Buying local isn't easy

Local growers face a variety of challenges when they try to hook up with retailers, but some chains like Whole Foods are making an extra effort, says this article from The Cincinnati Enquirer.

From the story:


Whole Foods Market’s produce manager for the Southeast, John Walker, says local for that company’s first Nashville store will mean Tennessee, southern Kentucky and northern Alabama. Roughly 15 percent of the produce in Whole Foods stores in the Southeast is local on an annual basis, although the amount varies by season, Walker said.Whole Foods began a $10 million annual loan program last year for local growers to expand the availability of local products in its stores and to strengthen ties with local farmers. Loan recipients get low-interest loans ranging from $1,000 to $100,000, the company said.To get local growers in Nashville, Whole Foods arranged it so local growers could chat with the company’s buyers over lunch or while sitting in rocking chairs on the center’s wraparound porch.But Whole Foods won’t necessarily prove to be a savior for every local grower.Edwin Dysinger grows a variety of fruits and vegetables on family-owned Bountiful Blessings Farm between Columbia and Centerville, Tenn. He brought a couple of flats of his strawberries to the Whole Foods meeting and learned the company pays $14 a flat, whereas he gets $26 selling directly to neighbors.


TK: There is no barrier that economic self-interest can't overcome. If consumers really want local produce and will pay for it, chains should be able to find a way to make it happen.