Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["TradingPostPaul" <tradingpost@riseup.net>]

That's one shocker I hadn't anticipated. Grow your own and teach your
neighbors. Of course that won't work for toilet paper and the like.

paul tradingpost@lobo.net

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 12/10/2007 at 10:53 PM Liz wrote:

>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
>
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