How Fresh is Fresh? (The date-stamping option)

Date-stamping may be one way out of the 'how fresh?' dilemma but this poses problems of its own. In addition to the higher cost incurred in wrapping the vegetables so they can carry a date, weight and price label, there's also the environmental factor. With concern mounting over the cost, both ecologically and economically, of wrapping (and then disposing of this wrapping), it may well be wiser to welcome a trend away from this type of labelling. However, there would be nothing ecologically harmful about enterprising supermarkets displaying point-of-sale boards above loose piles of vegetables, advising the shopper of exactly when the produce came into the store. In the absence of such public-spiritedness, however, most shoppers will simply have to go on relying on their own judgement.

Commonsense aside, the message for the consumer couldn't be clearer: If the fruit and vegetables in your local store leave a lot to be desired, the store manager is the one to tell. And if things don't improve, do what every consumer group in the country repeatedly advises - complain to the head office and/or vote with your feet. In other words, take your custom to another branch, or check up on the competition.

As regards the other examples of foodstuffs that we think of as fresh (such as milk, eggs, meat and fish), stringent government controls coupled with sophisticated distribution methods ensure quick transfer from producer to consumer. Meat, milk and fish produce is invariably shipped under refrigeration and some stores have in-store fish sections that can virtually promise a 24-hour service. Checkers stores in Johannesburg often have fish on the slab that has been landed early that same morning, then flown straight to the city, while coastal stores offer the same service but with a little less effort!

When it comes to eggs, smaller retailers may have a slight advantage over the larger chains. For example at a country Spar store, eggs come direct from the farm so they are only a day or two old at the most, but most larger urban stores are only a day or so behind on average.

Having examined the question of freshness, we should also consider the other side of the coin - the methods of preserving our foods that give us almost the same benefits as very fresh produce and often higher benefits than the not-so-fresh variety.

How Fresh is Fresh? (From farmer to family)

From farmer to family

As a general rule, most of our larger food chains either buy direct from farms and markets or use agents who buy on their behalf and distribute to their stores.

One exception to this is Woolworths, which buys nothing on the open market. All their fruit, vegetables and salads are grown for the group by selected farmers who follow specified growing programmes. The farmer delivers direct to one of two distribution centres (in the Cape and Transvaal), which operate 24 hours a day. Woolworths distributes to stores from that point and on average, produce is on the shelves the day after it is picked.

Most of it is transported in refrigerated trucks (with the exception of course of produce that must not be chilled - potatoes and bananas, for example, must not be refrigerated because they deteriorate). But all produce that requires it is refrigerated and the 'cold chain' remains unbroken from the time the produce leaves the distribution centre to the time it is unpacked onto the shelves. Produce is not treated with any synthetic preservatives after being harvested.

Another food store group moving into mass refrigeration of fresh produce is Pick 'n Pay. Their buying policy centres predominantly on the independent farmers, with 85% of produce coming direct from the farms and only 15% from the markets. It goes from either of these to a central distribution centre, then into the stores. So carrots picked this morning would be through to some stores by this afternoon, or tomorrow morning at the latest. The supermarket chain buys all its greens, carrots and so on fresh on a daily basis from the farms. In July 1990 Pick 'n Pay opened a new distribution centre in the Cape which is temperature-controlled at 12 ^°C internally. Their next step will be to refrigerate all their trucks and maintain the cold chain to stores especially vital during the long summer months.

Refrigeration may seem unnecessary if the vegetables are in fact reaching the stores so quickly - after all, a day between field and trolley doesn't sound like much. But in the summer months, average day temperatures can be between 26-28^° and in an ordinary metal- sided truck, they can soar to over 30° - which creates a distinct danger of products becoming over-ripe or wilting. This is often the reason why we see tired-looking lettuces and other produce in stores - it's apparently more a case of wilting due to excessive daytime temperatures than having sat on a supermarket shelf for days. In fact, no-one seems to deny that cold-chain transportation is essential in a country which has a summer lasting six months and where long distances have to be travelled from distribution centres to stores.

Another factor to consider is that produce is becoming significantly more expensive. The growing cost to the farmer has increased enormously in the last few years and in order to recoup those prices from the consumer, the stores have to offer good quality in return. There has been a massive expansion in the consumption of fresh produce in the last few years and it looks set to continue growing.

Some chain stores - such as Pick 'n Pay and OK Bazaars - buy both direct and through an agent while many others, notably Checkers, buy everything through a supply company which in turn buys from farms or through the markets. Produce is transported in cooler trucks to central refrigerated depots in either Cape Town, Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth, Durban or Bloemfontein and from there out to the differentstores.

