Buying Locally

Heritagefarm · #1 07/05/10, 01:11 PM

Having recently seen that someone wanted a topic regarding this, I decided to start it.
We'll discuss the pros and cons of buying locally, things like cost and availability, viability, etc.
I'm all for it, I think it is a great thing, but cost is the main obstacle for most people.
I know some people have some strong opinions, so let's try and keep this topic orderly and calm.

HeritageFarm

oneokie · #2 07/05/10, 01:29 PM

For some things. Gotta have my garden fresh tomatoes in the spring/early summer. $1 lb. but it was worth every cent.

belladulcinea · #3 07/05/10, 01:32 PM

We buy locally, if we can't we try to limit it to the 100 mile rule.

**Kris in MI** · #4 07/05/10, 01:32 PM

I too vote 'for some things'. I try to produce as much as I can, then buy local (but not if local is way higher price and not equal or better quality).

Patt · #5 07/05/10, 02:09 PM

We grow most all of our vegetables and raise our own meat, milk and eggs normally. We also make our own cheese and all of our baked goods.

I have a small farm bakery and I order all my baking supplies through Azure Standard because they have the best prices for organic stuff in bulk. I would absolutely love to be able to buy things like organic wheat or flour here locally but it is not available.

I sell through an online Farmer's Market and you can buy practically all your groceries through them. Meat, dairy, eggs, fruits, veggies, baked goods, canned goods, all from local farms or artisans.

I have really been wrestling with the prices charged though to be honest. Since we lost all of our meat in our house fire and had to give away or sell all of our big livestock until we could get back on our feet I have been ordering meat through the Farmer's Market and honestly the only way I can afford is through the credit I get for volunteering there. A whole chicken is $13-$14 each. A pound of ground beef is $5 to $6.50. A chuck roast is $23. Now that we are on a greatly reduced income we can't afford that.

Fruits and veggies are high too: $3.50 for a pound of tomatoes, $10 for a pound of shelled purple hull peas. Blueberries are $4.50 for a pint.

My baked goods aren't cheap either, I use 100% organic ingredients if I can find them so that bumps my costs up quite a bit. I get $6.50 for a pound of granola and $5.75 for a 2lb loaf of whole grain bread. I try to pack as much nutritional value into my stuff as possible but I know realistically a lot of people are priced out of our market and I really hate that.

I want farmers to make a decent wage but I also want the food to be available to everyone not just the well off. Sometimes it seems like the prices just get crazier too and people pay them. It bothers me. sigh.....

SFM in KY · #6 07/05/10, 02:21 PM

I buy local produce whenever I can. There is a small Mennonite-owned store close to us that has local produce during the summer months and I get my fresh produce there. Close enough to go a couple of times a month. Otherwise, I shop once a month in town (20 miles) and while I get some fresh produce there in winter months, I don't buy much because it doesn't keep very long. We raise most of our own meat and I bake bread ... just can't do the gardening in the summer any more.

Callieslamb · #7 07/05/10, 02:36 PM

I buy locally whenever I can. Local growers grow the same things that I do and each year more of my planting start producing so it is less and less each year. However, if I ever have a crop failure or orchards that don't produce, I have plenty of places to buy from around here. I try to use the local feed store and lumber store as much as possible, but they don't carry everything we need (like 1/2" PVC fittings). I also frequent the local grocery and haircutter (again, I usually just cut my own). When we go out to eat, we try to stay with the Mom and Pop diners around rather than the big chain restaurants. We are doing the best we can to help others as much as we can. We aren't 100%. But if we can buy it locally, we do so.

upnorthlady · #8 07/05/10, 03:26 PM

I agree totally with Callieslamb. I, too, grow pretty much all that I need for fruits and veggies, but for all the other items I buy them as much as possible at the small grocery store in the nearest town, which is 10 miles away. It's a small town of only 400 people, so without a grocery store this town would surely die. When they have a sale on something, it's a pretty good sale and prices are comparable to even Wal Mart. If a person shops there every week, eventually you can stock up on what you need at good decent prices. The little grocery store also has a very small greeting card rack with a few choices of all the basic card needs, they sell seed potatoes and onion sets in spring, and the local Ojibwe elders bring in hand harvested wild rice and the store owner provides shelf space for that as well as a few Ojibwe handcrafted items. So it's more than "just a grocery store".

