The U.S. food and agriculture sectors drive more than 43 million jobs and $1.9 trillion in wages, according to the Feeding the Economy study released last week.
The study analyzed the economic impact of the combined food and agriculture industries. They found that the industries combined are directly responsible for almost 23 million jobs. Add to that the supplier economic impact (construction, transportation, finance, etc.) and the induced economic impact (i.e., the spending by people directly or indirectly employed by the food industries), and the total number of jobs comes to 43.3 million. That represents more than one-quarter of all American jobs.
The food and agriculture industries also contribute $894 billion in taxes and $146 billion in export value, bringing the total economic impact to almost $6.8 trillion.
Leslie G. Sarasin, president and CEO of the Food Marketing Institute (one of 22 industry organizations that commissioned the study) said in the press release: “As policymakers consider tax reform and other means to expand economic activity, I hope they will have a better understanding of how the food and agriculture sector not only feeds Americans, but also feeds the U.S. economy.”
Visit the Feeding the Economy website to learn more. You can also break down the results by state and congressional district.
