Local Dirt on National Public Radio

Local Dirt was featured on NPR this morning — the story talked about the difficulties of sourcing local products on a large scale basis; if you missed the story here is a link to it. The idea that local needs to be price competitive is true, but it isn’t just on a cost basis also — it is on a consumer basis. We need to value quality over quantity — obesity is a major challenge in our society, and it isn’t because people are lacking calories. Locally sourced, minimally processed, and healthy are concepts that once ingrained in our eating habits will help people value local more. It is true that the price has to be lowered, availability increased, but people need to understand that the inputs a.k.a. food need to be healthier. I think people are getting that, and that is why local is so popular — to make it part of our lifestyle and easier is a challenge.

Whole Foods, Local Dirt, Dane County, Marin Organics, your local farmers market, etc. are all trying hard to improve the supply. The middleware piece between the producer and the consumer is the challenge. We’ll continue to work on helping producers get their products to market.