Low Mileage Food

So we’re working on easing into eating more locally by investigating our options and figuring out where we can get local foods where we live, and what’s available. Much as we’d like to eat one hundred percent locally, we’re not sure that that’s going to be possible; the goal currently is that twenty-five percent of our food budget will be spent on local goods by June.

One of the first places we wanted to check out was our local Whole Foods; one would think that, given the kind of store it is, it would be one of the better chains to start with. Eventually, there will be a full report on the wiki, but the short report is that the pre-packaged goods were about what you’d expect (when one could determine a provenience for the product, it was often labeled simply as “manufactured in the USA”; an appalling amount of the frozen vegetables were from areas outside of the U.S.). The recycled paper products we favor (Whole Foods’ 365 brand) were labeled as being made in Canada. Fresh products were better; local dairy, including cream and milk was being sold. (We purchased some whole cream; it was very, very good, but went off fairly quickly. Next time, we will use it more quickly.) The origins of all the produce were tagged, and a reasonable amount was from the United States, and some from inside North Carolina. However, there were no origins tagged on the bulk bins, or on the meat. I left a comment on their website noting this and recieved the following answer:

From: George Jones (SO RAL) Mailed-By: wholefoods.com
To: joyce
Date: Jan 5, 2006 8:52 AM
Subject: local products

Hi Joyce,

Thank you for your email regarding local product. Our beef is currently not local as we buy from Meyer and always purchase choice or better quality. Our meat coordinator for the South Region is working with beef producers in various parts of the South to create a sustainable program to provide our stores with quality beef products. We have also spoken with a NC producer of grass fed beef and will see where that leads. Our poultry is currently not local as we have not found a supplier that can meet the supply need or provide the air chilling process we desire in the production process. I will talk with the bulk buyer to improve local identification on bulk items.

Best,

George Jones

Store Team Leader
Whole Foods Market
3540 Wade Ave.
Raleigh, NC 27607
919-828-1589 voice
919-828-5825 fax

So, the short answer is that Whole Foods might be a better choice on some things, like produce and dairy; however, they also might not. Our local Harris Teeter (report coming) also stocks North Carolina produce at times. (A comment on their website asking about local meat has not yet received an answer.) We’re hoping to switch more of our shopping to the local farmer’s market as things come into season, and especially hope to find a source for reasonably priced local meat.