3-24 FB Cheap Lunch

 The Idaho State Department of Agriculture recently celebrated national Ag Week on the south steps of the Capitol.

Ag Week celebrates farmers and ranchers and showcases the efficiency and productivity of agriculture to the public. As a testament to the work and dedication of agriculture here in Idaho, ISDA will be offered lunches to the public at farm gate prices, or the price of food minus the costs of processing, marketing, and retailing. Lunches went for a donation of 75 cents, which allowed visitors to “eat lunch for what a farmer makes.” The estimation of the farm gate price of lunch was based on the figure that American farmers and ranchers take home approximately 19 cents of every $1 spent on food. Here’s ISDA spokesperson Chanel Tewalt: “In the press release I tried to dance around this somewhat carefully it’s always important for people to know what farmers and ranchers make because it’s not as much as maybe it ought to be but I don’t want to take anything away from agricultural processing and marketing because that’s a vital component to our industry as well… it’s more to highlight how cheap food is in the US in general.”

Idaho’s agricultural industry partners and will include commodities produced in Idaho.