A couple of days ago I stumbled onto an article about the local food movement. It seems that in larger urban areas, little markets that feature local goods and/or specialty foods are starting to pop up. These places are kind of like a mini Whole Foods Store–they serve a very specific niche. People tired of big box stores and foodies alike flock to these tiny grocers. Maybe it’s an attempt to go back to their roots and shop like their grandparents did, or as the article suggests, it’s a chance to get local food right in your own neighborhood?
The thing is that specialty foods typically means expensive. In cities like New York, Washington D.C., L.A. and Philly, there is a market for people looking for local and artisan foods–and they are willing to pay the price. In a lot of places, “local” isn’t quite as simple to come across–and paying a premium is even harder for your average family.
A couple of years back, I tagged along with the HH on a business trip to Napa Valley. While we were there, we stopped off at Oakville Grocery for a little lunch at their sandwich counter. It is the first place I thought of when I read this article. It had local cheeses, produce, and dry goods–and it had a pretty hefty price tag to go with it {$15 jam anyone?}. Still, it was a great place to stop for lunch, and super fun to browse the shelves.
So, while I wouldn’t shop at one of these places every day, it’s nice to pop in every once in awhile and splurge. How about YOU, is this concept a once in a while splurge or is it top priority for you to eat only locally sourced food?
~Mavis
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Kim says
With grocery prices climbing so quickly, the challenge is filling the buggy. Beef is running over $5 a pound for ground beef here in the metro Atlanta area with pork prices coming in a close second. Chicken prices are also rising. We’re looking at adding more “meatless” and “meat reduced” meals to our diet plan.
Eating local isn’t really an option unless the price is equal or less than traditional grocery stores. As produce becomes more abundant in the summer, local items will be back on the plate.
Jane says
As our gardening endeavors were growing (and still on the small side) I made a point to buy local the things that we didn’t grow. Now that we grow more, I’m spoiled and tend to pick up the few things that we need at our local grocery store (which doesn’t always carry local produce). Eating cheaply and healthy doesn’t always line up with eating local and healthy and we tend to go cheap with what we don’t grow. Also, the extra trips to extra stores takes time and gas if you don’t live within bike or walking distance. I’d prefer to go local all the way- right now it doesn’t make the most sense for us-unless it’s backyard local:-).
Kristina says
I don’t live in a large urban area – I live in a small town, in fact. But we do have a storefront that sells local, largely organic goods, from vegetables and fruit to grains and jams. It’s pretty pricey, and I can’t quite make myself buy anything there. I am WILLING to pay more for organic and local…but usually not ABLE.
Diana says
More than ever before, I value buying and eating locally-produced food. But it is a major challenge. Prices can be crazy, and I do insist on staying within a ballpark of what I’d pay at the mainstream grocery. Hours, location, and stock on hand also add significantly to the challenge. I may find a local-based outlet, get a regular trip to that store worked into my routine, and then they change their hours, location or stock, or they simply go out of business. But to me, that makes it all the more important to patronize them to the extent I can make it work. There is something especially satisfying about eating locally-produced food, imo.
The most successful local outlet I know of, is The Merc–Community Mercantile, in my home town of Lawrence, KS. It started back in the original hippie years, when I was just a grade schooler, and it has grown into quite a large ‘uptown’ establishment. It is a treat to stop there when I’m back home. If I hadn’t moved away, it would be my grocer of choice. https://www.themerc.coop
Madam Chow says
Splurges are fun and broaden culinary horizons.
Karen Bailey says
I will always try and buy local where possible. But in my country also, there seems to be a premium charged for local produce. I can buy produce from my own country in the supermarket for a lot cheaper than at a farmers market. I always thought that the idea of a farmers market was to cut out the middle man and sell direct to the public. Therefore the products should be cheaper or competitively priced compared to the supermarket. Over here they charge moon beams at farmers markets and only the rich can afford to shop there.
