships would benefit the industry and the local food system as a whole.
Working at the regional level, more than RI level, FINE has driven a number of pilot projects incorporating
more local foods into existing distribution routes, into significant institutional food service contracts, and into
mainstream and larger scale processing facilities.
Lobbying to house a pilot processing initiative in RI— in partnership with a produce or seafood processor—
would be one way to drive new integration.
Supporting the food system ’s com m ercial side and m iddlem en
Gap
RI’s food industry is robust and plays a substantial role in feeding the state, yet not all of the industry’s integral leaders
think of themselves as part of a local food “system.”
Leverage Point
Successful local food promotions can be expanded to include the state’s more commercial growers, locally processed
foods, and players at the middle of food supply chains. Increasingly, restaurants that support “local” and farmers
themselves are celebrated while the businesses that slice, freeze, pack, store, and ship these foods (local or not) are
rarely supported as part of the local food system. Through local food promotion programs or government resources
for businesses, for example, partnerships with food industry actors could be forged, ensuring that they are informed of
ongoing work to increase community food security. Their expertise could be utilized to bring locally grown and locally
processed foods to consumers of all income levels.
2011-2016 …And Beyond
•
•
•
Over the past five years, local food system culture and conversation have shifted to include—and to value— the
larger scale and middle-of-the-supply chain players.
As described above, nonprofit food ventures and start-ups are starting to look to more established food
businesses as suppliers, for shared infrastructure, and for mentorship. And RI’s food business leaders are
welcoming the new relationships. Leaders in the food business incubation sector have noted the significant
service that these more established business leaders are providing to the food system start-up sector.
As economic development attention at the state level increasingly focuses on food manufacturing and food
businesses, celebrating existing established businesses, as part of the local food system will be an important
step in building a more unified culture of support for food enterprise in RI.
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FOOD AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Understanding and im proving the food system ’s environm ental im pact
Gap
Reduced environmental impact is a central outcome of a thriving local food system. Extensive work is done statewide to
mitigate the negative environmental impacts of agricultural production, but data related to food, agriculture and the
environment is not aggregated together to document related costs, benefits or accomplishments.
Leverage Point
The state’s strong water quality work could better connect with food system development work, ensuring that as
urban and rural production increase they do so in ways that are safe and environmentally sustainable.
2011-2016 …And Beyond
•
•
•
•
The environmental impact of agriculture remains a central issue for the sustainability of RI agriculture,
aquaculture and fisheries. Of equal or greater concern in 2016 are the current and future affects of the
environment—and climate change—on RI and regional food production.
The RI Nursery and Landscape Association, an umbrella trade organization that also represents many food
producers, is coordinating a significant green infrastructure capacity building initiative.
Cultivating the state’s attention on resiliency and focusing that attention on food production will support a
more resilient local and regional food supply and more resilient RI farm and food businesses.
RI has passed Climate Change legislation that has created cross-agency and cross-sector collaboratives and
can serve as a foundation for work focused on adaptive and resilient food systems.
Cycling m ore RI food scrap back to RI soil
Gap
Rather than being composted, in 2010 an estimated 102,006 tons of municipal food scrap was sent to RI’s Central
Landfill, and an estimated 56,226 tons of commercial food scrap was sent to either the Central Landfill or another
out-of-state waste facility.
Leverage Point
Leaf and yard debris composting in RI is fairly robust already. Extending those strategies to personal, commercial and
municipal food waste composting efforts would decrease the volume of waste sent to RI’s Central Landfill, extending
food scrap’s use-life and improving the health of RI soil.
2011-2016 …And Beyond
•
•
In 2014, RI generated about 217,500 tons of food waste from municipal and commercial sources.
That same year, the Assembly passed a food scraps recycling law targeting institutions—while that law is in
effect as of January 2016, the commercial composting or digesting facilities required to give the law teeth
are not yet operational.
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•
•
An industrial sector focused on food waste recycling, for energy and compost, is emerging in RI.
Increased support for scaling and commercializing food recycling and composting ventures will enable policies
already on the books to be meaningfully implemented.
POLICY, PLANNING AND REGULATION
Sim plifying food safety regulation
Gap
Food safety rules are essential for public health and successful food business development, yet farm and food
businesses struggle to navigate complex state and federal food safety regulations. And the Food and Drug
Administration’s Food Safety Modernization Act will result in more stringent regulations for farm and food businesses.
