Local Buying

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=3 height=90 BGCOLOR="#669966" TEXT="#080000" background="7a501573.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B>OkEatMe</B></FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" > </FONT>    |     <A HREF="default.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="OkEatMe">home</A>                                            <B>back to</B>  <A HREF="help_tips_fun.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Help Tips Fun">Help Tips Fun</A></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <A HREF="recipe_index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Recipe Index">Recipe Index</A>   |   <A HREF="the_history_of_food.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The History of Food">The History of Food</A>   |   <A HREF="recycling_index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Recycling Index">Recycling Index</A>   |   <A HREF="health_index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Health Index">Health Index</A>   |   <A HREF="help_tips_fun.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Help Tips Fun">Help Tips Fun</A></div> <div> <I><B>    </B></I><I>Local Buying</I></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="594d2013.jpg"> <div> <A HREF="help_tips_fun.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Help Tips Fun"><IMG SRC="0010e0e0.png" border=0 width="14" height="14" ALT="up" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A>   <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="14" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="14">     <A HREF="growing_ideas.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Growing Ideas"><IMG SRC="0020e0e0.png" border=0 width="14" height="14" ALT="previous" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A>  <A HREF="organic_produce.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Organic produce"><IMG SRC="0030e0e0.png" border=0 width="14" height="14" ALT="next" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A></div> <div> <A HREF="contact_us.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us">Contact Us</A></div> <div> <A HREF="farmers_markets.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Farmers Markets">Farmers Markets</A></div> <div> <A HREF="food_and_health_alerts.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Food and Health Alerts">Food and Health Alerts</A></div> <div> <A HREF="gift_shop.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Gift Shop">Gift Shop</A></div> <div> <A HREF="cookbook_museum.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Cookbook Museum">Cookbook Museum</A></div> <div> <A HREF="food_storage.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Food Storage">Food Storage</A></div> <div> <A HREF="growing_ideas.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Growing Ideas">Growing Ideas</A></div> <div> <B>Local Buying</B></div> <div> <A HREF="organic_produce.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Organic produce">Organic produce</A></div> <div> <A HREF="pantry.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Pantry">Pantry</A></div> <div> <A HREF="privacy_policy.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Privacy Policy">Privacy Policy</A></div> <div> <A HREF="search.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Search">Search</A></div> <div> <A HREF="user_agreement.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="User Agreement">User Agreement</A></div> <div> <A HREF="links.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Fun Web Links">Fun Web Links</A></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 width="100%" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>To find a farmers market in your state, log on to </I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="http://www.ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets"><I>http://www.ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets</I></A></FONT></div> <div> <I>or</I></div> <div> <A HREF="http://motherearthnewsmail.com/rd/9z1zt8feq167dqb2q7mf5n24bcp1k67jdlofkvei1p8" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://motherearthnewsmail.com/rd/9z1zt8">Websites and Apps for Finding Local Food</A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="http://motherearthnewsmail.com/rd/9z1zn5u099v2256m5j8dekru0cm3l3lqd3r719665rg" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://motherearthnewsmail.com/rd/9z1zn5"><I>Food Policy Councils Advocate for Community Food Security</I></A></div> <bR> <div> Culled from Netscape</div> <div> 04/29/07</div> <div> <A HREF="http://isp.netscape.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://isp.netscape.com/"><IMG SRC="483a0340.gif" border=0 width="160" height="52" ALT="netscape internet service" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A></div> <div> LAKEWOOD, Colo. (AP) -</div> <div> The 113-year-old Morning Fresh Dairy Farm didn't even use barcodes on its bottles when a Whole Foods Market in Fort Collins, Colo. asked about offering the dairy's all-natural milk.</div> <bR> <div> Dairy general manager Matt Lucas began bringing the glass bottles himself from the Morning Fresh farm in Bellevue, Colo., 60 miles north of Denver.</div> <div> Until then, Morning Fresh had long made its name on home deliveries.