Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[Liz <liz@allslash.org>]

There has been a lot of talk about food price increases, but one 
thing I haven't seen much publicity about is the decreasing 
availability in many rural areas. I talk to small grocery store and 
convenience store owners on a daily basis, and I'm hearing frequent 
stories that their previous suppliers will no longer deliver to them. 
Their orders aren't large enough, they're being told, to justify the 
cost of running a truck out to them. Even the ones in settled areas, 
on major highways, often can't get deliveries, not because the trucks 
don't go anywhere near them, but because it costs the supplier more 
to make multiple small deliveries than to make a few large ones.

As a result, some small stores are just not carrying certain things 
any more. Some store owners are shopping at Costco and Sam's Club in 
order to keep their shelves stocked, which usually results in higher 
retail prices than if they were buying from grocery vendors. In many 
places, these stores serve an elderly and/or poor population, people 
who can't just hop in their car and drive however far it takes to get 
to a big supermarket (in some mountainous areas, that can be 50 or 60 
miles). If they can't get something they need from the store down the 
road, they often have no choice but to go without.

These small stores are the canary in the coal mine, I think, for 
coming similar shortages in other areas. It's not only that food will 
cost more to grow and transport, but that wholesalers and 
distributors are going to reduce deliveries to areas where they 
aren't making their desired profit. That's troubling not only for 
outlying stores in rural counties like mine, but also for small 
family-owned stores in urban neighborhoods.

Liz in SW VA
http://life-as-a-spectator-sport.com