In article >,
"JoeSpareBedroom" > wrote:

> "Emma Thackery" > wrote in message
> ...
> >
> > I was listening to a podcast of one of Lynne Rosetto Kasper's broadcasts
> > from Italy. She mentioned that in Italy, all the food must be labeled
> > with the location where the food was raised or caught and also the
> > grade....
>
> Wegman's (my local chain) labels lots of stuff, especially fruits & berries
> from South America, since many people (like me) know that other countries
> may use some strange pesticides that are not used here. By "labels", I mean
> that on the big price sign next to the plums, they hand write "From Chile",
> or whatever. It's consistent from store to store. I suspect this began
> because customers wanted it, although Wegman's is unusual and might've
> dreamt it up because they're big on full disclosure.

> I think you'd be better off getting your stores to provide the information,
> especially since it involves virtually NO extra effort. They know where the
> stuff comes from.

Good idea. Here, produce is rarely marked for location at the regular
groceries--- meat & fish, never except farm-raised or wild-caught. In
the summer, local produce sometimes has a sign that says it is locally
grown. Whole Foods (quite far for me) often gives the location but not
always. I'm going to ask our grocery if they will but I'd be very
surprised if they did.

> "Raised or caught" - now we're talking about meat & fish, right? With fish,
> it doesn't matter much. There aren't many places in the ocean where the
> water's pristine any more. If you saw "Caught in the Long Island Sound",
> would you know what pollutants were in the fish? How about "Bay of Fundy"?
> "Indian Ocean"?

Vegetables and fruits are "raised" too btw. The more local a food
is, the more likely it is to be fresher and the less likely it's been
over-handled, bruised, repeatedly sprayed, etc. And there are other
environmental advantages if one is concerned about that sort of thing.