</div> <bR> <div> Since his Whole Foods deliveries began in 2004, Lucas estimated, his dairy's sales have increased 20 percent.</div> <div> Morning Fresh now sells at least 1,000 gallons a week to supply a Whole Foods distribution center serving 10 stores.</div> <bR> <div> `It's a breath of fresh air to get involved with a group like that.</div> <div> They were so excited to get our product in their stores,'' Lucas said.</div> <bR> <div> By strengthening - or, as some farmers say, returning to - their commitment to local products, Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods and Boulder-based Wild Oats Markets Inc. are fending off big chains like Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Kroger Co. and Safeway Inc., which have expanded their own organic offerings and put pressure on the smaller ``natural'' grocers.</div> <bR> <div> ``With Wal-Mart barging into the lower-end organic sales, this is a way these other retailers can differentiate from what Wal-Mart is doing,'' said Dan Hobbs, a cooperative development specialist with the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union.</div> <bR> <div> Nutrition Business Journal valued the natural foods market at $23 billion in 2005, up 14 percent from the year before.</div> <div> Whole Foods Market Inc. is in the process of a takeover of Wild Oats and expects to close its purchase in May.</div> <bR> <div> Chains have long sought local suppliers to keep distribution costs down.</div> <div> But the influence of top chefs, farmers markets, Michael Pollan's book ``The Omnivore's Dilemma,'' and concerns about the environmental effects of shipping food long distances have raised shoppers' interest in buying local.</div> <bR> <div> The U.S. Department of Agriculture listed 4,385 farmers markets nationwide in 2006, up 18 percent from 3,706 in 2004.</div> <bR> <div> Small local growers often cannot offer lower prices than large-scale operations that benefit from economies of scale and cheaper labor.</div> <bR> <div> But fuel costs for shipping food are less for shorter trips, which in turn often require less packaging to preserve food.</div> <bR> <div> Buying local also shortens the time it takes produce to get to market, preserving nutrients and freshness, the Center for Food & Justice said in a December report. The center is part of the Urban & Environmental Policy Institute based at Occidental College in Los Angeles.</div> <bR> <div> Farmers say there are other benefits, too.</div> <bR> <div> ``Money gets recycled within the local economy. ...</div> <div> You can support your own communities and your own people very well,'' said Steve Ela, who runs the 100-year-old Ela Family Farms in Hotchkiss, Colo.</div> <div> The farm about 160 miles southwest of Denver supplies organic fruit and applesauce to Whole Foods.</div> <bR> <div> The grocery chain has launched a program to loan $10 million annually to help independent local producers around the country expand.</div> <bR> <div> Whole Foods holds seminars around the country to teach producers how to get products onto shelves - and how to command premium prices by emphasizing their local roots.</div> <bR> <div> When it held its first seminar in Colorado in February, it expected 70 growers to attend. Instead, about 130 came, said spokeswoman Cathy Cochran-Lewis.</div> <bR> <div> ``It's a good opportunity for a lot of producers in this environment where the big chains have pushed prices with their buying power,'' said Marilyn Wentz of Prairie Natural Lamb in the plains town of Strasburg.</div> <div> ``They have pushed prices so low, it's really hard for smaller and medium-sized producers. This is one hope they have.''</div> <bR> <div> Lucas estimated his profit margin would be 12 percent dealing with a mainstream grocery chain.</div> <div> ``At Whole Foods, we can get 30 percent, which is wonderful for us,'' he said.</div> <bR> <div> Dressed in fleece vests and shorts, Whole Foods executives emphasized that barcodes that became required as Whole Foods grew are no longer needed; the company provides separate codes.</div> <div> Grower-producers, they said, can choose to supply a single store or a whole region.</div> <bR> <div> ``That's absolutely huge for growers,'' said Hobbs, a farmer with 15 acres in Avondale.</div> <div> He noted that was a major change from several years ago, when a cooperative was told by Whole Foods it would have to ship goods to a distribution center in Texas to sell to Colorado stores.</div> <bR> <div> Whole Foods spokeswoman Ashley Hawkins said the company's $565 million takeover of Wild Oats, which last summer launched its own program promoting local items, shouldn't affect its local growers program.</div> <bR> <div> Safeway and Kroger representatives did not respond to messages seeking comment for this story. Wal-Mart said it seeks local suppliers whenever possible.</div> <bR> <div> ``Our focus is the same as it's always been: to make sure we have the quality products our customers want at a value,'' Wal-Mart spokeswoman Karen A. Burk said.</div> <bR> <div> Whole Foods defines a local product as having traveled less than seven hours to get to the store.</div> <bR> <div> It sells more than 200 produce and floral items from more than 60 local growers in the region covering Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas and Missouri. Overall, it does business with more than 2,400 independent farms.