Karen says
I splurge every now and then to find something local and new. I have found the very best local pickles in Austin and amazing tortilla chips cooked in coconut oil. The pickles are $10 a jar, but they are so worth it and totally addictive!
Sarah E Welch says
Not only do I make a point to shop local as much as possible, I bought my house where I did to make it easier! I bought just outside of Boulder, CO (my neighborhood is literally across the street from the city limits). There are at least half a dozen farms within 2 miles of home and probably double that within 5 miles. For the off season, my grocery delivery service sources local greenhouse produce as much as possible (while still getting me my very non-native avocado fix!), as well as locally blended and/or procured spices and locally roasted coffee. This summer, I’m doing three shares with my fave CSA: veg, fruit, and flowers! I did the veg & flowers last summer. There’s something special about picking up a bouquet (or sometimes two!) of flowers each week 🙂
Carol says
I’m lucky to live in a place where our food coop sells local produce. We also have a large farmer’s market nine months of the year. Even though I’m on a fixed income, as a retiree, I buy local and organic whenever possible. I figure it’s an investment in our health and in the future health of our planet. I know that the produce at the farmer’s market is picked the day before, so it’s really fresh. I also like to get to know the young people who are trying to make a go of farming in here in rural Jefferson County. They often have items that wouldn’t ship well and are big on flavor.
Jessica J says
I was at the farmers market on Saturday and noticed that the prices seemed way higher then last season. I mentioned it to one of the staff and she said that as demand for the market grows (because more people are trying to eat local) the prices go up. I am a little torn because I can buy organic produce at the grocery for a lot less then the farmers market now. I miss the good old days where you went to the farmers market to cut out the grocer and see the savings.
Jesse says
I spend about $100/week at the local farmers market and supplement with a few things from the regular grocery store. I probably pay WAY more for stuff than I need to but I think of it as supporting the local economy as well as being good for the world. I am vegetarian so I’m not shelling out for meat.
I’ll spend less when the garden is growing but I still can’t resist all of that gorgeous local produce!
Courtney says
If it really was “local” and being bought right from the farmer, it should have been cheaper. Cut out the hipster-come-local-boutique-market-owner middle man, if you can possibly do it.
Cecily says
Local doesn’t necessarily mean environmentally better. There are many thousands of small local farms and farmers that are environmentally responsible, but there are also those whose farming practices are more damaging to the environment than a big non-local operation. I will never forget going to a local dairy for a tour with a friend who worked there. I was appalled at the how emaciated the cows were and how the workers were piling fresh manure on the bank of a creek. Rather than eat local I prefer to purchase products from responsible stewards of the land, regardless of where they are located.
Mary Neathway says
I live in a tiny place with one grocery store.. and a very busy farmers market 5 months of the year. So, choices are limited. But… I’ve decided that for me, local, is at least North American grown. When I saw that the store brand pickles were a product of India… no thanks! Today, read the label on the jelly belly jelly beans- product of Thailand. Didn’t need them either. Choices… mine to make!
Kamiko says
The economy is bad, grocery prices are on the rise, 90 million people on food stamps, 1 in 3 black children are starving in Chicago (The president spent 60 billion on his campaign alone, that’s a lot of food for poor people spent on parties and celebrities), Many people lost their insurance and now have to pay for Ocare which costs more and provides less, people doing with less food and can barely afford to feed their families, pay the rent, and take care of necessities. Now the local food growers want their share of the cash, those who cant afford it get GMO Walmart food. If you want the healthy choices at the grocery stores full of GMO, you pay almost double for your groceries, and wonder why many hungry people choose the less expensive less healthy GMO food. if im going to die, im not going to die hungry for anyone so they can stuff cash in their pockets, while thier neighbors go without food. so no, i wont pay more.
Erin Wilson says
When I still lived in Canada, I was committed to buying as much local as I could. I knew the farmers who grew my food in the summer (bought through CSA). I spent a lot of time researching and sourcing as much as I could, for the simple selfish fact that I wanted to live in a place where there were still farms. So much prime farm land is being used for tract housing, it’s shameful (and unsustainable). So I supported the lifestyle I wanted, buying directly from producers, spending time in the hoop houses and fields.
