Buying local is a major new marketing campaign for Grocers

“Local” is the big word in produce today, with many grocers such as Cincinnati-based Kroger highlighting the (relatively) short distances its products travel from farm to point of sale.

Bypassing the long-shipment food distribution networks -- with apples grown in Chile, strawberries from Mexico, etc. -- and buying food that has traveled less, been stored less (ideally) has become a mainstream value for consumers and the stores and restaurants that serve them.

Former U.S. Department of Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan, who created the USDA's "Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food" program to encourage the consumption of locally grown produce, wrote in 2013: “Gone are the days where ‘buying local’ meant only fancy vegetables in America's big cities.”

In Cincinnati, there are a growing number of farmers’ markets on one end of the “local” spectrum; on the other, you have Walmart, which now estimates about 10 percent of its produce is grown within a few hours of the store where it is sold (which does not, however, mean that the food is organic or grown on a small farm).

For complete article on WCPO.com, please click here.