Picture: Mashed potatoes from last year's potato harvest featuring the natural colors of the potato flesh.
Northwest Food News has a great report on how local food advocates and the Idaho Potato Commission recently butted heads in the Idaho legislature.
A resolution was brought before the ag committee simply proposing that the Idaho legislature endorse local food. In response to this rather tame, teethless proposal Frank Muir, the CEO of the Idaho Potato Commission stood up as the lone opponent;
Well Mr. Chairman, Representatives it will probably come as somewhat of a surprise that the Idaho Potato Commission is here to testify in opposition to HCR-56 and on the surface I would be shocked too because it sounds positive, in support of the grower, in support of eating locally and the problem that we have with this is that Idaho Potatoes is not local. Idaho Potatoes is a global brand.
He went on to explain that the growing emphasis on locally grown food led Walmart to shift gears;
The largest retailer in the country discontinued Idaho potatoes in 5 distribution centers – not 5 stores – 5 distribution centers. Not because Idaho potatoes wasn’t selling; it was because they were now focusing on buying from the local farmers.
There are several fascinating aspects to this development. For one, stores as big as Walmart are shifting gears in the way they distribute food. I've always said that any substantial shift toward local food would take change at the large retailers and it looks like that is actually happening.
The other interesting aspect is that this shift creates dilemmas for places like Idaho that have low populations and high production of food. A big portion of the Idaho economy is built on exporting milk, potatoes and other agricultural products. When McDonald's in Seattle starts bragging about using Washington grown potatoes that's a problem for Idaho potatoes. They can't compete with that. People that have gone to great lengths to nurture "global brands" are coming to grips with a new marketplace that values local brands.
The whole story is worth a read or listen. If you're interested in local food in the Northwest, Northwest Food News is a must follow on Facebook or Twitter.
After reading Michael Pollan's "Botany of Desire" I vowed to never buy another inorganic potato again, a resolve I've stuck to, although I still eat potatoes from wherever in a restaurant. In the San Luis Valley in Colorado (known for potatoes as well) when a center pivot irrigation system breaks during certain parts of the growing season, the farmer will actually let the entire field wither and die rather than go out and fix the pivot. Why? Because the field is so toxic with pesticides that it is not worth exposing a human to the toxin. Better to lose the field (and probably file a crop insurance claim). Local is always better, but it’s important to make a commitment to organic on this one, no matter the origin.
Hopefully, this will encourage Idaho farmers to diversify their crops rather than putting all of their potatoes in one basket, so to speak.
Posted by: Jennifer Kleffner | September 15, 2010 at 09:59 AM
Jennifer,
Thanks for your input. You're off to a great start with the blog. I'll add you to my blogroll.
Posted by: craig | September 15, 2010 at 05:50 PM
Our first potatoes will be harvested this year...it is a journey at a household level. I think that is the key: learning to do it for ourselves and becoming "again" educated consumers. This 'global food machine' only works because we don't know anything about food.
Posted by: Erin | September 15, 2010 at 09:10 PM
I never by regular (non-organic) potatoes, and I don't eat them in a restaurant, either. Shame on potato growers for poisoning children--The real terrorists are food growers who see profit over health and safety. Don't they think that they will have to face their sins someday--If not in this life, then in the next?
Posted by: Windy Daley | May 27, 2011 at 02:31 PM