There's a local hardware store and lumber store in the next nearest town, which is 17 miles away. I try as much as possible to buy from them. Sure, on big ticket items, or when we need to buy lots of lumber we might go to Home Depot or Menard's, which is in Fargo (almost 1 1/2 hrs away). I get rx's filled at the local drug store, haircuts at the local beauty salon, and use local people for jobs we cannot do - such as excavation when we built our house, cement pouring, landscaping, car repair, etc.

I cannot stress enough how important it is to use small town businesses in rural areas - it is what enables us to live out here and have jobs. The extra few dollars you might sometimes have to pay for things are an investment in the community. It is the American Way. I despise Wal Mart and only go into that place if I absolutely cannot get the item any place else. (And if that's the case, then I probably don't need it!).

The only way to strengthen our cities and towns is to buy locally. All those big box international franchises and chains just put money into some CEO's pocket. Oh sure - in your larger towns - big box stores hire locals and so that gives folks a job, but in smaller towns all across America there are no big box stores.

I know the original topic was about food, not goods. For things that cannot be produced in the states, like bananas, coconuts, water chestnuts, olives, certain spices, coffee, tea, etc. I can see importing. But I see no reason why tomatoes, grapes, melons, etc. should be imported. I see more and more produce coming from Chile, Brazil, Philippines, Thailand and Mexico. Who really knows what it's sprayed with or how it's raised? Some folks argue that it's nice to have produce all year round, so we NEED to import stuff. Personally, I don't care to eat zucchini, melons or tomatoes in the middle of January and pay off season prices. That's the time to eat Texas grapefruits, California oranges and Florida fruits and veggies. Keep it in the U.S. as much as possible.

**highlands** · #9 07/05/10, 04:02 PM

The sourcing starts here at home with what we can produce and moves outward. We produce most of our own food, all our own home heat (wood) and other stuff we can. Next we buy locally what we can. Then we go further afield. There are somethings like memory chips that it takes a tremendous amount of setup to produce and it makes sense that there are only going to be a few of those factories in the world.

Cheers

-Walter
Sugar Mountain Farm
Pastured Pigs, Sheep & Kids
in the mountains of Vermont
Read about our on-farm butcher shop project:
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/butchershop
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/csa

edcopp · #10 07/05/10, 04:56 PM

I eat memory chips all the time, it's not working.

wyld thang · #11 07/05/10, 08:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patt

I have really been wrestling with the prices charged though to be honest. Since we lost all of our meat in our house fire and had to give away or sell all of our big livestock until we could get back on our feet I have been ordering meat through the Farmer's Market and honestly the only way I can afford is through the credit I get for volunteering there. A whole chicken is $13-$14 each. A pound of ground beef is $5 to $6.50. A chuck roast is $23. Now that we are on a greatly reduced income we can't afford that.

Fruits and veggies are high too: $3.50 for a pound of tomatoes, $10 for a pound of shelled purple hull peas. Blueberries are $4.50 for a pint.

My baked goods aren't cheap either, I use 100% organic ingredients if I can find them so that bumps my costs up quite a bit. I get $6.50 for a pound of granola and $5.75 for a 2lb loaf of whole grain bread. I try to pack as much nutritional value into my stuff as possible but I know realistically a lot of people are priced out of our market and I really hate that.

I want farmers to make a decent wage but I also want the food to be available to everyone not just the well off. Sometimes it seems like the prices just get crazier too and people pay them. It bothers me. sigh.....

That really bothers me too. I'm lucky to live in an area where there is a wide variety of crops, and the small town network of gleaning and trading produce is there if you make the time to make friends, kind of an underground market.

I was thrown into an inadvertant cook off with Azure by my neurotic cousin(who is friends with them and uses all their products). My wedding gift to her was to make the buffet for her wedding(and her father paid for the ingredients, it was all set up beforehand, ie she accepted the gift and was all excited about the "free" buffet). I show up to do my thing and she's got Azure people there too making an separate organic buffet(because she'll drop dead of hives if she doesn't eat organic after all--and she never requested to me that I buy all organic ingredients). My food got ate(probably just because I used fresh ingredients from scratch and they opened up boxes and rehydrated)

. REALLY weird day...:banana02:

