“Go Local!” commands the sign above the Safeway produce aisle. “Support Farms in Your Neighborhood!” With one in three people surveyed by a national market research firm claiming they’d pay up to 25% more for local food, it’s no surprise that this retail behemoth would jump on the locavore bandwagon.
But with no universal measuring stick—nearly all of Safeway’s “local” produce travels several hundred miles or more from vast corporate farms—what’s to keep those same tactics from becoming par for the course among all grocers?
This summer, The Farmers Guild invites you to join us for “Source Local, Shop Local,” a grassroots campaign to verify those enthusiastic claims of neighborly support and give credit where credit's due. Our initial survey covers several grocery outlets in and around Sebastopol, CA, tallying the number of products sourced from local growers. (But we encourage you to replicate this survey in your own neighborhood and share the results.) We’ll then conduct the same survey next year to see which of these businesses has worked to better align message with content. And in the meantime, we at the Farmers Guild are here to make introductions between farmers and grocers, identify obstacles, and engage our wider community in this movement to build a more transparent local food economy.
But with no universal measuring stick—nearly all of Safeway’s “local” produce travels several hundred miles or more from vast corporate farms—what’s to keep those same tactics from becoming par for the course among all grocers?
This summer, The Farmers Guild invites you to join us for “Source Local, Shop Local,” a grassroots campaign to verify those enthusiastic claims of neighborly support and give credit where credit's due. Our initial survey covers several grocery outlets in and around Sebastopol, CA, tallying the number of products sourced from local growers. (But we encourage you to replicate this survey in your own neighborhood and share the results.) We’ll then conduct the same survey next year to see which of these businesses has worked to better align message with content. And in the meantime, we at the Farmers Guild are here to make introductions between farmers and grocers, identify obstacles, and engage our wider community in this movement to build a more transparent local food economy.
SAMPLE #1: WESTERN SONOMA COUNTY
Even here in the epicurean North Bay, we found that what’s playing out beneath the fluorescent lights of Safeway also plays out within some of those stores who implore us to "shop local". Truth is: while the image of neighborhood farmers is helping to derive that extra 25% revenue, farmers don't always seeing their fair share of it. And the more we spoke to grocers, the more we realized that the bigger issue at hand here is this: those grocers who will shift their buying patterns—often a real investment of time and money—will do so in competition with grocers who are profiting from the same message but with different content.
NOTES ON OUR PROCESS:
- We defined “Local” as grown within the county or in surrounding Counties (Marin, Mendocino, Napa)
- Results are limited to fresh fruits and vegetables
- All data was taken within the same week in September, a time when local farms overflow with bounty
- Survey process was done in collaboration with employees of each subject store
- Results are limited to fresh fruits and vegetables
- All data was taken within the same week in September, a time when local farms overflow with bounty
- Survey process was done in collaboration with employees of each subject store
| Business # of local products Healdsburg SHED: 53 Oliver's 39 Whole Foods, Sebastopol 38 Community Market: 31 Locastore 19 Andy's 15 Whole Foods, Petaluma 8 Pacific Market: 4 Safeway: 3 MORE RESULTS COMING SOON... |
It’s easy to scoff at the blatant fraudulence of a $14 billion company cuddling up to your neighborhood values. Safeway’s co-opting of a movement towards sustainable local food-sheds deserves careful vigilance. And while buying direct from growers is the best way to build stronger local food systems, after more than a decade of explosive growth, sales of local food at farmers' markets are now slowing nationwide. While there may be several causes for this, the fact that more and more traditional grocers are today using the same language and ethos born of the farmers market and CSA's must certainly play a role in the downward trend.
The obstacles to local sourcing aren’t imaginary. Each store struggles with their own unique challenges, complicated by a globalized food system well beyond their own control. Where land and labor is cheaper, so too are the vegetables. Meanwhile many smaller farms forgo certification, even if growing organically, which hinders stores that guarantee only certified produce. Still, many local stores are actively and honestly working to procure more local products. But in a sea of vague marketing schemes, if customers can’t tell the difference, will such efforts convert to the dollars they'll need in order to compete with Safeway and the rest?
The obstacles to local sourcing aren’t imaginary. Each store struggles with their own unique challenges, complicated by a globalized food system well beyond their own control. Where land and labor is cheaper, so too are the vegetables. Meanwhile many smaller farms forgo certification, even if growing organically, which hinders stores that guarantee only certified produce. Still, many local stores are actively and honestly working to procure more local products. But in a sea of vague marketing schemes, if customers can’t tell the difference, will such efforts convert to the dollars they'll need in order to compete with Safeway and the rest?
THE SILVER LINING
A corporation the size of Safeway would never invest in such campaigns without careful market research, the ability to assure shareholders that such efforts translate into consumer spending. Understood from another perspective: the average American consumer today cares where their food comes from. They value their local economy and sympathize with small family farms that could, hypothetically, belong to their “neighborhood” and therefore operate with a different set of business values. These sentiments no longer belong to the birkenstock, granola fringe. Today a deeper understanding of our food system is emerging into the mainstream. But the job of holding businesses accountable to such claims does not belong to marketers; that's up to us.
JOIN US!
Simply visit grocery stores in your neighborhood, inform them of what you're doing, and then replicate our study. Begin a dialogue by kindly informing these businesses that your intention is to assure that any efforts they take to source from more local farms deserves recognition. And if possible, offer to introduce them to more local growers, listen to their challenges, and consider how we can all help farmers meet their real-world constraints.
And please, share the results! Contact us. We'll post them here.
Simply visit grocery stores in your neighborhood, inform them of what you're doing, and then replicate our study. Begin a dialogue by kindly informing these businesses that your intention is to assure that any efforts they take to source from more local farms deserves recognition. And if possible, offer to introduce them to more local growers, listen to their challenges, and consider how we can all help farmers meet their real-world constraints.
And please, share the results! Contact us. We'll post them here.
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