I’ve been keeping an eye on my local Whole Foods in Austin. Not so much the behemoth downtown — I’ve mostly been stopping by the li’l one up north, closer to my neighborhood and with much more elbow room. Yesterday when I stopped by to get a cake for a dinner party, I noticed that there were flyers in the produce section that were not there last week. In newsletter style, the letterhead says, “Texas: Buy Local.” Appealing to that ubiquitous Lone Star State pride, the prettily-colored flyer invites Texans to celebrate their state by buying wines, produce, and other products by looking out for a logo of (what else?) the admittedly pleasing shape of the state of Texas, with the message “Go Texan” underneath it. Covering an area of nearly 270,000 square miles, some Go Texan products may be a far cry from the kind of local fare some ethicureans are looking for. Susan Combs, Texas Agriculture Commissioner, launched the Go Texan initiative in 1999 as a way to encourage consumers to invest in the Texas economy. I did see some of the stickers on watermelons, but not on the local herbs. I’m not really sure why that is. There is a $25 annual membership fee which includes use of the logo as well as inclusion in the directory on the Go Texan website, searchable by product. The fee doesn’t seem that steep, but then, this is the very first time I’ve seen the logo and it’s been around for seven years. Perhaps we’ll be seeing more of the logo as the popularity of eating local increases.
Another move that would appear to nudge the consumer toward purchasing local food is the appearance of “Our Favorite Local Products,” a blue ribbon sign that honors employee picks. Additionally, there is a list of local honeys (which doesn’t include Round Rock Honey, where I get my honey), local seafood (mostly farm-raised), and local cheese, which includes the goat cheese I picked up at Boggy Creek Farm from Pure Luck Farms in Dripping Springs.
On the back of the newsletter are the very persuasive reasons to buy local. Among the reasons listed are freshness, better taste and variety, supporting local jobs and communities, and supporting responsible land development. Seriously, the colors on this newsletter are beautiful — and it’s printed on 100% post-consumer waste paper using vegetable inks. It’s a chartreuse and baby blue combination with maroon lettering. I want to paint my bathroom those colors.
Food, Farming, & Food Politics events calendar
Humor:
July 6th, 2006 at 3:23 pm
I visited my father and mother-in-law last October when I was north of Dallas, and they surprised me not by taking me to a newly opened market but by announcing, “It’s all local!” I was amazed by the array of products and the claim that they all were local. I don’t recall the name of the place, but it might have been Central Market.
July 12th, 2006 at 4:30 pm
Tx Monthly has an article about farmer’s markets and local food this month. Short print article, and then more online. Probably nothing interesting to you devoted Pollanites, as he hasn’t approved it, but it might be interesting.