Leverage Point
An integrated statewide system to support food processing business start-ups would help grow the sector. Resources
within the DEM Division of Agriculture, Department of Health and University of Rhode Island— already working
separately and together to provide food safety trainings, supports and certifications (such as Good Agricultural
Practices)— can be leveraged to define a clearer path to food safety compliance. Public-private partnerships, between
trade organizations and government and university entities, can together engage and educate policymakers on local
food and agriculture businesses (and the ways in which they serve to increase community food security), advocating
for regulations appropriate to various scales of business.
2011-2016 …And Beyond
•
•
•
•
Far reaching effects of food borne illness and food recalls (of a wide variety of foods- fresh, frozen, processed,
organic) have made headlines over the past five years
The Food Safety Modernization Act is moving toward implementation with five of its seven component rules
final as of spring 2016. There has been a broad public outcry about the impact compliance will have on small
and mid scale farm and food businesses. Supporting farm and food businesses on a path to food safety
compliance and financial viability (two goals that are mutually supportive, not at odds) will be a key training and
assistance need in the next three to five years.
The RI Department of Health is aware of food businesses’ confusion about navigating the regulatory process,
but has not yet developed or implemented a way to support navigation of the process while also protecting
food safety.
New cross-sector and cross-interest structures in RI—such as IFNPAC, the Food Policy Council, and the new
food policy coordinator role—are well poised to facilitate cross-sector discussions that generate regulatory
clarity without compromising food safety.
Regional planning and supply chain developm ent as a new kind of
infrastructure
Gap
Definitions of a “local” food system sometimes stop at state lines. While RI’s food system is strong on its own,
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consumers, producers and players across supply chains could better served by looking to surrounding states. A
balance can be struck between dedication to the state, leveraging (and being leveraged by) the region, and utilizing and
creating regional supply chains.
Leverage Point
A definition of local could articulate a “hierarchy of preference” that begins with RI products and then expands to
include foods from across the region. Many private sector national businesses organize their trucking routes,
warehousing, and processing regionally, not state by state—working with this structure could mean new markets for
farmers and increased healthy local food access for all consumers. Further, increasing the breadth of RI’s participation
in regional meetings such as the Northeastern State Departments of Agriculture Association and the Northeast
Sustainable Agriculture Working Group would result in a strong resource base of regional markets, processors,
production, buyers and best practices. Opportunities exist to plan for building RI’s local food system in concert with
other New England states, from the New England Governors’ Conference’s coordinated efforts to those being
undertaken by the Northeast Regional Steering Committee of the National Farm-to-School Network.
2011-2016 …And Beyond
•
•
•
•
•
•
The idea of regional food systems, somewhat new in 2011, has taken off, in New England in particular.
Food Solutions New England emerged in 2011, a network devoted to promoting and building regional
alignment around a food system vision and goal of New England meeting 50% of its needs for “clean, fair, just
and accessible food” by 2060 (through agriculture, fishing, aquaculture, and shifting in consumer eating
patterns). RI organizations are active participants and many anchor food organizations are seeking ways to
align their programming and planning to support the regional 50-by-60 goal.
Seen in the context of the region, fisheries emerge as a key opportunity for RI to contribute to the region’s
food production/harvesting goals.
Farm to Institution New England’s aforementioned work gathering data and aligning metrics about the
region’s food system will continue to be instrumental in regional food planning undertakings.
RI depends heavily on data federal collected about each state- but because of RI’s size, often data is
suppressed at geographic levels smaller than state or county level, making the data hard to use for planning
purposes. Increased efforts by the state to collect its own data (on public health, agricultural production, food
industry sector, e.g.), taken in concert with regional efforts on this front, are essential.
Further, comparing Rhode Island trends in health and economics in particular against New England states
individually or in aggregate could serve a useful comparison.
M aking land use policy serve the food system
Gap
Land use policy and regulation, state zoning legislation and municipal ordinances could be retooled to better serve RI’s
food system players.
Leverage Point
New policies like the 2011 “right to plant” bill allowing plant agriculture in all zones open pathways to increased urban
and rural food production. Changes to existing policies governing the purchase of farmland development rights could
make farmland more affordable and ensure that protected land remains in active agricultural production. And farmer
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participation on the municipal Planning Boards/Commissions responsible for developing Local Comprehensive Plans
could enable farms to more easily diversify their income and marketing activities.
2011-2016 …And Beyond
•
•
•
Recent research by the RI Agricultural Partnership has revealed the fragmentation in the creation and
information sharing around land use policy in RI. Work is underway to propose a more unified approach to
hosting and updating information.
