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market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] Being Patriotic and the Food Transport Story

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  • From: "Del Williams" <delannw AT dlogue.net>
  • To: <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Being Patriotic and the Food Transport Story
  • Date: Mon, 2 Dec 2002 09:33:08 -0600

Wow Bill, I thought that you needed more acidic soil to do cranberries...
the fact is, I really don't know a thing about how they are grown.

I know you are familiar with my area down here around Kankakee. I look out
at all these acres of corn and soybeans and imagine all the other kinds of
plants that would grow well in this soil... this sandy loam. There's a
great asparagus farm not far from me and several market growers who raise
lots of vegetables and fruits besides corn and soybeans. We also have two
large nurseries in Kankakee and Iroquois counties.

Funny story. When my Ex and I moved here, people thought we were going to
buy the acreage and grow perennials and trees. Boy did we hear it! But my
Ex works at Kankakee Nursery as a propagator and had no interest in running
his own nursery. I thought it was kind of strange that the locals thought
that growing trees was a waste of this good soil. Kankakee Nursery seems to
be rather successful at it.

It seems to me, though, that it takes a special kind of person to convert to
other crops. Well, someone who can afford to diversify equipment and handle
the labor issues involved in harvesting different crops.

Wouldn't it be nice to go to the local grocers and find locally grown?

That's the downside to our food distribution system. It is unlikely that
the food store chains are going to leave the stocking of their shelves to
local producers. KMart, Walmart, Eagle, IGA, Krogers... they just don't
work that way.

Now this is reminding me of that spark of an idea we were all discussing
recently about a chain of food stores that marketed locally grown.

Del Williams
Clifton, IL






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