For Texas Economic Development Corporation directors, County Commissioners and Judges, and Rural Economic Development leaders, the pursuit of prosperity for our communities is a shared mission. Like you, at Holocia we aim to foster thriving local economies, create jobs, and ensure a high quality of life for residents. Yet, despite best efforts, many rural areas face persistent challenges: vanishing agricultural lands, struggles for local farmers, and communities feeling the strain of external forces.
The prevailing wisdom, often presented as the most effective path to growth, is to attract large-scale industrial agricultural operations. This approach promises jobs and economic stimulation; and indeed, industrial agriculture can bring immediate employment. However, this widely held belief often overlooks a critical reality: while industrial agriculture can bring jobs, it usually extracts wealth from the rural community to transfer it into far-away corporate hands, rather than circulating locally. This strategy also leads to severe environmental degradation and the failure of family farms, incurring long-term costs that far outweigh any short-term benefits. A truly resilient and equitable strategy must instead focus on a decentralized, community-driven food system that supports a diverse range of growers and producers, ensuring a reasonable living for everyone involved, from farmers to delivery drivers.
The Hidden Costs of the Status Quo
Our current food system, both nationally and in Texas counties, exhibits alarming symptoms that undermine our economic and social well-being. We see extreme market concentration, with single entities processing millions of animals or dominating entire regional markets, limiting competition and controlling prices. Farmers receive a historically low share of the food dollar—only about 11 cents—while consumers face volatile and increasing prices for food that comes from farther and farther away, exacerbated by income inequality. This dynamic turns rural America into extraction colonies, where wealth produced locally is siphoned off by distant corporations, stifling regional economic growth and leading to a "have-not society".
In urban counties like Travis, we're witnessing rapid loss of agricultural land, with a 21% decrease in farms and an 11% decrease in acreage since 2017, meaning approximately 16.8 acres of farmland are lost daily. This directly impacts our capacity for local food production, which currently accounts for less than 1% of food consumed in the county, increasing our carbon footprint and vulnerability to supply chain disruptions.
Moreover, the exploitation of farm and food workers, who often earn low wages and experience food insecurity themselves, represents a fundamental injustice within our economic system. These issues, from massive food waste to unequal food access in our zip codes, are interconnected symptoms of a deeply problematic infrastructure. Ignoring these vulnerabilities leaves our communities unprepared for future crises, perpetuates inequity, and stifles innovation.
Limitations of Past Approaches
Our communities have attempted to address food system issues through various means, but we have fallen short against overwhelming market forces. The primary myth we've collectively believed is that fragmented, market-driven solutions or individual actions alone can truly transform our food system.
For instance, simply adding more supermarkets to "food deserts" has been a common "solution" to unequal food access. Similarly, during crises like Winter Storm Uri and the COVID-19 pandemic, government and community organizations banded together to provide crucial food support. While essential safety nets, these programs primarily address symptoms rather than transforming the underlying inequities of the food system.
Many individual consumers attempt to do their part by shopping regularly at local farmers markets; but in Texas, such markets can be sweltering hot and very inconvenient, thus deterring customers. The combined overall impact remains insignificant in relation to the problem.
Our Offer: A Blueprint for Regenerative Economic Development
Our offer to Texas Economic Development leaders is not a single product, but a comprehensive blueprint for a localized, equitable, healthy, and resilient food system. This plan outlines actionable strategies for policy and investment, designed to deliver the new life we envision for our rural communities.
We propose forming innovative special-purpose districts called Agricultural Development Districts (ADDs), which operate like airport bonds, but for food. This model allows communities to finance vital agricultural infrastructure through low-cost, tax-free municipal bonds, primarily repaid by revenue from local value-added and nutrient-dense food sales. This fundamentally de-risks participation and creates a stable, self-sustaining economic engine that benefits local producers and retains wealth in the community.
By embracing this framework, your economic development efforts will achieve:
Envisioning a New Life for Our Communities
Imagine a Texas where our rural communities are vibrant and self-sufficient, rooted in a fundamentally transformed, equitable, and resilient food system. This new life for our counties and the state brings profound benefits:
The Time for Transformation is Now
The problems are clear, and the limitations of old solutions are evident. The path to a truly prosperous and resilient Texas lies in reimagining our food system, moving beyond the myth of industrial agriculture as the sole driver of growth. We invite you to explore this blueprint further and join us in cultivating a future where food is a fundamental human right and where our communities thrive from the soil up.
Take the next step: Engage with your local farmers, explore innovative funding models like Agricultural Development Districts, and advocate for policies that prioritize a deconcentrated, community-driven food system. Your leadership can plant the seeds for a more equitable and resilient Texas.