 |
Fresh local produce is healthier, good for the environment and supports the region's economy.
But cheap fruit and vegetable imports from Mexico, Chile and China have skyrocketed in recent years, making their way to local grocery shelves.
All that's left many consumers miffed, local growers angry and one area in this region fighting back.
"We have to think, 'How do we protect our livelihoods?' " said Norfolk County Mayor Dennis Travale, who has rolled out a campaign to get consumers to buy locally.
Clobbered by its shrinking tobacco industry, farmers in Norfolk County have been diversifying and trying to shift to other crops to stay afloat.
"We have to educate the consumer the couple of pennies more they're paying for local food is worth it and the food is . . . much safer," Travale said.
"We have to shift people to buying local."
Consider the facts:
- Worldwide exports of agriculture products to Canada were up by 10 per cent last year, compared to 2004.
- The imports totalled $22.4 billion, including $13 billion from the United States, $878 million from Mexico, $639 million from Brazil and $400 million from Chile.
- China's largest food export to Canada is apple juice, up 69 per cent from 2003 -- worth $28 million last year.
- Imports of raspberries to Canada have increased by 102 per cent since 2004, mainly from Mexico and Chile.
- Imports of cucumbers, cherries, asparagus and strawberries have also jumped.
At the Covent Garden Market in London, consumers are already hooked on buying seasonal local produce -- and they're worried about what could be in the imported food.
"I like stopping at the various vendors, and I like the contact with people who produce it," said Rena Armstrong, who was buying vegetables last Saturday at Mill Stream Farms' organic food stand.
"There's so much good produce available, I don't see why you would buy stuff from overseas," she said.
Armstrong tries to only buy food in season, she said.
That's the kind of customer Dorothy Green, who operates Mill Stream Farms, looks for.
"Often, the small producer takes more care because we handle the food from the beginning," she said.
"Our hands are on it from seedling to market."
Market vendors have heard loud and clear from customers they want local produce, said Bob Usher, manager of the Covent Garden Market.
Though not all market food is local, it boasts a farm market outdoors every Thursday and Saturday that is all local and can have as many as 30 vendors, he said.
"This is a trend we are seeing and it is growing," Usher said of the demand for locally grown foods.
Buying at supermarkets can be cheaper. But Susan Ladner shops at the market because she doesn't trust the pesticides and herbicides sprayed on food from far away.
"You see the farmer, know who's growing it," she said, as her daughter, three-year-old Neroli, munched on fresh strawberries.
"They fumigate the food that comes from far away, so there's no bugs, and then people eat it. The raspberries they import are sprayed with chemicals to make them ripen faster," Ladner said.
"It's scary, because then people think they're just eating produce, but they're eating so much more."
Almost anything except for bananas and oranges, Travale said, can grow in Norfolk soil.
Area farmers are trying not to get squeezed out of the produce market replacing tobacco.
"The shift from tobacco is happening, but the threat of subsidies through the World Trade Organization has to be addressed by the politicians," Travale said.
No comments:
Post a Comment