Saturday, November 1, 2014

Buy Local?

Ralph and I did our grocery shopping this morning. As we went through our Local grocery Store I was pleased to know we did not have to buy many vegetables at all. We have a lot of our own right now! However we do have to get some, things like celery and carrots. {Our Carrots this year were dismal!}

I was heading to the spice section and to get canning supplies when Ralph beckoned me over to a bin of potatoes.....this is what he showed me!

The bin of "Buy Local" Potatoes in our grocery store.

I looked at him at first wondering why he wanted to get potatoes as we have a lot of very tasty ones from our bucket garden! He looked at me and said read the label!  I did and it was revealing.

Richmond VA., is 957 miles from Madison, Wisconsin. Is this what they think is buying local?

It sounds like the Term "Buy Local" is becoming a 'Catch Phrase" for marketing.
If this happens it is going to get overused and miss-used like the terms Organic and All Natural!

What do you consider Buying local?  How far do you want your food to come from? Do you discuss your food concerns with your local grocery store manager?  

 Just "Local"  food for thought!  


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6 comments:

  1. Fiona - good post and i have caught up on your latest ones but haven't commented. to comment about "buying local" there is a food craze, food diet that is called the 100 miles diet. basically, it says to buy food as locally as possible but to not go further than 100 miles. it is getting much hype in the media as the "new diet", people are jumping onboard and companies are buying into it. so those potatoes that are 957 miles away....they meet the term "local" with 3 miles to go.

    i know, i know.

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    1. We try very hard to stay local or grow our own. There are just so many good reasons to take the time and effort to do so. We have grown our own Ginger for two years now and it is a bit like Christmas when we dig it up....waiting to see how big the 'hands' have gotten!
      Sometimes it is a simple as realizing 'Fresh" tomatoes in January are not normal! Thank you for reading!

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  2. Another marketing gimmick that low information people gobble up. This close to the election, I am weary of stupid people.

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    1. It is sad because there is just so much information out there and easy to get to if you want to! Thank you for reading and taking time to comment.

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  3. Another good idea killed by marketing. I have been seeing 'grass fed eggs' at our local Mennonite farm. There is a) no grass in their fenced in enclosure and b) they are fed food scraps gleaned from supermarkets. Indeed. To me, local means that I either grow it myself, know who grew it personally, or don't have to go further than a half-hour to buy it. I have high standards... :)

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    1. You have "STANDARDS"! Local sure isn't 900+ miles away. Farm eggs can means so many things...unfortunately it is a label that seems to be miss used in my mind. I can understand why farmers use trendy terms...it seems the consumers don't understand growing food like they should. I overheard a lady gasp when our egg supplier said his chickens had free range of the yard and ate bugs and flies! She asked him if that would contaminate the eggs! Thank you for your comment!

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