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  • From: robert schuler <sunnfarm AT bellatlantic.net>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Re: California peaches
  • Date: Thu, 01 Apr 2004 20:08:17 -0500

Another part of the problem is slotting fees. A farmer can rent a slot in the
supermarkets display area in the produce section. Since there is limited space
the slots go to the highest bidders. The highest bidders always seem to be the
west coast mega farms and produce brokers, once they get all the available
counter space its very hard for a local growers to display their produce. This
is one way west coast peaches can mussel out local grown .. Bob.

Bill Shoemaker wrote:

> My apologies Roger. You're right. Fresh, locally grown California peaches
> are as good as New Jersey or Southern Illinois locally grown, fresh-picked
> peaches. It's just that the California wholesale peach is in every grocery
> store east of the Rockies in season, and it poorly represents what
> California can really do. The problem, as you point out, is the shipping and
> distribution system.
>
> Bill Shoemaker
> Sr Research Specialist, Food Crops
> Univ of Illinois - St Charles Hort Research Center
>
> >As a Californian and a grower of peaches (although they are not a major
> part of my farm operation), I have to take exception with this as a general
> statement. I would reword it as follows:
> >
> >"Don't believe for a minute that produce shipped cross country (or cross
> borders) is "better". It is emphatically NOT better."
> >
> >Any produce that's picked before it's ripe, stored in warehouses where
> there is gas pumped in to prevent etyhlene gas from ripening the produce,
> treated with other chemicals to prevent spoilage, and placed in refrigerated
> trucks/boats/trains to be shipped 500-5000 miles from where it is grown will
> have all of the negative qualities you list.
> >
> >My California-grown peaches are juicy, fragrant and wonderful. But they
> don't ship well. I sell them to local grocery stores and at the farmer's
> market, because one short trip is all they can handle.
> >
> >The same applies to my tomatoes, Gravenstein apples, nectarines,
> strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and pretty much ANY fruit. Root
> vegetables, and even things like squash and peppers are much more amenable
> to shipping and storage.
> >
> >Roger Weeks
> >
> >On Wed, 31 Mar 2004 08:01:40 -0600, you wrote:
> >
> >
> >> And don't believe for a minute that California peaches
> >>are "better". They are emphatically NOT better. They are hard as a rock
> and
> >>will not ripen. They have no flavor. They are horrible. Quality is not a
> >>part of the equation because free choice for the consumer is not an option
> >>in the supermarket.
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>
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