Food Security in Clark County, Part 2 - Deston Denniston

I'm pleased to present to you the second part in Deston Denniston's report, Food Security in Clark County. You can read an excerpt here and a link at the bottom of the post will take you to Deston's blog and the entire article.

Food Security in Clark County, Part 2

How will Clark County Feed itself in 20 years?

What employment sector/s will be established to support the population, and how will development be managed so that current trends do not unfold into disaster?

The Clark County Comprehensive Plan 2003-2023, Draft 2004 [1], Chapter 9, lists employment sectors and population of workers in each sector. Curiously, the absence of Agriculture from the plan is complete; 'food' is only mentioned in relation to a few business names, and neither terms are included in any discussion of the counties economic stability and long term vision. The NASS, on the other hand, notes that Clark County was home to over 1500 farms in 2002, and that nearly 3000 people were employed on these farms. If these small farms were a single company, that company would be among the top five employers in the County. 2007 economic data shows that these farms generated $54M in gross product. That this kind of income and employment is written out of the Counties Economic Development plan demonstrates a sad lack of oversite. Those were different Comissioners, so given the current climate, I'll suggest that this matter be immediately addressed and trust the farm community to voice a concern over past patterns, and change them. I'd be happy to act as a point of contact and an advocate.

You can read the rest of the article by clicking here.