People often do trust things they are familiar with. Unfortunately,
they do this without much analysis of whether this is wise. That
people trust locally grown and marketed produce says nothing
whatsoever about the nutritional, economic or ecological bona fides
of such product. That can only be done by well enforced
certification programs. And that, whatever the faults of organic
certification (and there are certainly many), is the real benefit of
the organic label.
So, while I am a great proponent for consuming locally grown produce,
I think that Kurt's endorsement below points out mostly the
gullibility of consumers, not anything virtuous about local
production. Even the "petroleum miles" benefit claimed in the Time
piece is not necessarily as obvious as it seems. If one hauls
30,000lbs of apples cross country (say, 3,000 miles) in a
semi-trailer, that can easily burn 600 gallons of fuel. But, suppose
2000 consumers drive out to their local U-pick an average distance of
10 miles round trip to get an average of 15 lbs of apples
each. That's thte same 30,000lbs of product. Want to bet which uses
more petroleum? In fact, the consumers would have to average 33+
miles/gallon to beat the truckload - highly unlikely with today's
cars. And if the local producer is delivering to local markets,
rather than running a U-pick? The economics probably favor the local
produce in this case, assuming an efficient and truly local route,
but the margin will whither rapidly if they are delivering partial
loads with 200+ mile round trips.
And, as for the certainty a consumer may feel that a local grower
from whom they buy personally will be attentive to safe use of
pesticides and sound land use - a clean farm storefront, firm
handshake and welcome smile no more assure this than good manners
make used car salesmen honest. Most local growers do pay attention
to these things, of course, but then so do most organic growers
(particularly as they need to worry about inspections to assure that
they do). Again, the advantage to the consumer of the local grower
is more about perception than reality.
My favorite analogy in this department is airplane travel. I don't
really care whether I know personally the mechanic who services the
next AirBus or Boeing that I get on. I do care that there are
certification programs for the mechanic, the airframe, the pilot, and
basically everything else to do with my flight. So too with
food. Again, organic has gone directions that I sincerely disagree
with, but I think the notion of certification is at it's core, a lot
more valuable to society than "a farmer you know and trust."
At 08:42 AM 3/11/2007, you wrote:
Hello Jon,
You are right on as was the Time Article. In the final analysis, people
trust the face and the person that they can see and touch...their local
farmer. We have seen this to be the case in all of our direct marketing and
have cultivated it in all of our advertising and marketing efforts. I was
thrilled to see Time give this subject favorable front page attention.
Kurt W. Alstede
General Manager
Alstede Farms, LLC
P. O. Box 278
Chester, New Jersey 07930
United States of America
Tel. 908-879-7189
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
On Behalf Of Jon Clements
Sent: Saturday, March 10, 2007 7:05 PM
To: Apple-Crop
Subject: Apple-Crop: Time article
Although I am hesitant to fan any embers -- I know there are quite a
few out there -- into flames, it might be worth your while to pick up
the March 12th issue of Time magazine. There is a cover article on
organic vs. 'buy local.' A couple quotes:
"In the end I bought both apples (organic vs. 'conventional New York
state local'). They were both good, although the California one had a
mealy bit, possibly from it's journey." (Is the author English -- a
"mealy bit?")
"Eating locally also seems safer. Ted's (an upstate NY diversified
producer) neighbors and customers can see how he farms. That
transparency doesn't exist with, say, spinach bagged by a distant
agribusiness. I help keep Ted in business, and he helps keep me fed
-- and the elegance and sustainability of that exchange make more
sense to me than gambling on faceless producers who stamp ORGANIC on
a package thousands of miles from home."
Now, I have been trying to fully explain the phenomenal direct-market
sales many Massachusetts apple growers -- and I understand it was
beyond MA too -- had last season. I know the weather was good, and
that makes a huge difference, but I am starting to think the buy
local campaigns are really kicking in? I found the article
interesting, and reasonably balanced, and something we should all be
paying attention too.
If you did not catch his drift, the author clearly thought buying
'conventional local' was preferable to buying agribusiness 'organic'
-- particularly if the petroleum environmental cost was figured in.
Any embers glowing brighter yet?
:-)
Jon
Jon Clements
Extension Tree Fruit Specialist
UMass Cold Spring Orchard
393 Sabin Street
Belchertown, MA 01007
VOICE 413.478.7219
FAX 413.323.0382
IM mrhoneycrisp
Skype Name mrhoneycrisp
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The 'Apple-Crop' LISTSERV is sponsored by the Virtual Orchard
<http://www.virtualorchard.net> and managed by Win Cowgill and Jon
Clements <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>.
Apple-Crop is not moderated. Therefore, the statements do not represent
"official" opinions and the Virtual Orchard takes no responsibility for
the content.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The 'Apple-Crop' LISTSERV is sponsored by the Virtual Orchard
<http://www.virtualorchard.net> and managed by Win Cowgill and Jon
Clements <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>.
Apple-Crop is not moderated. Therefore, the statements do not represent
"official" opinions and the Virtual Orchard takes no responsibility for
the content.
Steve Demuth
Decorah, Iowa
"Various forms of religious madness are quite common in the United
States ..." -- Alexis de Tocqueville
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The 'Apple-Crop' LISTSERV is sponsored by the Virtual Orchard
<http://www.virtualorchard.net> and managed by Win Cowgill and Jon
Clements <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>.
Apple-Crop is not moderated. Therefore, the statements do not represent
"official" opinions and the Virtual Orchard takes no responsibility for
the content.
