Delaware resident Amy Madden took her three young children to a community breakfast at Dempsey Middle School Saturday. Madden knows how expensive it can be to take the family out to eat so she was pleased to learn that the hearty meal — milk, coffee, orange juice, pancakes, eggs and locally-produced hog sausage — was priced at 50 cents.

But she was also surprised to find out what that cost reflects: the roughly average price farmers would receive for producing the meal.

“These farmers are working for dimes really. I’m surprised they make so little off this food,” Madden said.

The Delaware County Farm Bureau hopes that members of the public, like Madden, came away from its annual Farmers Share Breakfast with a better understanding of what being a farmer, and the financial struggles that come with it, is really like.

Despite the rain Saturday morning, the 10th annual event was expected to draw more than 1,500 people over the course of three hours. The breakfast, which commemorates National Agriculture Week, is sponsored by the county farm bureau and local Business Friends of Agriculture. It is made possible by donations and the work of more than 100 volunteers.

Agricultural displays and signs posted at the event helped inform hungry attendees about local agriculture. A placard at the breakfast counter, for example, let people know there are 770 farms in Delaware County and they have an average size of 209 acres. A number of other prominently-featured facts highlighted the true costs behind grocery store food prices.

“A lot of people really have no idea what farmers make for the food they produce,” said Roberta Humes, president of the county farm bureau. “On average, farmers only make 19 cents for every dollar spent on food in this country.”

Humes said the Farmers Share Breakfast serves to raise awareness about this, but also provides the public with a high-quality, low-cost meal during tough economic times. Like other Americans, many farmers are also struggling during the current recession. Agriculture is Ohio’s number one economic contributor and generates $93 billion and 924,000 jobs.

Earl Lehner, a third generation farmer north of Delaware, said a “massive downturn in the dairy industry over the last year and a half” threatened his livelihood. Milk prices were strong from 2004 to 2008, and milking cow herds across the nation grew, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. World dairy prices, however, sunk more than 25 percent after that period and have only recently started to recover.

“Fortunately grain (prices) have been up the last two years and that has helped us stay afloat,” said Lehner, who also mentioned the importance of efforts to cut costs without sacrificing product quality.

Events like the Farmers Share Breakfast allow the general public – who is increasingly less familiar with agriculture – to learn more about the challenges facing those in the industry through talking directly with farmers, said Brian Skinner, a fifth generation farmer east of Delaware.

“For me, I just see this as a great opportunity for people to get in touch with those in the agriculture community,” Skinner said.

bbullock@delgazette.com