Comments on: How To Eat Locally Without Doing the Work Involved

By: Ted

Ted — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 21:13:38 +0000

And just as a further update, you can easily see from the Wal-Mart annual report that they spent 76% of each dollar of revenue on “Cost of Sales”, which consists of product cost to Wal-Mart, the cost of transportation to the warehouses from suppliers, the cost of transportation from the warehouses to stores and the cost of warehousing for Sam’s Club. That’s where “the lion’s share of your shopping dollar” goes at Wal-Mart and at nearly any retailer.

By: Ted

Ted — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 21:05:32 +0000

Just a quick note on the Wal-Mart CEO comment. Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott earned $29.7 million in total compensation in 2007. Wal-Mart revenues for 2007 were $351 billion. So, of each dollar you spend at Wal-Mart, $0.00008 goes to the CEO. In other words, for the CEO to make a dollar, you’d have to spend approximately $12,500. While I agree that CEO pay is a problem, and there are lot of biases in the system that determines that pay, it’s not “the lion’s share of your shopping dollar”.

By: Christy

Christy — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 18:09:27 +0000

Oops. Pardon my mistake. That would be more than my entire food budget for a week for *3 ounces* of kaffir lime leaves.

By: Christy

Christy — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 18:07:23 +0000

I think I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again. Being a locavore is a marvelous idea…if you can afford it. I love the idea of supporting my local economy and normal people who are trying to make a living in such a difficult environment (I wouldn’t be a farmer for anything). I love farmers’ markets, and (theoretically) I am willing to pay a little more to support local farmers. Tasty, healthful chicken and beef? You bet.
However, I can rarely afford it. I’m a student with more than $30,000 worth of school debt and a wage which, while it sustains me and pays my bills, doesn’t give me much leeway. When a pound of beef costs as much as my entire food budget for a week (and literally it does at my farmer’s market), I either have to buy the cheaper beef at the grocery store or go without it altogether.
It’s often the same with buying things online. You mention how easy it is to get wonderful things like kaffir lime leaves online, but it’s easy only if I don’t mind spending more on a pound of them than I would spend in a week and a half on food.
All I can say is, keep pushing local foods, and all you people who can afford it, keep buying it so that the prices will come down for people like me, who dearly want to be able to afford it. But also recognize that there are people for whom the extra dollar a pound or so for tomatoes would actually be a hardship.

By: Dawn

Dawn — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 11:10:24 +0000

I agree with you on many points. This will be a fad for some, but the trend teaches good lessons regardless. It is good to know where your food comes from and how much work goes into producing it. Organic once was a fad, expensive, and hard to find. Now, prices have come down on at least a few things and the products are everywhere. I get to go to the farmers market this morning…I don’t see that as elitist at all!