Not so local produce
I knew it.
My colleague Laura Vozzella has a story in The Sun detailing the facts behind the "local" produce grocery stories tout. Like it came from the Eastern Shore, or something.
I have suspected for a while that the produce wasn't very local. When it seems to jump ahead of what's available from the local farmers' markets, I have suspected it came instead from the Carolinas.
But South America? New Zealand?
This is another reason why county-sponsored farmers' markets are such a good idea. The food they sell must come from the county.
Or, in the case of the Annapolis downtown market on Sunday mornings, the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
Photo credit: Baltimore Sun/Kim Hairston
Comments
I know local produce is supposed to be better, but how do I know what chemicals are actually being used in various local gardens?
You don't. But you at least have the opportunity to ask the farmer selling the produce what he uses on his garden. That's not the case in the grocery store. And some have earned the organic seal of approval and advertise themselves that way. No guarantees, of coarse, but at least a conversation.--Susan
Posted by: Reggie | July 9, 2009 12:47 PM
"Local washing" makes me very angry. I witnessed it happen right in front of me at a nearby Whole Foods here in MD - a manager directed an employee to change the labeling from "Florida" to "Local" the employee protested, the manager asserted "Just do it." I, disgusted, walked out.
Posted by: Kathy J, Washington Gardener Magazine | July 9, 2009 3:54 PM