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market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] NYTimes.com: Food That Travels Well

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  • From: "Heirloom Grower" <heirloomgrower AT gmail.com>
  • To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] NYTimes.com: Food That Travels Well
  • Date: Wed, 8 Aug 2007 11:12:11 -0500

Several months ago, I visited the produce section of the grocery and found only wilted, and blemished produce bordering on ruined. Had the stuff I saw been coming from MY garden, I would have discarded it as unfit for human consumption, and felt bad about feeding it to my chickens. I came home in a snit and asked on one of my gardening groups  "What happened to the good produce? Why is it that our stores have only second- or third-rate stuff any more, even at the height of the season?" A girl from Australia replied that our good stuff was being shipped there. Their good stuff was being shipped to somewhere in Asia, I forget where. The result was an exorbitant price that she said she couldn't afford. It looks as though the reality of global transport of food is substandard food for everyone involved, and ultimate prices for it.
 
It's interesting to note that no matter what the point one chooses to prove, there is always a statistical way to justify it. Just depends on how convoluted the reasoning employed to do so. Folks with common sense can usually discern truth. For example, home growers are often privileged to enjoy many delicacies at the height of freshness that purchasers spend big bucks to sample in a much compromised condition. Whatever the article says, eating fresh while vitamins and all the other good stuff is intact beats the socks off the other stuff.
 
Elise

 
On 8/8/07, Bill Shoemaker <wshoemak AT inil.com> wrote:
While it was thought provoking, it's worth noting that the authors of the research were from New Zealand, a country which depends heavily on long-distance exporting. The author of the op-ed was diplomatic to the study, perhaps to a fault. It certainly didn't take into account any of the other reasons for buying locally- grown product. In my opinion, more compelling reasons are qualitative. Both culinary and nutritional value of well--travelled foods are so compromised that buying local is a real health and quality of life issue. In my 25 years of working with the produce industry, I've never seen a time when the market offers so much which has so little value. Consumers beware!
 








 





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