[No recipe today. Click away if you don't want to read about where our food comes from.]
Small business owners and residents of small towns know how Walmart has wiped out thousands of family-owned businesses. Main Street closes up when they can’t compete with the constant discounts, and eventually there’s only one store in town. What they do to their suppliers hasn’t been any prettier.
But Walmart does listen to their customers, and what they’ve been hearing lately is that people want locally-grown food. So they have started carrying it. The March issue of the Atlantic tells how this “experimental” heritage produce program accounts for about 4 to 6 percent of Walmart’s produce sales. This is already more than other grocery store chains spend on produce, but Walmart won’t even consider it a “viable” program until it reaches 20 percent.
This is a good thing, right? Walmart can singlehandedly drive a change that has thwarted activists, farmers, politicians and regulatory agencies. Local food is better for our health, better for the environment, better for the country. It’s a good thing. Except … Walmart is doing it because it’s better for business.
When the only source for locally-grown food is Walmart, you might want to shop there to support the local farmers. But the reason why there are no other local sources is because industry has spent decades systematically eliminating the local food supply and distribution network. Is supporting the third-largest corporation in the world (behind Royal Dutch Shell and Exxon Mobil) really the best way to support diversity?
I can’t decide how I feel about this one. I want to support the return of local farming, but Walmart has been destroying local retail. How can I support the one without supporting the other?
What do you think?
New: Fruit Jerky from Jerky.com
The guys as Jerky.com sent me a preview sample of some new fruit flavored jerky they’re introducing: Orange Jerky and Mango Jerky.
I was expecting something like the pineapple jerky I tried a while back. (At the time I’m writing this, it looks like the pineapple jerky is no longer available. I’ve emailed the company to get an update.) That was a dried fruit slice, really tasty … I described it as a “fruit snack for grownups”.
It turns out these two are traditional beef jerky, but with a fruit marinade. Sweet and spicy — like it says on the package — goes together just fine. But on beef? This I was going to have to try for myself.
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