Anyways, Azure sure has a huge product line! we are lucky to have a lot of organic producers here in Oregon. There's a lot that grow with organic practices but don't get certified, too.

ajaxlucy · #12 07/05/10, 08:55 PM

I buy some things locally, like corn, milk, beef, pork, peaches, & wheatberries for grinding into flour, but other things I'll buy at the store, like onions, dry beans, spices, fish, tortillas, oats & rice.
Some of the cheese we eat is made locally, but not all. I'll buy local mushrooms if I can find them (unless they're morels for $30+/lb), otherwise I'll get them at the store.
I'm especially glad when I can go out to the vegetable garden instead of the store.

big rockpile · #13 07/05/10, 09:06 PM

We can buy better quality,cheaper and in Bulk here.

big rockpile

Alice In TX/MO · #14 07/05/10, 09:15 PM

We are very rural Ozarks, and most things are not locally grown. Even the farmer's market in West Plains has boxes of tomatoes from far, far away.

The peaches come in from Georgia.

Makes it just about impossible to buy local.

QoTL · #15 07/05/10, 09:40 PM

We try but it is dependent on a number of things.

Price is a biggie these days. I'd love to buy organic, say, or only Maine made but the costs can be prohibitive.

When I have only a couple of things to buy I frequent the tiny IGA. When there is more than that, I have to go to the megastore (although at least not wally world) because that's the only way I can stay in budget.

Buy my grain locally, from a local chain. There is a more local store in town that Isn'T a chain, but the guy is a total jerk and I don't think he honestly even appreciates the business, so I won't go. my dad still did for several years, and every time he came home with another story about how absolutely rude that guy is. I think I finally convinced him that buying local doesn't mean putting up with a bad attitude.

**clovis** · #16 07/05/10, 10:41 PM

We've got every big box store in the world within a 20 mile radius, but I'd love to buy locally if possible.

Price is a major consideration for us, yet I don't mind paying more for quality.

At the same time, I've had a hard time finding reasonably priced foods for the value. For instance, a local guy grew sweet corn, and wanted almost $5 a dozen for small tiny ears, and wouldn't answer my question about it being organic. Sweet corn was in season, BTW. He was also arrogant and rude.

This is just one example of many I have about cost versus value.

I don't expect the local guy to compete with Walmart, nor do I expect him to give his stuff away...but at the same time, give me some value for my money!

pancho · #17 07/05/10, 10:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clovis

We've got every big box store in the world within a 20 mile radius, but I'd love to buy locally if possible.

Price is a major consideration for us, yet I don't mind paying more for quality.

At the same time, I've had a hard time finding reasonably priced foods for the value. For instance, a local guy grew sweet corn, and wanted almost $5 a dozen for small tiny ears, and wouldn't answer my question about it being organic. Sweet corn was in season, BTW. He was also arrogant and rude.

This is just one example of many I have about cost versus value.

I don't expect the local guy to compete with Walmart, nor do I expect him to give his stuff away...but at the same time, give me some value for my money!

Just bought some sweet corn last week. $.10 an ear. Good size full ears.

Heritagefarm · #18 07/05/10, 10:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alice In TX/MO

We are very rural Ozarks, and most things are not locally grown. Even the farmer's market in West Plains has boxes of tomatoes from far, far away.

The peaches come in from Georgia.

Makes it just about impossible to buy local.

I've noticed that. What the heck is up with that? Tomatos grow fine enough here! So much for "Buying Locally". I hope there are some local produce down there, because we're planning on making a special trip sometime.

Jerngen · #19 07/06/10, 01:33 AM

I try to buy everything as locally as possible. I'm not talking just food items either. Two Christmas's ago I managed to buy locally (including toys) for everyone on my list!

I'm working on it this year.

As for food items, where I live.... if you buy/eat/preserve in season, you don't spend any more money (often times less) then you would going to the grocery store any buying the same items from far away.

NoClue · #20 07/06/10, 08:15 AM

I also try to buy everything locally. My primary focus is on food, but it extends to everything else that it possibly can. When I can't buy something locally produced, I at least buy from a locally owned business. I shop at the Big Box stores only as a last resort.

I can't say that money isn't an object - money is always an object - but in my family is a matter of priorities, and we've decided that we'd rather spend our money in ways that benefit rather than harm us, and to put first things first. Food, water, and air are essential to human life, and thus take precedence over non-essentials.