Locally grown goes big time

Here is a report from an Ohio weekly concerning the surging demand for local produce from Wal-Mart, Whole Foods and others.
From the story:

But, to the chagrin of Rife, that doesn’t necessarily mean a local grocer. Large corporate grocery store chains are scrambling to give the masses what they seem to want: local foods at the same place they do much of their other shopping.
Wal-Mart, Kroger, Whole Foods and others are setting aside shelf space for local produce. The evidence is sparse right now—Ohio’s harvest season is just beginning—but June through September, shoppers will have increasing opportunities to go local at their neighborhood megastores.
It’s a development rich with irony. If buying locally grown food becomes a widespread habit in Columbus—rather than a crusade for the Birkenstock crowd or a quaint diversion for the average shopper—it will probably be corporate behemoths that make it happen.
“I think the large grocery stores have a huge role in this,” said Martha Balint, co-founder of Local Matters, a Columbus-based organization that helps match local chefs with local farmers. “These are the guys that can pull the supply in."


The article goes on to describethe challenge that Wal-Mart faces in sourcing local produce, both as a Johnny come lately and a corporate denizen that lacks the relational feel of a smaller store.


Even then, the big stores are unlikely to win over every hardcore local-food advocate. Balint said she believes there’s still a difference between the local produce Wal-Mart sells and the local produce sold at farmers’ markets and small stores such as Rife’s.
“Huge factory farms can be local farms,” she said. “It’s about more than just local; it’s about the humanity in the food you eat. It’s really about building communities.”
Comparing Wal-Mart to the Clintonville Community Market, Balint said you might find locally grown produce at both, but what’s missing from Wal-Mart is the personal bond consumers develop with farmers when they buy direct.


TK: It will be interesting to see how long lasting and solid the movement to buy local becomes. Is it the fad of 2007 or is it a business model that will endure for a generation? Right now it has the feel of a fad. If I was a small grower near a large city, I wouldn't bet the farm on future demand from Wal-Mart and Kroger.