The RI Comprehensive Planning Standards board released a guidebook for municipalities to increasingly plan
for agriculture and policy is supporting the inclusion of agriculture (and its link to economic development) in
municipal planning in RI.
Land prices and access to affordable land remain key obstacles to growing the number, size and profitability
of farm businesses in RI.
Planning to ensure that farm and food businesses’ have access to capital,
technical assistance, and support services for growth
Gap
Farm and food businesses feel a lack of sufficient access to support services, technical assistance and scaleappropriate capital related to business and financial planning, navigating regulatory processes, and planning for growth.
Because of this absence and the way that it inhibits business growth, some have referred to the stage of business
growth after start-up in RI as “the valley of death.”
Leverage Point
Tremendous resources have emerged to support farm and food businesses in RI at the start-up phase, and New
England is abundant with models of combined technical assistance and capital (loan funds, e.g.). Coordinated efforts
between the public sector, private philanthropies and business support organizations could grow RI’s increasingly rich
start-up support base for “next phase” growth, create new services for RI businesses and, as appropriate and possible,
direct RI business to take advantage of available regional resources.
2011-2016 …And Beyond
•
•
•
Incubation support and facilities have been created and eagerly adopted in RI, such as Urban Edge Farm,
Snake Den Farm, Hope and Main, business acceleration support through Social Enterprise Greenhouse
(including a loan fund), and the LASA small grants program.
Together three private philanthropies have catalyzed the local food system’s coordinated growth—the RI
Foundation, Kendall Foundation and van Beuren Foundation— and are poised to continue supporting the
growth of the sector, complementing incubators, services, funds and accelerators targeted at supporting
individual businesses.
There is an opportunity for regional coordination around technical assistance, strategies for capitalizing food
system businesses, and creating access to capital. More information is needed about the specific kinds of
technical assistance and capital that are most useful too and needed by food businesses across sectors,
scales, and stages of and intentions for growth.
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APPENDIX I – MAPPING SOURCES AND METHODS
All maps were created using QGIS 2.10, with minor finishing in Adobe Illustrator 5.1. Addresses were geocoded using GPS
Visualizer (http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/geocoding.html) and MMQGIS Google Maps geocoder.
FOOD ACCESS
•
•
•
•
•
•
Licensed Food Retailers
o Source: State of Rhode Island Department of Health (http://www.health.ri.gov/lists/licensees/) (filtered by
Profession or Facility Type = “markets”)
WIC Retailers
o Source: State of Rhode Island Department of Health (January 2016)
http://www.health.ri.gov/lists/WIC/ApprovedWICVendors.pdf
SNAP Retailers
o USDA Data as of April 12, 2016 (http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/retailerlocator)
o http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/retailerlocator - download by state
Food Pantries and meal sites
o Rhode Island Community Food Bank - Food Assistance Provider List (April 2016) (http://rifoodbank.org//wpcontent/uploads/2016/01/FAL-April-2.pdf)
Low-Income Low-Acces Tracts (food deserts)
o USDA Food Access Research Atlas (2010) (http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-access-researchatlas/download-the-data.aspx)
o Low-Income Low-Access tracts at the 10- and ½- mile were used
% Households on SNAP
o American Community Survey 5YR (2014) (http://factfinder.census.gov/)
LILA tracts were “dissolved” so that contiguous tracts would display more simply as a single area.
ECONOMY
•
•
•
•
Food Manufacturing Jobs (NAICS 311)
o 2012 Economic Census – Economy-Wide Key Statistics – 3-digit NAICS sectors
(http://factfinder.census.gov/)
Food Service and Retail Jobs (NAICS 445 + NAICS 722)
o 2012 Economic Census – Economy-Wide Key Statistics – 3-digit NAICS sectors
(http://factfinder.census.gov/)
Median household income
o American Community Survey 5YR (2014) (http://factfinder.census.gov/)
Unemployment
o American Community Survey 5YR (2014) (http://factfinder.census.gov/)
Figures for “Food Service and Retail Jobs” were calculated by combining individual figures for NAICS 445 (Food and Beverage
Stores) and NAICS 722 (Food Services and Drinking Places).
For both Food Manufacturing Jobs and Food Service and Retail Jobs, when data was suppressed estimates were calculated
based on the low point of the given range. For example, if data was suppressed such that a given municipality had an employee
range of 20-99 employees, that municpality was assigned a value of 20 employees for that sector. Therefore, these figures
should be interpreted as a minimum or “greater than or equal to” the visualized number of employees.
