"Walmart could add stability to the market by adding some coordination to production, so I don't see their involvement as being necessarily bad."
Possibly, but when Farm A increases their production to meet Walmarts needs to a point where without this huge buyer they collapse, and then Farm B tells Walmart they can sell the same item for 3 cents cheaper, do we trust Walmart to keep buying from Farm A or just ditch them for the cheaper Farm B? I wouldn't trust Walmart to help stability... -Andy Joel and Sarah Gagnon wrote: > Interesting questions. > > Wegman's found that in order to source locally-produced produce, they had > to abandon their centralized purchasing model and let each store develop > relationships with farmers in their immediate area. If Walmart wants to do > local, they will confront the same need. One of the things that drove local > farmers out of production in the first place was the centralized buying of > the supermarkets as they came to dominate the food scene. Any move toward > relocalization is likely to expand opportunities for local producers. > Walmart could add stability to the market by adding some coordination to > production, so I don't see their involvement as being necessarily bad. > Their lowest possible cost model, though, will no doubt create downward > pressure on prices, which is not a good thing for local producers. The only > way to get prices down is by scaling up production and substituting > machinery for hand labor (or using cheap imported labor). > > It will be quite some time (if ever) before human labor can compete with > machines. The impediment to using more machines is the capital cost, which > do not make sense for small producers. They would make sense of purchased > and used cooperatively, though, so this too is an area where collaboration > would be sensible. It might even be essential to maintain viability if > competition intensifies, as some of you appear to believe will be the case > and we transition to higher energy costs. > > At some point, energy costs will be high enough that labor will compete > more effectively with machines. As that happens, production costs will > increase, even with markedly lower average wages in the face of declining > jobs in other sectors. Food costs will rise, in line with the > labor-intensive "boutique" production of today. That will put the squeeze > on many lower income people to feed themselves and their families. The way > to reduce costs for them will be the traditional one of substituting their > labor for money by growing food themselves or bartering their labor for food. > > We may see a temporary reversal of the trend toward increasing energy > prices as the world slips into a protracted recession, reducing energy > demand. I expect a resumption of the upward march of prices with in a few > years, though, and I hope we can take this respite and use it to position > ourselves for the future. Investments in collaboration to lower costs in > the short run will pay dividends in the long run as well. > > Joel > > At 10:33 PM 10/8/08 -0400, you wrote: >> At 03:43 PM 10/8/2008 -0400, you wrote: >>> [Karl North:] >>> >>> | These initiatives are all good food for thought, but we need to >>> | bear in mind that Vermont is a special case. >>> >>> Yes, but so is Tompkins County. >> Jon--I agree with your suggestion that we are positioned to be successful >> with the "Vermont model". >> >> ...part deleted... >> >>> So the question is whether a local farm cooperative of the kind described >>> in the article can hang on until the cost of fuel finally levels >>> the playing field by making Wal-Mart food more expensive than >>> locally produced food. >> And I wonder what this time framework will be? The problem is that >> Wal-Mart has an economy of scale not seen locally. However, things are >> going to change with the local Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart wants to expand by >> 40,000 sq. ft. to become a Super Store, meaning that they would add a >> Wegmans-scale supermarket to the existing >> Everyhing-You-Could-Ever-Want-That-Is-Made-In-China store. (I know this as >> I am on the City of Ithaca Conservation Advisory Council and we are >> currently reviewing the environmental impacts of such an >> expansion.) Would they get on the local and organic band wagon? And if >> they did, how would this affect the truck farm industry in the Central >> Finger Lakes? GreenStar, Wegmans, Tops, Ludgate's and a host of other >> outlets are already involved in promoting local and organic or at least >> "natural" foods, so perhaps the expanded Wal-Mart would give a boost to the >> local food economy... assuming that anyone would want to sell to >> Wal-Mart? Lots of stuff going on. Tom >> >> ****************************************** >> Tom Shelley >> 118 E. Court St. >> Ithaca, NY 14850 >> 607 342-0864 >> [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> >> Compost Educator and Sustainability Scion* >> >> What Does Zero Waste Mean? >> "If it cant be reduced, reused, repaired, rebuilt, refurbished, refinished, >> resold, recycled, or composted, then it should be restricted, redesigned, >> or removed from production." >> Berkeley Zero Waste Resolution >> See http://www.cityofberkeley.info/council8/newsletter.pdf >> >> *noun: a shoot or bud of a plant, esp. one for planting or grafting >> _______________________________________________ >> For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, >> please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ >> >> RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: >> [email protected] >> http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins >> free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org > _______________________________________________ > For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please > visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ > > RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: > [email protected] > http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins > free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org > > > -- Andy Goodell Assistant Director www.IthacaCarshare.org 607.277.3210 _______________________________________________ For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
