The Shellys. No, the other Shellys

I've had something rolling around in my head the past day or so, and am trying to decide what I believe about it.

Until pretty recently, whenever I'd go grocery shopping, I'd pick up this, that or the other thing, whatever was on sale, basically, and not give it much thought. Through some conversations and reading some stuff (and Sandy's inherent love of anything farmer market-y), the two of us have begun exploring different local food options - i.e, local meat, produce, etc. I've raved once or twice about the local bacon we've bought at the farmer market here. We also got local eggs and ground turkey (which Sandy made into awesome meatballs tonight!). We have bought some produce from nearby farms at the market as well, which was pretty tasty as well. We considered getting a cropshare (or at least sharing one) this summer as well, but came to the realization it'd mean much more veggie eating than we've done, and not necessarily with veggies we're too familiar with. I think we're going to instead get the handful of stuff each week at the farmer market. But anyways, we like the idea of it - it seems to be healthier, higher quality stuff than the average grocery market fare, and although a little more expensive, it helps support the local economy and more money goes to the farmers and not some major corporation. In addition, there is less pollution caused by its transportation, and related to that, less preservatives/etc. to keep it "fresh" for as long as possible. In some ways it seems to be a more conscious decision in the way we choose to spend our money on our basic needs, and how that consumer decision affects others.

Last night at church, my friends Nick and Lauren shared about a recent trip to Mexico. In the town they were in, the main local industry was coffee bean harvesting. Apparently, the farmers would harvest then sell their beans to coffee roasters, who in turn would sell them for a much higher profit to different coffee companies. As a result, the farmers would make a small fraction of the possible profit off of the beans (I don't recall the exact figures they quoted, but I think it was somewhere in the 10% range, as in out of the total profit possible off the beans, the roasters would make 90% and the farmers 10%). Partially because of this, the local economy was struggling and saw a lot of population migrating north (illegally) to America. So there was an internationally and (for Americans at least) politically charged situation that was partially caused by coffee beans. However, one emerging company in the town took upon itself the roasting of the beans and selling to coffee companies, which effectively put more money into the local economy and created more jobs for residents, which was beginning to entice more people to stay. Nick and Lauren ended their presentation with an invite to anyone interested to buy some of their coffee (straight from the factory, I guess), as they were going to start coordinating efforts to do so. Sandy and I were both interested, as it seemed to be a conscious way to spend our money, this time on delicious, delicious coffee.

But I guess it brings up an interesting question: What makes buying some food from close to here and some from afar both "good" decisions? In some ways, coffee isn't the perfect example .... there's no coffee plants grown probably within a thousand miles of here, so there isn't the "local vs. global" question that you'd encounter with, say, apples, or meat product, or whatever else. I don't know what the answer is, except to know how you choose to spend money even on basic food has an impact far beyond your own wallet. For me, I am still working on answering the question, but for now at least, I feel at peace with buying what I can from local farms and sources, and if buying something from elsewhere, being more conscious of the ramifications of the decision.

I think either one of those options beat buying Valu-Time, anytime.

p.s. - Mom, I've thought more about our "Chilean grape farmers" conversation from a few weeks back, and it took some time, but I find your points "more valid" now as my thoughts are still evolving. I think I'd still buy PA grapes (if such things exist, I'm clueless) if given the choice, but our chat definitely was formative in my thoughts about this.