But what about the smaller food stores? The giants have sophisticated infrastructures to keep their shelves filled so how does the smaller retailer compete, and how does his produce rate by comparison? Surprisingly, many small country supermarkets compare very well. In agricultural areas a lot of produce is bought straight from the farms, which means theoretically it can be picked in the morning and in the store by the afternoon. What can't be bought locally is purchased at the municipal markets, usually through an agent. (This also applies to small shopkeepers in more urban areas.) In these instances, the foodstuff is usually a day old when it gets to market, is probably held another day by the agent while transportation is arranged, and may be in the local store on the third day.

However this is the 'best possible' scenario. Where some small stores come unstuck is that they may buy through an agent who delivers, say, twice weekly. If we take as an example a small store where the agent delivers on Tuesday and Friday, when you walk into that store

on the Thursday not only are you seeing produce that has been in-store for three days but you must also allow for the preceding few days between farmer, market and shop. This goes a long way to explaining why 'country fresh' is sometimes more of an ad-man's dream than a reality!

Of course, if freshness is your top priority, the many farmstalls dotted around the country are a good option. Their seasonal produce generally comes straight from the farm, and only out-of-season fruit and vegetables are bought from markets.

In summary, it seems we can assume that the cauliflower or beans or lettuce we buy today has taken an average of 2 days to make its journey from farmer to consumer. And the prime reason for differences in freshness rests not so much with the time-lag after harvest as with what happens to the crop once it is picked. Retailers who can offer cold-chain distribution, or who are small enough to be able to coordinate fast delivery from source to shop, are the ones who appear to be coming out best.

The one over-riding factor, of course, is the seasonality of the foodstuff - if you are buying, say, apples out of season, then it's commonsense to accept that they will have been held in cold storage for a prolonged

One question that often bothers consumers is why produce appears to be much fresher in one branch of a national chain than in another and why there are instances when some of the fruit and vegetables on display look 'tired' to say the least! Theoretically there should not be any difference because all the produce comes from a centralised depot, the same standard of produce goes out to all stores and the time factor is roughly the same in each case. Occasionally, however, there is a weak link in the chain and sometimes this weak link is the individual store manager.

Most stores have an in-store produce manager who is responsible not only for the ordering of stock but also for its handling, display and presentation and for the length of time it is left on the shelves before being replaced by fresh stock.

While research suggests that the majority of stores order only what they need for each day - thus ensuring that stocks are swiftly cleared ready for replenishment by a new delivery - in some instances where the in-store manager is inexperienced (or possibly inefficient) stocks may well be less than perfect. Over-ordering could result in produce staying on the shelf until it is past its prime and any canny marketer can tell you that that even if there is fresh produce to hand, it probably won't be put up for sale until the 'old' stock has been cleared. At the same time, it's important to realise that a carrot is not ready to be discarded just because its green top is wilted.

Yet Hope Grows in Nebraska

What we did not discuss, when I met with the farmers, was the glimmer of hope offered by the Slow Food movement, known by some as the food revolution. But the Slow Food movement has taken hold in Nebraska.

When I visited Lincoln in 2004 to give a talk at the university there, I had not heard of John Ellis and his Centerville Farmers Market—a store that he opened with other local farmers. It is stocked almost entirely with food that represents fifty farmers from within fifty miles of Lincoln. It was a brand-new, revolutionary idea when he first sold his farm and equipment to start it up. I read about John Ellis in Brian Halweil's Eat Here. The venture epitomizes the resilience of the human spirit—in this case linked to the resilience of nature.

John started his store even though he was well aware that there was a Wal-Mart Supercenter on the other side of town, with twenty-eight aisles of food. He believed that customers would buy from the Centerville Farmers Market because they wanted locally grown food. And in the Wal- Mart he knew that almost all the food had traveled thousands of miles to get there. Even a lettuce farmer just outside Lincoln must, if he wants to sell to Wal-Mart, send his produce 225 miles to North Platte to be inspected (each lettuce must comply with strict regulations concerning quality control and appearance). After which it is sent 225 miles back to be sold in the store in Lincoln.

In North Platte, the regional distribution center for Wal- Mart comprises a series of sprawling, hangar-sized warehouses containing the giant freezers, ripening rooms, and packing stations for all the "fresh" food—vegetables, fruit,meat, milk, and so on—that will be sold in the giant supermarkets throughout the whole of the American Great Plains region. How can John Ellis hope to compete? Only by helping to raise the awareness of the ordinary people, the consumers. And he, and others like him, are working hard to do just that. At the back of his store is a "commercial kitchen" where farmers can mingle with shoppers, where chefs demonstrate how to create mouthwatering dishes from the local produce. The walls of the store are devoted to paintings and drawings from local schools creating an art gallery where children can learn about food.

