South Dakota’s farm-industrial complex brags that it feeds the world. Yeah, right—according to a new assessment of the state’s food and nutrition security, they aren’t even feeding South Dakota.
The South Dakota Healthy Nutrition Collaborative, a combo of several public and private organizations, has published a “South Dakota Food Landscape Assessment” that finds lots of South Dakotans getting by on mere crumbs of America’s breadbasket:
In South Dakota, 1 in 8 people, and 1 in 5 children, have limited or uncertain access to enough food, and only 1 in 8 people eat enough fruits and vegetables each day [Kassandra N. McFarland, Jennifer N. Folliard, Darla S. Biel, Olivia A. Husmann, B. Bruggeman, Jason Simon-Ressler, and Christine W. Hockett, “South Dakota Food Landscape Assessment,” South Dakota Healthy Nutrition Collaborative, 2026, p. 4].
In the SDHNC survey, almost 30% of community members indicated they skip meals to stretch their budgets…. High prices are predicted to continue. 2026 grocery inflation is expected to rise 3.2%, and vegetable inflation specifically by 4.8% [p. 12].
Participants described food cost and nutrition as deeply linked, noting fresh produce, healthier foods, and better-quality options are valued, and harder to afford. They shared how they would like to eat healthier but perceived those choices were not within reach, stating, “Unless something is on a really good sale, I’m not buying fresh food.” …These sentiments corroborate research which finds people are aware of which foods are unhealthy and healthy, and have access to produce at a variety of stores in their communities. However, a healthy dietary pattern costs, on average, $1.48 more per person, per day [p. 14].
We’ve mentioned food deserts here on the blog; the SDHNC assessment introduces a new term to South Dakota’s nutrition landscape—food swamps—to emphasize that South Dakota’s problem isn’t simply a lack of places to buy food but more often a predominance in the local marketplace of places that sell mostly junk food:
Food swamps are areas where stores that typically sell very little whole foods, such as dollar and convenience stores, outnumber grocery stores. While food deserts focus on the absence of grocery stores, food swamps focus on the overabundance of less healthy options compared with healthier ones. Food swamps may be a stronger predictor of obesity than food deserts because they combine high exposure to inexpensive, convenient, less nutritious foods with limited access to healthier choices. In South Dakota, 65% (43/66 counties) are food swamps where counties have more dollar and convenience stores than grocery stores [McFarland et al., 2026, p. 28].
Those food swamps include our most populous counties:
South Dakota farms could drain those swamps by producing more local food, but the industry and ag policies don’t support that kind of production:
The amount and type of crops grown are largely determined at the Federal level by the Farm Bill…. Commodity crops, like corn, soybeans, wheat, and hay, are produced in large amounts and primarily used to make ethanol, livestock feed, and ingredients for packaged foods.
The commodity crop industry is thriving in South Dakota…. 87% of the state’s land area is in agricultural production. Yet much of the food grown in South Dakota does not stay in the state, with the proportion that directly feeds South Dakotans too small to ensure that everyone has enough nutritious foods to eat. Commodity crops are often not produced with the intention of staying local or promoting access to whole foods….
Local foods are often specialty crops like fruits, veegtables, tree nuts, honey, maple syrup, and herbs. Although they often promote health and the local economy, specialty crops are funded and subsidized at 1/50th the rate of commodity crops. This makes entry and longevity in the specialty market more difficult for local farmers. Out of South Dakota’s 28,299 farms, only about 359 are considered specialty operations [McFarland et al., 2026, p. 32].
Senator John Thune could use his alleged power as Senate Majority Leader to boost local foods in the languishing Farm Bill and reduce the swampiness of South Dakota’s food landscape. But to make such changes, we need to get him (and Senator Mike Rounds, and Representative Dusty Johnson, and every other farm-state Congress critter) to read this food report and recognize that policy is driving South Dakota farmers to feed factories elsewhere, not their friends and neighbors right across the road.