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HEALTH ACCESS
•
•
•
Federally Qualified Health Centers
o Source: Rhode Island Health Center Association (http://www.rihca.org/about-the-health-centers/healthcenter-directory.aspx)
Health Care and Social Assistance Establishments (NAICS 62)
o Source: 2012 Economic Census – Economy-Wide Key Statistics (http://factfinder.census.gov/)
Number of total households per municipality
o American Community Survey 5YR (2014) (http://factfinder.census.gov/)
PUBLIC HEALTH
•
Heart Disease Death Rate per 100K
o
•
Diagnosed Diabetes
o
•
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2011-2013) – All race, all gender, all ages, smoothed.
(http://nccd.cdc.gov/DHDSPAtlas/Default.aspx?state=RI)
http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/atlas/countydata/atlas.html
Obesity Prevalence, Leisure-time Physical Inactivity Prevalence (2012)
o
(http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/atlas/countydata/County_ListofIndicators.html)
From the CDC:
Respondents were considered:
To have diabetes if they responded "yes" to the question, "Has a doctor ever told you that you have diabetes?" Women
who indicated that they only had diabetes during pregnancy were not considered to have diabetes.
To be obese if their body mass index was 30 or greater. Body mass index (weight [kg]/height [m]2 ) was derived from
self-report of height and weight.
To be physically inactive if they answered "no" to the question, "During the past month, other than your regular job, did
you participate in any physical activities or exercises such as running, calisthenics, golf, gardening, or walking for
exercise?"
TABLE: NON-FARM FOOD JOBS
All data comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics – Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages Data Viewer
(http://www.bls.gov/cew/apps/data_views/data_views.htm#tab=Tables)
•
•
Annual Averages for 2014
4-sector codes, food-related (listed below)
All sectors with no data suppression are shown for RI and counties. Sectors are ordered in descending order of Total Annual
Wages for each county/state.
311
NAICS 311 Food manufacturing
445
NAICS 445 Food and beverage stores
722
NAICS 722 Food services and drinking places
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1141
NAICS 1141 Fishing
1151
NAICS 1151 Support activities for crop production
1152
NAICS 1152 Support activities for animal production
3111
NAICS 3111 Animal food manufacturing
3112
NAICS 3112 Grain and oilseed milling
3113
NAICS 3113 Sugar and confectionery product manufacturing
3114
NAICS 3114 Fruit and vegetable preserving and specialty
3115
NAICS 3115 Dairy product manufacturing
3116
NAICS 3116 Animal slaughtering and processing
3117
NAICS 3117 Seafood product preparation and packaging
3118
NAICS 3118 Bakeries and tortilla manufacturing
3119
NAICS 3119 Other food manufacturing
4244
NAICS 4244 Grocery and related product wholesalers
4245
NAICS 4245 Farm product raw material merch. whls.
4451
NAICS 4451 Grocery stores
4452
NAICS 4452 Specialty food stores
7223
NAICS 7223 Special food services
7225
NAICS 7225 Restaurants
TABLE: FARM ECON/JOBS
All data comes from the USDA 2012 Census of Agriculture (https://www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/2012/).
This assessment uses NAICS sector data from both the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Quarterly Census of Employment and
Wages (QCEW) and the 2012 Economic Census. Discrepancies between these data sets may be due to any of the following:
•
•
•
•
Inconsistent reporting of multiple worksites (e.g. a single firm with multiple locations can be reported as one
establishment or as multiple establishments)
Different data collection vehicles and processes
Different respondents (e.g. a payroll provider may respond to QCEW while the business itself responds to Economic
Census
Different classification of establishments by NAICS sectors
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APPENDIX II - ENDNOTES
i
http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=CF
ii
Ibid.
iii
Ibid.
iv
Ibid
v
Ibid
vi
https://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/data/threshld/.
vii
American FactFinder, U.S. Census Bureau. 2010-2014 American Community Survey 5-year Estimates, Poverty Status in the
Past 12 Months, Accessed Mar. 22, 2016.
viii
https://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/about/overview/.
ix
American FactFinder, U.S. Census Bureau. 2010-2014 American Community Survey 5-year Estimates, Poverty Status in the
Past 12 Months, Accessed Mar. 22, 2016.
x
U.S. Census Bureau. Poverty. 2014 Highlights. Accessed April 10, 2016.
https://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/about/overview/.
xi
American FactFinder, U.S. Census Bureau. 2010-2014 American Community Survey 5-year Estimates, Poverty Status in the
Past 12 Months, Accessed Mar. 22, 2016.
