‘Locally grown’ food sounds great, but what does it mean?
By Julie Schmit, USA TODAY
Virginia farmer Rod Parker can walk into a grocery store 10 miles from his farm, 40 miles from it and even 100 miles from it and see his fresh produce marketed as “locally grown.”
Some retailers even consider “locally grown” to be something produced a day’s drive from the store, he says. Meanwhile, “I’m sure consumers think it’s grown right down the road,” says the owner of Parker Farms.
Nationwide, retailers from Wal-Mart to Whole Foods are increasingly devoting more shelf space to “locally grown” products including such things as fresh produce and Thanksgiving turkeys. Whole Foods, for one, now spends almost 22% of its produce budget on locally grown products, up from 15% four years ago, it says.
Full article from USA Today can be found here.
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