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JoeSpareBedroom

<Alan > wrote in message
...
> On Sat, 03 Mar 2007 20:09:05 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
> > wrote:
>
>>"Emma Thackery" > wrote in message
...
>>> 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.
>>
>>Since the store buys the stuff, an actual human being knows where it came
>>from, so accept no bullshit from them if they claim "it's too hard figure
>>out". :-)
>>
>>
>>
>>>> "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.
>>
>>Where it's grown has pretty much no connection to how much or little it's
>>been poisoned. All the other factors are true, though. And, it takes less
>>petroleum to get them to you.
>>
> I'm not so sure about that.
>
> Most stores get their produce from a wholesaler, and the
> wholesaler can tell the store anything they feel like about
> the products.
>
> I doubt the store really knows. . .
>
> Alan Moorman
>

Actually, most stores in the U.S. do NOT get the bulk of their products from
wholesalers, aside from health & beauty care items, locally baked bread, and
greeting cards. And, no matter what the wholesalers say, it's not related in
any way to what Emma said, which was that if the produce is locally grown,
it's less likely to be hosed with nasty chemicals.