Employment

More farmland would be required to meet a goal of healthier people and greater regional food self-reliance, but do we have the right mix of industries to ramp up food production? Volume 3 estimated the number of people employed in New England’s food system, the economic impact of food system activities, economic multipliers for each industry, and areas of growth or contraction. The Team found that the economic contribution of New England’s food system is significant, employing over 1 million people (more than 10% of all jobs) and generating $190 billion in sales (11% of New England sales for all industries). The largest employment by sector is found in the Services category, which consists of eating and drinking places (i.e., restaurants and fast food). Massachusetts has the largest share of population and food system employment and sales.

New England Food System Employment by State
New England Food System Employment by Industry
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Note About Connecticut Maps: Although Connecticut has not had county governments since 1960, county boundaries have historically been used to depict data. For example, all USDA Census of Agriculture data for Connecticut is collected at a county-level. In 2022, the U.S. Census Bureau shifted to using Connecticut's nine planning regions as county equivalent geographic units for data collection. This has presented a challenge for depicting data for Connecticut's planning regions in Tableau. This mapping challenge has not been resolved yet, but when a solution is available, we will update Connecticut maps.