Well, the long-awaited Whole Foods store has opened in our area. The Roaring Fork valley is about 45 miles long, and ranges from ½ mile to 1-1/2 miles wide. The new market will serve probably 30,000 people from 6 or so incorporated communities plus unincorporated areas. I would guess that the demographic layer cake is fed by a base layer of Hispanic immigrant workers who are tax payers, a little buttercream of the same who are not legal workers, another layer of fairly medium-income working Caucasians with fairly yuppie tastes, a little more buttercream of regular-old retirees, a final layer of 2nd homeowners who have lots of financial buying power, all topped with a lovely ganache of the uber-wealthy who create the jobs for the rest of us and provide a stable market for arts, restaurants, and retail, and whose purchases fund our schools and government coffers alike.
The upshot is, probably 2/3 of the cake has been waiting for the chance to buy organically raised meats, fish, and dairy, organic vegetables, bulk nuts, seeds and twigs, and chomp on delectable, prepared foods from the upscale deli market.
The grand opening was a party, with locals greeting each other, sharing samples, oohing and aaahing, and generally being thrilled at the first coming of fancy market!
I confess that I love the bulk food section and that big bin full of baked delectable right at eye level with guilt-free names like ‘Gluten-free honey almond raspberry bar’.
However, I am a farmer. Yup, right here in River City, about 2 miles from the golden egg. Some of my sales come from a Sunday market in the little town 5 miles from the new box, and some from direct farm to customer weekly sales. I’m not yet ‘making A living’ at it, but I am trying to make MY living from it.
Perhaps it’s really because kids went back to school right about the week WF opened and no one wanted any more produce, but boy, sales went way down that week. The farmers’ market seemed barren of all but the most dedicated supporters of local farmers for the next five weeks until the season end and no one, not one person, ordered any more veggies direct from my farm.
Hmmm. Is it just a fad? Were my veggies bad? Were my prices too high? I’ve got to do a survey and find out. In my spare time.
Most everyone I have talked to says that they loved my food and the restaurants are still buying so I guess I’m not poisoning anyone.
I checked the produce section at WF and found my prices were either the same or not more than 1$ a pound more for any one thing.
Lots of people, really wanting to help out their local farmer said, ‘hey, you should sell your stuff at Whole Foods!’ So I inquired. Initially enthusiastic at the prospect of buying truly local, the produce manager then informed me that they only buy ‘certified organic’. Well, it’s another discussion but that certification is cumbersome, expensive and some people think rather meaningless since there aren’t the kind of follow up inspections you’d expect in food production and handling. I grow organically, but I’m not ‘certified’. So, no dice. And, one more small detail—they pay farmers approximately .50 cents on the dollar compared to direct sales.
So if we’re talking about walking the walk (were we?) a person who buys ‘local’ produce from the big market is adding a middle man to the transaction, thereby reducing the amount of money in the farmers’ hands, while paying about the same money for the same stuff, only kept in the walk-in fridge another week and possibly disinfected to meet FDA standards for ‘retailing’ produce. Many businesses, specialty organic markets included, contribute to social or environmental causes nationally and in their communities, but I’m guessing that at least some of that dough goes into marketing and maybe administration at corporate headquarters?
Competition is a good thing; I believe in it so that we don’t get stagnant, over-priced, or gain too much power. But I am concerned with the impact of this retailer on my ability to sell enough radishes to pay my employees at least 50% more than WF pays its, and my ability to support my friends who are restauranteurs, retailers, doctors, tinkers and tailors.