xii
Ibid.
xiii
Ibid.
xiv
Ibid.
xv
Ibid.
xvi
Ibid.
xvii
Ibid.
xviii
http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/FoodSecurity/stats_graphs.htm
xix
http://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-us/key-statistics-graphics.aspx#foodsecure.
xx
http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/FoodSecurity/stats_graphs.htm
xxi
" http://map.feedingamerica.org/county/2012/overall/rhode-island.
xxii
Ibid
xxiii
http://www.rifoodbank.org/Portals/0/Uploads/Documents/2016FactsFiguresWeb.pdf
xxiv
http://map.feedingamerica.org/county/2012/overall/rhode-island.
xxv
Ibid.
xxvi
https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/documents/SNAP_report_final_nonembargo.pdf
xxvii
https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/documents/SNAP_report_final_nonembargo.pdf
xxviii
http://www.fns.usda.gov/pd/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program-snap
xxix
http://www.eatbettertoday.com/
xxx
http://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/FY14 State Activity Report.pdf.
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xxxi
http://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/ops/Characteristics2014.pdf
xxxii
http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-environment-atlas/data-access-and-documentation-downloads.aspx
xxxiii
http://www.fns.usda.gov/pd/wic-program.
xxxiv http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-environment-atlas/data-access-and-documentation-downloads.aspx
xxxv
http://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2015-june/wic-experienced-largest-decrease-in-participation-inprogram%E2%80%99s-history-in-2014.aspx#.VxaC0pMrKF0
xxxvi Oliveira, Victor. "The Food Assistance Landscape FY 2015 Annual Report." USDA ERS. March 2016. Accessed April 4,
2016. http://www.ers.usda.gov/media/2031340/eib150_report-summary.pdf.
xxxvii
WIC eligibility is determined based on data from the RI DOH regarding pregnant and postpartum women, infants, and
children under five years in families with income less than 185 percent of the federal poverty level.
xxxviii
The Rhode Island Kids Count Factbook. Report. 2016. Accessed April 27, 2016.
http://www.rikidscount.org/Portals/0/Uploads/Documents/Factbook 2016/WIC 2016.pdf.
xxxix
The Rhode Island Kids Count Factbook. Report. 2016. Accessed April 27, 2016.
http://www.rikidscount.org/Portals/0/Uploads/Documents/Factbook 2016/WIC 2016.pdf.
xl
http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-environment-atlas/data-access-and-documentation-downloads.aspx
xli
2016 RI Farm to Table Strategic Marketing Plan, commissioned by the RI Agricultural Partnership—not yet released
xlii
Convenience stores that sell exclusively chips, soda and candy are not considered markets. This is the only exception.
xliii
In the USDA Food Environment Atlas, the source of the data in the table, markets categorized as grocery stores include
establishments generally known as supermarkets as well as smaller grocery stores primarily engaged in retailing a general line of
food, such as canned and frozen foods; fresh fruits and vegetables; and fresh and prepared meats, fish, and poultry.
Delicatessen-type establishments primarily engaged in retailing a general line of food are also included in the grocery store
category. The convenience store category includes convenience stores both with and without gasoline sales.
xliv
http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-environment-atlas/data-access-and-documentation-downloads.aspx
xlv
"SNAP Retailer Locator." USDA Food and Nutrition Service. March 30, 2016. Accessed April 7, 2016.
http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/retailerlocator.
xlvi
USDA Food and Nutrition Service, SNAP Retailer Location, as of April 12, 2016
xlvii
Ibid.
xlviii
Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2010, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Benefit Redemption Division, USDA.
xlix
http://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/snap/2015-SNAP-Retailer-Management-Year-End-Summary.pdf.
l
Rhode Island Department of Health, Approved WIC Vendors as of January 2016
li
http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-environment-atlas/data-access-and-documentation-downloads.aspx
lii
http://www.fns.usda.gov/pd/child-nutrition-tables
liii
http://www.ride.ri.gov/cnp/NutritionPrograms/NationalSchoolLunchProgram.aspx
liv
http://www.doc.ri.gov/institutions/food/index.php
lv
http://pbn.com/USDA-RI-has-greatest-percentage-of-school-districts-participating-in-farm-to-school-mealprograms,113066?
lvi
Limited-service restaurants (defined by North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 722211) include
establishments primarily engaged in providing food services (except snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars) where patrons
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generally order or select items and pay before eating. Food and drink may be consumed on premises, taken out, or delivered to
the customer's location. Some establishments in this industry may provide these food services in combination with alcoholic
beverage sales.
