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Thursday, July 31, 2008
How much would you pay for locally grown food?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The weekend is approaching, which means many of us will get up early on Saturday and head to a nearby farmers’ market for the best selection of vine-ripe tomatoes, yard eggs, perhaps some Silver Queen corn and green beans. (You can find a list of them, along with recipe ideas and information about what’s in season, on Evening Edge.)
The food for sale is good, but it’s not cheap. A dozen eggs go for $4 to $5 at most booths. A pound of tomatoes ranges from $2 for round red hybrids, to as much as $6 for coddled heirloom beauties. I’ve seen ears of corn priced at $1 each, as much as three times what they cost at a grocery store.
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the East Atlanta Village Market getting involved with a pilot project to accept food stamps. (You can find the story here.)
The program is designed to boost the community’s access to fresh fruits and vegetables, and also to help the market, which is struggling. I stopped in last Thursday, just a half-hour before closing, and found booths still packed with produce.
Prices here are lower than at some other intown markets, but they may still be too high for many low-income neighbors. The market manager told me that basics like squash are priced comparably to what they’d cost in grocery stores. Still, I wonder how many residents get past the booth with imported cheeses, or the sandwich bread at more than $5 a loaf, to sort through the produce and find the basics rather than the higher-priced specialty items.
It’s a tough situation. One farmer’s representative mentioned cutting back on sales there because purchases were so low. Yet the market is one of the most easily accessible ways for residents who may not have cars to buy fresh produce, something that’s hard to find in many inner city neighborhoods.
Across Georgia, in rural Early County, rancher Will Harris is also weighing what local food is worth.
I toured his White Oak Pastures ranch and new cattle processing facility earlier this week, with a group of chefs and representatives from groups involved with the new Georgia Green Foodservice Alliance. Harris wants chefs to start serving his beef, creating greater demand for it from consumers who see it on their menus, and also, of course, buying the beef for their restaurants. (You can read an article about the trip later this week in the print AJC, and online as well.)
He wants affirmation that consumers are willing to vote with their pocketbook, to pay more for meat that fits into their interest in reducing carbon footprints, shrinking food miles, treating animals humanely and preserving family farms. He’s hopeful that they will. But he also realizes that gas prices are going up, and discretionary income is shrinking. Those same factors are reducing business at some restaurants, making those chefs look harder at costs and value, rather than simply putting something on the menu because it’s local and they want to support the farmer and his growing methods.
Prices have historically been higher at local farmers’ markets than at grocery stores. Has anything changed this summer to affect what foods you buy directly from farmers? What do you think is a fair price for tomatoes or another favorite vegetable or fruit? Do some markets offer better values for shoppers than others? Which ones?
Is local food inherently worth more than conventionally raised food? Or do you expect it to cost less, since it travels fewer miles to get to your plate?
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