TY - JOUR AU - Ikerd, John PY - 2022/10/28 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - THE ECONOMIC PAMPHLETEER: The challenge: Making good food accessible JF - Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development JA - J. Agric. Food Syst. Community Dev. VL - 12 IS - 1 SE - Column DO - 10.5304/jafscd.2022.121.005 UR - https://www.foodsystemsjournal.org/index.php/fsj/article/view/1116 SP - 5–7 AB - <p><em>First paragraphs:</em></p><p>In a previous column, I made the case that enough wholesome, nutritious, and sustainably produced food is affordable for everyone (Ikerd, 2022). However, the fact that good food is <em>afford­able</em> for everyone doesn’t mean good food is <em>accessible</em> to everyone or easy to locate, acquire, and prepare. For many, accessibility is a greater obstacle than affordability, and those who face the greatest challenges of affordability also face the greatest challenges in accessibility.</p><p>As I pointed out in my previous column, farmers receive an average of only about 14% or US$1,120 of a typical US$8,000 household food budget. The rest, US$6,880, goes to pay the costs of processing, packaging, transportation, advertis­ing, and other marketing costs (Ikerd, 2022, p. 3). Some of these marketing costs are necessary to transform farm commodities into finished food products and thus cannot be avoided. . . .</p> ER -