John Ellis is not the only one. Many other such stores are springing up. And more and more farmers markets are appearing in Lincoln and surrounding areas. Farmers are banding together, so that more people can be supplied with a greater variety of produce. There is growing support among politicians and voters for measures such as conservation easements and tax credits that will protect the farmers and their land—measures that also help to preserve the beauty and biodiversity of the countryside. Many farmers markets have become venues for social gatherings, music, and exchange of news, adding to their popularity. People get to know the farmers who grow their food, and sense that these farmers will be more responsible in their production methods.

Within the city limits of Lincoln is Shadowbrook, a thirty-six-hectare certified organic farm that serves seventy families. Community gardens are springing up, here as in so many places around the world, where city people can find the inner peace that comes from working with the soil, marveling at the growth of life that they have planted, hearing the song of birds and the humming of the honeybees. The harvests from these community gardens, and those of the farmers growing for their local communities, are truly liar- vests for hope. And the more people who support these efforts, who use their hard-earned dollars to buy produce from farmers markets, and their political power to vote for measures to protect the source of this produce, the more crop diversity will return to the despoiled land. Nebraska is even growing grapes and making its own wine today.

On the last evening of my stay there was one of the most amazing sunsets I have ever seen. Palest shell pink turning an unreal crimson, then purple, then fiery red. Tom, my sister, and I sat on a rise overlooking the river and watched and listened as the cranes came in, skein after skein. Their wild voices filled the air, a great volume of sound drowning out the trucks on the interstate. There was still enough food, still enough water, to sustain this ancient migration. Somehow, together, we must ensure that our grandchildren are not denied the opportunity to marvel, in their turn, at one of nature's most spectacular scenes. The last glow of the sunset was still smoldering against the almost dark sky as we walked back to the cabin, silent with the magic of the evening. The pale stubble of the corn harvest stretched away from the river into the distance; the dark shape of a center pivot loomed against the sky; a truck thundered along the highway. And the cranes were still calling.

Shopping for Unsuspected Grocery Part 1

Obviously unless or until we see dramatic changes in our farming and grocery infrastructure, it will be hard for many, if not most, of us to get all our food from local sources. Especially if we live in one of the so-called food deserts. But each of us, as individuals, can play a part in bringing about these changes, doing our best to get as much food as possible from local markets rather than distant producers. Ultimately, what we are looking toward is supporting and building more sources of regional foods, while only eating foods from distant places to supplement local staples. Countries in the Northern Hemisphere, for example, cannot grow items such as coffee, tea, cocoa for chocolate, numerous spices, and so on. When we buy these imported products, we should choose those that are grown ethically and sustainably—fair-trade (meaning fair wages for foreign growers) and organic—so that our purchases are not contributing to the exploitation of another country's workers or natural resources.

Talk with Your Local Restaurateur and Grocer

If your favorite restaurant does not provide any local, sustainable options, or only a few, tell them you would like to see more. Chefs and owners usually appreciate customer feedback. Even fast food restaurants have been known tochange their menu based on customer pressure—for n- stance, imagine the mountains that consumer pressure had to move to persuade McDonald's to offer a greater variety of salads and low-calorie options. Fortunately,more and more grocery stores are starting to recognize that "locally grown" is the new label with appeal. Some grocerystore chains, such as Whole Foods Market, are making a concerted effort to sell the coveted local foods. Many even fea ture pictures and write-ups about local farmers beside the produce they supply.

One big New York grocer, Long Island's King Kullen, committed to buying Long Island's seasonal fruits and vegetables for its fifty stores. In 1999, it spent $100,000 on produce from Long Island farmers. In 2004, it spent $4 million. New Seasons Market, a grocery chain of six stores in Portland, Oregon, has a looser definition of local, using a "Pacific Village" label to denote foods from Northern California, Oregon, Washington, or British Columbia. Even in the wintertime, about half of its produce is from that regional "village."

If you have a store nearby that does sell local, sustainable foods, be sure to thank the store manager for carrying foods you can support. And if you'd like your local grocer to carry more local foods, be sure to ask the manager to sell locally raised meat and vegetables from independent family farmers, and request that the food be clearly labeled. For anyone who might be uncomfortable approaching a store manager, the Sustainable Table Web site (visit www.sustainabletable.org) offers a printable version of an "I Care" card, which lists the reasons stores should supply more local foods. All you have to do is sign the card and leave it with the manager. Because profit margins are so small, grocery stores will listen even if just a handful of customers ask for a certain product. But, as I said, if you convince the store manager to start selling a certain item, make sure you purchase the product.