Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

livingontheland - [Livingontheland] Additional pressure on food availability

livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Healthy soil and sustainable growing

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Liz <liz@allslash.org>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] Additional pressure on food availability
  • Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2007 22:53:15 -0500

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





Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page