</div> <bR> <div> Customers' desire for fresh produce year-round means not everything can be local, just as farmers markets tend to be seasonal.</div> <bR> <div> ``We are the farmers markets eight months of the year,'' said Paul McLean, regional vice president of purchasing.</div> <bR> <div> Whole Foods counted $5.6 billion in sales in fiscal 2006 at 186 stores, while Wild Oats had annual sales of about $1.2 billion and 115 stores.</div> <div> By comparison, Kroger Co. reported $66.1 billion in sales in 2,468 stores.</div> <bR> <div> As Whole Foods grows, it is bringing along some of its local suppliers.</div> <bR> <div> Morning Fresh, with its 400 head of cows, does enough business with Whole Foods now that Lucas doesn't deliver there anymore.</div> <div> Instead, Whole Foods visits the farm twice a week.</div> <bR> <div> ``Here's this itty bitty farm with a nationwide company backing into our dock,'' Lucas said.</div> <bR> <div> On the Net:</div> <div> http://www.wildoats.com</div> <div> http://www.wholefoods.com</div> <bR> <div> <B>Skinniest People Grocery Shop HERE </B></div> <div> The skinniest people shop at Whole Foods where only 4 percent of the shoppers are obese.</div> <div> Why?</div> <div> <B>It's all about money--or lack thereof.</B> </div> <div> People who are poor and have less to spend on food try to get the biggest calorie bang for their food buck.</div> <div> That means they not only shop at cheaper stores, but also buy less healthy food.</div> <bR> <div> <B>The study:</B></div> <div> A University of Washington research team tracked 2,001 Seattle area shoppers between December 2008 and March 2009.</div> <div> They compared their choice of supermarkets to data they collected on the participants' education, income and obesity rates.</div> <div> Obesity rates were measured by asking consumers to report their height and weight so their body mass index (BMI) could be calculated.</div> <div> People with a BMI higher than 30 were identified as obese. </div> <bR> <div> <B>The results: </B>The percentage of obese shoppers is almost 10 times higher at low-cost grocery stores, compared with more upscale stores.</div> <div> And poverty is the key reason. </div> <div> Lead study author Adam Drewnowski, an epidemiology professor who studies obesity and social class, says people who can pay $6 for a pound of radicchio at Whole Foods are obviously better able to afford a healthy diet than those who buy $1.88 packs of pizza rolls at Albertson's to feed their kids.</div> <div> "If people wanted a diet to be cheap, they went to one supermarket," Drewnowski told MSNBC.</div> <div> "If they wanted their diet to be healthy, they went to another supermarket and spent more."</div> <div> He found that only 15 percent of shoppers chose a store based on its proximity to their home. Instead, almost all the shoppers chose a store based on price or quality.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Sticker shock: </B>All the stores offered the same type of food, including fresh fruits and vegetables.</div> <div> But the prices were vastly different.</div> <bR> <div> The average price for a market basket of food at Whole Foods was between $370 and $420, compared with the same basket of food at Albertson's for $225 to $280. </div> <div> "Deep down, obesity is really an economic issue," Drewnowski told MSNBC.</div> <div> Eating healthy, low-calorie food costs more money and requires more preparation skills and time than consuming processed, high-calorie foods.</div> <div> MSNBC reports that in a separate study in 2008, Drewnowski estimated that a calorie-dense diet costs $3.52 a day, compared with $36.32 a day for a low-calorie diet.</div> <div> "What this says is your social economic status is clearly associated with how overweight you are," he told MSNBC. </div> <bR> <div> <B>Grocery stores and percentage of obese shoppers</B></div> <div> Whole Foods Markets: 4 percent</div> <div> Metropolitan Market: 8 percent</div> <div> Puget Consumers Cooperative (PCC): 12 percent</div> <div> Quality Food Centers (QFC): 17 percent</div> <div> Fred Meyer: 22 percent</div> <div> Safeway: 24 percent</div> <div> Albertsons: 38 percent</div> <bR> <div> <I><B>--From the Editors at Netscape</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>11-26-2010</B></I></div> <div> Culled from Netscape</div> <div> <A HREF="http://isp.netscape.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://isp.netscape.com/"><IMG SRC="483a0340.gif" border=0 width="160" height="52" ALT="netscape internet service" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#EEEEEE" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>A Public Service of</B></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.radiozx.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.radiozx.com/"><B><IMG SRC="7ab59290.png" border=0 width="89" height="41" ALT="radiozx logo" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></A></div> <div> <B>Hot Headlines...</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="7ac23230.png" border=0 width="35" height="35" ALT="newspaper Hot Headlines" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="7ad6a240.png" border=0 width="106" height="36" ALT="lizard running" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>for people on the Run!</B></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>