A couple of things here. First, I don't think that bankruptcies in the grocery trade have anything to do with food shortages. No doubt food shortages are in our future, but that's not happening here yet. I suspect rather that P&C has simply fallen a victim to the notoriously thin margins in the retail food business. When food prices start to go up, the stores may actually do better financially.
Which isn't to say that it's a bad idea to start growing some of your own food; quite the contrary. It would be great to see a return of the local seed distribution system we had going in Ithaca a few years ago. Second, I am (very reluctantly) coming to the conclusion that a return to local markets is off the table for most people in the county. I can see a few returning to certain neighborhoods in the city of Ithaca itself, but the energy already invested in the big box stores and the increasing cost of energy that would be required to replace them with something else means that we're probably stuck with them. My guess is that the rising cost of fuel won't recreate local stores (except as indicated before in a few places in town) but will rather recreate a 19th century shopping model where people visit the shopping centers once every week (or every two weeks, or every month) to stock up on supplies and otherwise stay close to home. In other words, I suspect that the path of least energy investment going forward is the elimination of single-occupancy daily shopping trips rather than the construction of new stores within walking distance of most people. I think that the helpful way to plan for this is to design the public transit system to make this traditional shopping pattern as easy as possible for people living outside the city. There's nothing inherently bad about going to the central market once every week or two to do one's shopping; the sad part is that the central market has to be something like Wal-Mart. Anyone who's visited cities in Latin America or some places in Europe knows that central markets can be vibrant, socially enriching places. If the people planning the reorganization of the Ithaca Commons understood what was in store for us, they'd be planning to put something like a Latin American central market there rather than trying to cater to the tourists who will be coming through here in decreasing numbers as fuel prices rise. Jon Patricia Haines wrote:
I heard yesterday about Top's market being in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings for the past two years - and that the P&C markets are facing the same thing and may be closed by February '10. Went to sleep last night fretting that I don't know how to harvest seeds to the following year's planting; can foods; even plan a garden so that we can feed the Level Green household through the winter. AND feeling very blessed, as I finally drifted off, to live in a community where these skills are generously shared with all willing to take the time to learn. Which I haven't been so far - but am now! What happens if Tops & P&C close - to all the low-income folks who count on being able to walk to get food ? would locally-owned, smaller groceries distributed throughout the area be fiscally viable? can we think about CSGs - community-supported-grocery-stores? The Danby and Varna markets couldn't make it. Seneca FAlls has a locally-owned food store but it's struggling. It seems that localization has caught up with us, much sooner than I, or any but the most prescient of us, expected. When I used to hear 'food insecurity' I thought of the
Sudan. Now I think about the senior housing at East Hill. Very sobering. _______________________________________________ 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 Questions about the list? ask [email protected] free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