lvii
Full-service restaurants (defined by North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code 722110) include
establishments primarily engaged in providing food services to patrons who order and are served while seated (i.e.,
waiter/waitress service) and pay after eating. These establishments may provide this type of food service to patrons in
combination with selling alcoholic beverages, providing takeout services, or presenting live nontheatrical entertainment.
lviii
http://www.tourismworksforri.com/Tourism-Facts/
lix
http://mandalaresearch.com/index.php/purchase-reports/view_document/75-the-american-culinary-traveler-study-
lx
http://www.farmfresh.org/markets/.
lxi
http://eatdrinkri.com/2014/11/23/ri-dem-news-release-eight-indoor-winter-farmers-markets-throughout-state-offerrhode-islanders-wide-variety-local-products/
lxii
2016 RI Farm to Table Strategic Marketing Plan, commissioned by the RI Agricultural Partnership—not yet released
lxiii
2016 RI Farm to Table Strategic Marketing Plan, commissioned by the RI Agricultural Partnership—not yet released
lxiv
https://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/commercial-fisheries/commercial-landings/
lxv
https://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/commercial-fisheries/commercial-landings/
lxvi
The Hope Street Market Manager contracts with FFRI to manage EBT transactions at the Hope Street Market.
lxvii
http://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/snap/SNAP-FM-093015.pdf The USDA data indicate that there were just 2
farmers’ markets with EBT capacity in 2008. Farm Fresh RI reports that there were eight and attributes the discrepancy to
Farm Fresh EBT terminals being grouped and counted as one.
lxviii
http://www.dem.ri.gov/programs/bnatres/agricult/pdf/srfarm15.pdf.
lxix
Rhode Island Agricultural Partnership, A Vision for Rhode Island Agriculture: Five-Year Strategic Plan, May 2011.
lxx
http://ediblerhody.ediblefeast.com/shop/local-csas-csfs-rhode-island
lxxi
http://farmfreshri.deliverybizpro.com/p-65-impact.html
lxxii
http://www.rifoodbank.org/Portals/0/Uploads/Documents/ricfb-rpt%20status%2011.15%20webfinal.pdf
lxxiii
http://www.rihomeless.org/AboutHomelessness/HomelessnessStatistics/tabid/248/Default.aspx
lxxiv
http://www.farmfreshri.org/about/foodpantry.php
lxxv
Food at home refers to the total expenditures for food at grocery stores (or other food stores) and food prepared by the
consumer unit on trips. It excludes the purchase of nonfood items.
lxxvi
Food away from home includes all meals (breakfast and brunch, lunch, dinner and snacks and nonalcoholic beverages)
including tips at fast food, take-out, delivery, concession stands, buffet and cafeteria, at full-service restaurants, and at vending
machines and mobile vendors. Also included are board (including at school), meals as pay, special catered affairs, such as
weddings, bar mitzvahs, and confirmations, school lunches, and meals away from home on trips.
lxxvii
Northeastern region by income before taxes: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, Consumer Expenditure
Survey, 2013-2014
lxxviii
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.
State Indicator Report on Fruits and Vegetables 2013
lxxix
http://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/downloads/State-Indicator-Report-Fruits-Vegetables-2013.pdf.
lxxx
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. State Indicator Report on Fruits Vegetables, 2009
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lxxxi
http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/133/Suppl_1/AP280.abstract
lxxxii
http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/133/Suppl_1/AP280.abstract
lxxxiii
http://stateofobesity.org
lxxxiv
http://healthyamericans.org/reports/stateofobesity2015/release.php?stateid=RI.
lxxxv
Ibid.
lxxxvi
http://stateofobesity.org/states/ri/
lxxxvii
http://stateofobesity.org/obesity-rates-trends-overview/.
lxxxviii
http://stateofobesity.org/states/ri/
lxxxix
http://stateofobesity.org/obesity-rates-trends-overview/.
xc
Trust for America’s Health. State of Obesity 2015. The State of Obesity in Rhode Island. Report. September 21, 2015.