Cheryl says
I am single and a federal employee which right there tells you my grocery bill isn’t all that high which is good, as I am subsisting on barely any money. But that being said, I have digestive issues that are significantly exacerbated by chemicals in my food and GMO’s as I have discovered, wheat being a huge culprit. Because my stomach size has been greatly reduced due to surgery, it takes me a bit of time to eat what I used to eat in one setting. So yes it would be cheaper to purchase in the grocery store, but more expensive in the doctor’s office. As long as I have the funds, I am willing to buy local and that includes organic meats and since I have also discovered a love for canning…I only have to conquer the fear of the pressure cooker and I am set.
Peggy Stenglein says
Don’t be afraid of the pressure canner!! Buy a new one, I have a Presto Canner and Pressure Cooker…love the thing. As long as you follow the instructions and let the pot cool completely and wait for the pressure release valve to unlock, there are no worries. They lock now, so there’s no mistaking when it’s ready to open. I was afraid too! Just follow the instructions, read your manual first, maybe two times, and you’re good to go!!
Mary Margaret Ripley says
Cheryl most home canning is done in the hot water bath canner not a pressure canner. I would say I use my canner 75% of the time over my pressure canner’s 25%.
Would love to help if you need advice on canning 🙂
Peggy Stenglein says
I think you need to know where to shop! Here in southwest PA, suburbs and south of Pittsburgh, buying local at farmers markets is affordable, and buying meat at a packing house is very affordable, even with the increase of beef especially, I can still buy meat in bulk there and save a bunch of money. Local honey is anywhere from $7-17, depending on how fancy you want the jar to be, and if it has the honeycomb inside. I buy local milk at a farm near where I grew up for just a bit more than the grocery stores. So, I think if you know where to shop, it’s affordable, if you go to a high end shop, well, that’s more of what you’re paying for, they buy the same products that can be found at all of the above mentioned places, just at a huge markup!
Cory says
There is a big difference in “local” and what I like to call “hipster local”. If you do the research and put in the time to source local things appropriately, you can do it while saving money. If you just stroll into the latest “local boutique” that opened up down the street, not so much. It may be local, but the middle man has added to the cost. That is not to say you shouldn’t shop there, you should just do it knowing that you can likely get the same items elsewhere for a little cheaper.
Local means something different for everyone, because not everyone has local availability. I think it is much more important to buy responsible than it is to buy local. We buy local as much as we can and make everything that we possibly can in our own kitchen. Local to us typically means from our state, not always from our local city or county.
Nichole says
I’m not sure I understand the economics behind high priced local food. How can food that is produce closer to home, requiring less fuel for transportation cost MORE? I like to shop local but I have noticed the cost is significantly higher at my local cooperative. Like $1 to $2 more per item average. To eat clean these days I basically follow the dirty dozen/clean fifteen, eat in season, and buy my organic pantry items in bulk from box stores. AND I GROW MY OWN. I think growing your own food is the most economical for everyone. We all need to produce some of our own food. It is good for our health, soul and pocketbook.
Kristina says
There’s so much baggage that goes along with the “local” label. I am a farmer who sells my product (walnuts and almonds) to a third party who has the expertise to market my product locally, nationally, and internationally. This frees me to just do what I am good at: growing nuts. If I was selling locally, I would be doing the following: growing (with all that comes with that, including managing employees, orchard maintenance, regulatory paperwork and business accounting), harvesting, hulling, shelling, packaging, and marketing, including traveling hundreds of miles to multiple farmers markets. All without the advantage of the economy of scale inherent in larger operations. My product would be very much more expensive if I had to “do it all”. Farmers are not providing a public service. We are just trying to work, raise our children (hello school, sports, field trips, etc!), and make a living like everyone else. If you want to support small local farms, you are going to pay more for it, because those brave souls who go it alone are working very much harder than the farmers who provide you with supermarket produce.