David Epstein: Hi! I’m Dave Epstein. This is Growing Wisdom. I’m doing a little bit of shopping today, getting some apples, and some syrup, and I’m going to get some cheese here. And John Lee is going to be with us. And he is going to be talking about how important it is to be buying local. And we hear a lot John, about local and organic. And I think you want to sort of set the record straight that maybe local is more important than organic, isn’t it?
John Lee: Well for us certainly, they are both very important, but local I think is more important because local is what’s going to keep farmers on the land, farmers in business. We are organic, we are not certified. We feel that the local and being known by our customers is the critical operation. We rely and I think most farmers do, increasingly rely on the good will and knowledge and customer relations to make a connection with their markets.
David Epstein: The folks are maybe watching in Nebraska or they’re maybe watching in Texas, what would you tell them to look for as they are shopping for just about anything right? Is it just producer or is it more than that?
John Lee: It is more than just producer. It is the whole range of comestible goods whether it’s your meat or your fish or your fruit. We need to support all of the local economies across the border. Local, obviously it means different things to different people, not everything is grown within five miles of where you live. Local in New England could mean a cheese from Vermont, or a cheese from New York. The connection that is important is the relationship between the producer and the consumer. You know how they are growing it and how they take care of things. And you can make a decision base on knowledge rather than base on supposition or ignorance.
David Epstein: If you go to a supermarket, would you suggest people to ask these questions so that do they go to the store manager? Where do you get that information?
John Lee: Well, one of the place that starts is with the country-of-origin labeling, so you want to buy things that are produced in the US. You want to buy things that are produce locally. But absolutely, ask the manager why they don’t carry a certain product. I mean, if you’re shopping in Maine and you go at the supermarket and you don’t see Maine potatoes on the shelf, ask the manager, “Why don’t you have Maine potatoes?”
David Epstein: What is some of the economic advantages of doing this local thing?
John Lee: Well, if you don’t support the local growers then they don’t provide jobs.
David Epstein: Well John, thank you very much. This is was really, really great.
John Lee: Thank you.
David Epstein: I hope you don’t mind if I’m going to do a little more shopping besides the couple of cheeses I got we’re going to add to it. We want you to add to your collection of videos by coming back every week to all of our tips, hints, and helps here at growingwisdom.com.
Transcription by:
Scribe4you Transcription Services