3 dollars worth of grapes from Erie, PA

Passing through Erie, PA later week, I stopped in at a local market and got a quart of mixed grapes for 3 dollars.  These weren’t harvested in California or overseas and shipped in.  They were local.  They were delicious.

As I left and continued on my journey, popping grapes like the wonderful candy that they are, I considered the problems that I saw.  Primarily an abundance of grapes, a shortage of grape buyers, and a limited shelf life.  This is the issue of locally grown, seasonal food.  Getting the bounty out in time, to a public that would love to have some, they just usually are unaware, and farming still hasn’t embraced the web as much as it needs to.

What is the solution?  Is it a once a week farmers market?  I don’t think it can be.  And, what would happen if locally grown could be encouraged, on a large scale?  Locally grown is obviously better in all regards; environmentally better, economically better, healthier and tastier for sure.  It would only have an increasing, potentially exponential change on the market of food, as more growing would equate to longer seasons, larger variety and greater consumption.

So what is the solution?  Simply, the web.  I propose a new tab on the well worn Craigslist and the addition of a delivery service, would be all that is needed to get those precious perishables out of farmers hands, and into kitchens and tummies all over the nation, in short order.

Can’t make it to the farmers market this week?  No problem – just call your order in and it can be delivered for a low fee.  Add your email to the notice list and you can be alerted in advance to things like the upcoming blackberry, sweetcorn, or apple harvest.

Now, get your local farmers selling out and making money on their crops, and you have an increase in subsequent production.  Increased growth means farmers can stagger crops and extend the time a particular item can be available, and that farmer can also grow something different.  More food, bigger variety, available longer…. yum.  And those folks with the greenhouses – they can grow all kinds of crazy stuff.  There just has to be equity in it for them.

Somebody needs to take this and run it on a national level.  It needs to be free.  There is too much to be gained for us all in its successful use.  A central site should eventually arise with all links for everyone in the chain, geared towards the local folks.  It should include links to recipes, and substitutions, so folks can use as much local stuff as possible.  Keep the government out of it.  Keep some large corporation out of it.

The internet has infinite potential.  This is just one of the thousands of examples.  I hope we can make this happen.

>follow up
Yes, after posting I did the Google search and found some facsimiles of the concept out there.  As I say in my original post, this is fine with me.  Oftentimes, my ideas will come in things I am unfamiliar with, and seeing people doing things that match up with a knee jerk thought I came up with, just reinforces that it was a good idea.

That being said, I noticed no free service.  Some folks charging 3% for “hosting” fees.  Silly, really.  Free is the only way to get massive growth, and really make money.  Trying to profit out of the gate just slows you down to such a degree that you can rest assured someone else will execute the move better and drive you out before you make any big money.  Also, the delivery service I found always seemed to be a grower provided thing.  This is too limiting, as your customers may want various items, but rest assured they don’t want 18 farmers delivering things at various times throughout the week.  There should be a central delivery service in each locality, that can work with all growers, providing perhaps even a daily provision.  It is the advantage of convenience and availability that the big grocery store has on the local folks, and only with a centralized delivery service, and eventually an actual, maintained storefront will that be comparable.  It will never be a typical grocery store type of thing, I am envisioning more of a hub.  It has to be centralized and comfortable for the shopper.  The problem I see is there being no option for a person who just wants a few items on any particular day to have something locally grown.  Could it happen today, no, but over time, as the market share of locally grown starts to increase to a level where the mainstream is interested, it does become a feasible option.

Make no mistake, it’s in Walmart’s best interest for the small guys to carry on like a bunch of individuals, and we all know where that leads.  Bland-sauce!