Where we buy out food determines what we buy. In other words, I will not find a Purity Farm apple in a supermarket; or an apple from a big-box food supplier at a Farmers Market. Each apple inhabits a totally different world. There are no crossovers.
For me, the biggest contrast in food-purchase environments is between a Farmers Market and a Wal-Mart Supercenter. Wal-Mart began selling food in l988. Within twenty years , it became the largest grocer in the United States. There are 5,000 Wal-Mart outlets and 3,400 are “Supercenters;” that is, stores that combine the sale of furniture, clothing, and garden supplies with food products. Each of these stores is the size of four football fields, or four acres under roof.
Did you know that Wal-Mart’s annual revenue is two percent of the United States gross national product? Wal-Mart, if ranked by revenue, is the world’s largest corporation. In terms of revenue from all products, Wal-Mart is four times larger than the next largest company. Its revenue is eight times the size of Microsoft.
When I enter my local Wal-Mart Supercenter with its 38 aisles of food, I enter a world where I may buy more food for less money, but I also leave behind my local food supply. Small local farmers do not participate in Wal-Mart’s food empire. Small farms are not designed to see to such a giant. For one thing, small farmers cannot provide the uniformity or the predictability Wal-Mart wants -- let alone the quantity. Consider the specs for a No. 1 Bartlett pear described by the California Fruit industry: “2 1/4 inches round after the crown and before the base, showing no flaws, and displaying an even yellowish color.”
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