Accessed March 30, 2016. http://stateofobesity.org/states/ri/
xci
Ibid.
xcii
Ibid.
xciii
Ibid.
xciv
http://stateofobesity.org/states/ri/
xcv
http://gis.cdc.gov/grasp/diabetes/DiabetesAtlas.html.
xcvi
CDC diagnosed diabetes data limitations include the fact that 1 in 4 people who have diabetes do not know it as they have not
yet been diagnosed, and the CDC diabetes surveillance system does not distinguish between diabetes types (CDC, Diabetes
Atlas 2014, Diagnosed Diabetes). Type II Diabetes is considered a diet-related disease but Type I Diabetes is not.
xcvii
http://gis.cdc.gov/grasp/diabetes/DiabetesAtlas.html.
xcviii
http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/atlas/countydata/atlas.html.
xcix
http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/basics/prevention.html.
c
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. US Diabetes Surveillance System. Diabetes Atlas 2014
ci
http://www.pbn.com/Providence-one-of-four-cities-chosen-for-national-health-data-initiative,112427?
cii
United States Department of Agriculture; Bloom, Canning, Sevilla World Development Vol. 32, No. 1, pp 1-13, 2004; “Bending
the Obesity Cost Curve in Rhode Island”, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, September 2012; Gallup-Healthways Well Being
Index, Jan 2.-Oct 2, 2011; Washington Health Policy Week in Review National Health Expenditures Now Grab 17.3 Percent of
GDP, Study Projects By Jane Norman, CQ HealthBeat Associate Editor. From a Department of Health presentation created by
Chris Ausura.
ciii
http://www.health.ri.gov/publications/actionplans/2010InitiativeForHealthyWeight.pdf.
civ
Rhode Island Agricultural Partnership, A Vision for Rhode Island Agriculture: Five-Year Strategic Plan, May 2011.
cv
http://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/New_England_includes/Publications/cashreceipts.pdf
cvi
Ibid.
cvii
Ibid.
cviii
Ibid.
cix
http://www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/2012/Online_Resources/County_Profiles/Rhode_Island/cp99044.pdf
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cx
Diversification information was compiled from 2007 Census of Agriculture data, with assistance from the New England Field
Office of the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service. Crop diversification is likely is wider than the data indicates as only
39 crops are counted, and multiple varieties of greens and herbs are not differentiated.
cxi
http://www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/2012/Full_Report/Volume_1,_Chapter_1_State_Level/Rhode_Island/st44_1_068_
068.pdf.
cxii
https://www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/2012/Full_Report/Volume_1,_Chapter_1_State_Level/Rhode_Island/st44_1_06
8_068.pdf
cxiii
2010 Cash Receipts, New England Agricultural Statistics, 2011, USDA NASS New England Field Office.
cxiv
Ibid.
cxv
http://www.crmc.ri.gov/aquaculture/aquareport15.pdf.
cxvi
Ibid
cxvii
Rhode Island Agricultural Partnership, A Vision for Rhode Island Agriculture: Five-Year Strategic Plan, May 2011.
cxviii
Rhode Island State Fact Sheet (updated 9/14/11), USDA ERS.
cxix
Local Food Systems: Concepts, Impacts, and Issues, USDA ERS, May 2010.
cxx
http://www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/2012/Full_Report/Volume_1,_Chapter_1_State_Level/Rhode_Island/.
cxxi
http://www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/2012/Full_Report/Volume_1,_Chapter_1_State_Level/Rhode_Island/.
cxxii
Ibid.
cxxiii
http://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/New_England_includes/Publications/cashreceipts.pdf
cxxiv
Ibid.
cxxv
http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/state-fact-sheets/statedata.aspx?StateFIPS=44&StateName=RhodeIsland#P0412a58941d84441abbf2da09dcabd3e_2_368iT12C0x0.
cxxvi
http://www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/2012/Online_Resources/Highlights/Farmers_Marketing/Highlights_Farmers_M
arketing.pdf.
cxxvii
Ibid.
cxxviii
http://www.rhodyfresh.com/where_to_buy.html.
cxxix
http://www.farmfresh.org/hub/index_numbers.php
cxxx
http://www.dem.ri.gov/programs/bnatres/agricult/pdf/rifarminstsurvey.pdf
cxxxi
http://www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/2012/Online_Resources/County_Profiles/Rhode_Island/cp99044.pdf.
cxxxii
Rhode Island State Fact Sheet (updated 9/14/11), USDA ERS.
cxxxiii
Rhode Island Land Trust Council, FarmRI 2.0: Crafting the Next Generation of Initiatives for Saving Rhode Island’s Working
Farms, Report from the 2010 Charrette.
cxxxiv
http://www.cfrfoundation.org/research-programs/development-of-a-profile/the-rhode-island-commercial-fishingindustry-development-of-a-profile
cxxxv
http://www.dem.ri.gov/programs/bnatres/agricult/pdf/alpc_annual_report_2015.pdf
cxxxvi
http://events.idtg.illinois.edu/here/files/2015/11/Lang-Talk.pdf
cxxxvii
Payne, Ken. Shifting the Paradigm: A Preliminary Final Report on the Implementation of The Five-Year Strategic Plan "A
Vision for Rhode Island May 2011" Report. November 5, 2015.
