Fellow Growers,
I think that Steve's conclusion about the gullibility of
consumers is a
little misdirected. I have found that what consumers (people)
really value
and desire in America is personal relationships. Certification
may well
serve and be necessary for the 900 mile "local" model as well as
the box
stores but I believe that it has been born out of the realization
of these
retailers that they must somehow compete with the consumer desire
to have a
personal relationship with a person that they trust. I view the
situation
as being similar to having a physician. One generally chooses a
personal
physician not based on the fact that they have a PhD from a
prestigious
university and scored well on their finals, but rather on the
recommendation
and endorsements from others who have established trusting personal
relationships with that physician. Defining consumer trust may
be mostly
subjective, but it is very real. To a retailer, it manifests the
bottom
line. I feel much more confident building our retail farm
business on our
ability to create, build, and maintain personal relationships
with the
consumers that we serve (and we do this successfully with 10 of
thousands of
customers) as opposed to trusting our future business growth to a
bureaucratic regulatory certification program. Indeed, as
growers we must
always endeavor to do our job correctly in order to produce safe and
nutritious food, but it is the personal relationship that people
really want
and desire. And it is this reality, I believe, that will
solidify and grow
the retail farm market consumer spending share that is being
aggressively
sought after by the box stores and supermarkets.
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: apple-crop@virtualorchard.net [mailto:apple-
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
On Behalf Of Steve Demuth
Sent: Sunday, March 11, 2007 2:34 PM
To: Apple-Crop
Subject: RE: Apple-Crop: Time article
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: apple-crop@virtualorchard.net [mailto:apple-
[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
