Introducing Delta Harvest
The Southern Delta
The Mid-Mississippi Delta Region, located in the Southern United States, encompasses parts of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee. The area boasts a rich agricultural heritage, cultural diversity, and natural beauty.
Economic Disparity
However, the region's population of 8.3 million people faces numerous social, economic, and environmental challenges, including high rates of poverty, food insecurity, economic vulnerability, and climate inequality.
Agricultural Instability
Some of these challenges stem from a vulnerable agricultural industry that relies on a business model and infrastructure supporting only a few commodity crops—soybeans, corn, rice, cotton, grain sorghum, and wheat. The commodity economy incentivizes farm consolidation and the prosperity of large-scale farms, leaving small-to-mid sized farmers at risk of bankruptcy and/or liquidation. In the past five years, Delta states lost over 25,000 farms—18% of the total U.S. farm loss.
Opportunity
Despite the limitations of the commodity economy, the Southern Delta region has immense potential to produce food. The Delta can support an abundant and diverse food supply thanks to its fertile soil, moderate climate, and abundant water resources. The region already supports smaller specialty markets for crops like sweet potatoes, peanuts, edamame, watermelon, tomatoes, and other vegetables.
Delta Harvest
Delta Harvest envisions a diversified agricultural economy where food is distributed and processed closer to consumers with less waste, benefiting rural communities and economically depressed areas through higher-value products. Located in the heart of the Mississippi Delta region of Arkansas, Delta Harvest’s regional food hub will act as a catalyst for positive change by building new and emerging specialty crop markets and providing the necessary processing and distribution support.