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cxxxviii
cxxxix
http://www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/2012/Online_Resources/County_Profiles/Rhode_Island/cp99044.pdf.
United States. Department of Agriculture. 2012 Census of Agriculture State Profile Rhode Island.
cxl
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act: State Plan, 2016
cxli
http://www.ecori.org/farming/2016/3/13/farming-apprenticeship-offered-for-socially-disadvantaged
cxlii
http://www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/2012/Online_Resources/County_Profiles/Rhode_Island/cp99044.pdf.
cxliii
http://www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/2012/Online_Resources/Highlights/Farm_Demographics/Highlights_Farm_Demog
raphics.pdf.
cxliv
American Farmland Trust study on farmer succession in RI and New England
cxlv
Ibid.
cxlvi
Ibid.
cxlvii
Ibid.
cxlviii
Ibid.
cxlix
Ibid.
cl
https://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/Assets/commercial/fus/fus14/documents/02_Commercial2014.pdf.
cli
Sales minus the cost of good and services purchased from other industries to produce outputs (NOAA Glossary)
clii
Ibid.
cliii
https://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/commercial-fisheries/commercial-landings/
cliv
Ibid.
clv
Ibid.
clvi
http://www.pbn.com/NOAA-releases-700K-to-assist-RI-fishermen,112317?
clvii
https://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/Assets/economics/documents/feus/2012/FEUS2012.pdf.
clviii
Ibid.
clix
Ibid.
clx
https://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/SASStoredProcess/do?
clxi
http://www.seafoodri.com/pdfs/annualreport2013.pdf.
clxii
http://southsideclt.org/sites/default/files/2013Annualreport-fnl4web.pdf
clxiii
http://africanallianceri.org/initiatives.aspx#Garden.
clxiv
http://www.southsideclt.org/growersprofiles.
clxv
Several food processing businesses are included on multiple DOH licensee lists. The Local Catch, for example, has both
shellfish and food processor licenses.
clxvi
http://www.health.ri.gov/lists/licensees/.
clxvii
"Ibid
clxviii
clxix
Ibid
Ibid
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clxx
http://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/FINE_Toolkit.pdf
clxxi
http://www.rinla.org/resources/pdf/GreenUpdate_Web.pdf
clxxii
http://www.dem.ri.gov/programs/bnatres/agricult/pdf/100thFarm_Handout.pdf
clxxiii
http://www.farmfresh.org/hub/index_numbers.php
clxxiv
http://fourtheconomy.com/publication/view/actions-for-economic-development-in-rhode-island-highlights/
clxxv
http://www.battelle.org/docs/default-source/tpp/battelle_2016tpp_rhode_island_innovates_report.pdf?sfvrsn=2
clxxvi
Ibid.
clxxvii
http://www.planning.ri.gov/documents/LU/swmp/RISWMP%20DRAFT_4.24.14.pdf
clxxviii
http://www.ecori.org/composting/2014/10/18/ri-composting-law-now-official-but-weak.html.
clxxix
http://www.environmentcouncilri.org/sites/default/files/2014-ecri-green-report-card-20140811.pdf.
clxxx
http://www.dem.ri.gov/programs/benviron/water/quality/index.htm
clxxxi
http://www.resilientri.org/
clxxxii
https://www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/2012/Full_Report/Volume_1,_Chapter_1_State_Level/Rhode_Island/st44_1_068_
068.pdf
clxxxiii
http://www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/2012/Online_Resources/Organics/organics_1_001_001.pdf
clxxxiv
http://www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/2012/Online_Resources/Organics/organics_1_002_002.pdf
clxxxv
http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/state-fact-sheets/statedata.aspx?StateFIPS=44&StateName=RhodeIsland#P0412a58941d84441abbf2da09dcabd3e_2_368iT12C0x0.
clxxxvi
Rhode Island State Fact Sheet (updated 9/14/11), USDA ERS.
clxxxvii
https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/201509/documents/2009_01_22_305b_2004report_2004_305breport.pdf
clxxxviii
clxxxix
http://www.epa.gov/nps
http://wwwn.cdc.gov/foodborneoutbreaks/.
cxc
http://www.cdc.gov/foodborneburden/2011-foodborne-estimates.html
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