I currently live in the West of Ireland. The town in which we live professes to be an excellent one for foodies. This is true to a certain extent. However, its two natural foods stores, are currently sourcing at least two of their beans--cannellini and black beans--from CHINA. To say this is appalling is an understatement. I have had to resort to buying these two beans directly from Italy myself, thus incurring huge shipping fees. I cannot understand how anyone thinks it is okay to get these beans from China. The shops claim that their distributors are who orders from China. This is unacceptable. I have to say that, having moved from the U.S., my husband and I are super frustrated that we actually had far better access to truly LOCALLY grown organic foods than we do here in Ireland! I am spending so much time and money to avoid these supposedly "organic" beans from China. I continue to be shocked that our access to truly organic food NOT from China has become a time-consuming process for us. And just to let you know, we are very much Gen-Xers as we are both aged 57 so it is not only youngsters who care and who are sacrificing financially to buy from small producers.
Here in Turkey we have access to great weekly markets filled with local produce. In fact, the chain stores of SOK and BIM hardly carry much produce at all because at least in our neighborhoods the local weekly markets are so much better.
This post hits home with me...living on an island 2500 miles from the mainland. 85-90% of the food available here comes from other places and so prices are absolutely jaw-dropping...conventional store brand/"Brand X" here costs as much or more than organic on the mainland.
There simply isn't enough land available here to grow enough food for everyone, and it is not economically feasible to be a farmer, realistically. We are doing what we can to try and grow at least a bit of our own, and do buy local when possible.
I currently live in the West of Ireland. The town in which we live professes to be an excellent one for foodies. This is true to a certain extent. However, its two natural foods stores, are currently sourcing at least two of their beans--cannellini and black beans--from CHINA. To say this is appalling is an understatement. I have had to resort to buying these two beans directly from Italy myself, thus incurring huge shipping fees. I cannot understand how anyone thinks it is okay to get these beans from China. The shops claim that their distributors are who orders from China. This is unacceptable. I have to say that, having moved from the U.S., my husband and I are super frustrated that we actually had far better access to truly LOCALLY grown organic foods than we do here in Ireland! I am spending so much time and money to avoid these supposedly "organic" beans from China. I continue to be shocked that our access to truly organic food NOT from China has become a time-consuming process for us. And just to let you know, we are very much Gen-Xers as we are both aged 57 so it is not only youngsters who care and who are sacrificing financially to buy from small producers.
It's crazy!
Coming from the US, I find it much easier to identify local products and produce in Portugal. But the multi-nationals are definitely encroaching.
They are indeed. But the local stuff still stands strong (most of the time!) which is a blessing
Here in Turkey we have access to great weekly markets filled with local produce. In fact, the chain stores of SOK and BIM hardly carry much produce at all because at least in our neighborhoods the local weekly markets are so much better.
I remember that when we stayed in Istanbul for a couple of weeks. Great access to great food in the markets but the supermarkets were rubbish
This post hits home with me...living on an island 2500 miles from the mainland. 85-90% of the food available here comes from other places and so prices are absolutely jaw-dropping...conventional store brand/"Brand X" here costs as much or more than organic on the mainland.
There simply isn't enough land available here to grow enough food for everyone, and it is not economically feasible to be a farmer, realistically. We are doing what we can to try and grow at least a bit of our own, and do buy local when possible.
This is the tough thing, there are no easy answers and so much of it depends on where you live