What does this mean for the term and understanding of ‘local’? As more and more companies such as Wal-Mart and now McDonald’s jump onto the ‘local’ food wave by claiming to source local, does this detract or strengthen consumers understanding of what is local. Rebecca Cullers’ article raises some interesting points such as the potential economic boone to an area of such as Seattle if 20% of the food sales went to local spending. However the question of distance with respect to local always comes into play. For those who are trying to understand where their food comes from it always comes down to asking about the sources of the food. Who are the farmers? Where are they located? Can you visit their farm?
As a consumer, you have more power than you think. How and where you spend your food dollars has an impact. In my opinion the fact that companies such as McDonald’s are looking at, at taking the initiative to source “up to 95%” of some their menu items from a designated area is an indicator that they are listening to what consumers are asking for–more locally sourced food. Finally, if moves like this by larger companies helps to strengthen the agricultural landscape in rural communities, how can one argue this is a bad thing?
To read the full article on McDonald’s click the link below.
McDonald’s Goes Local.
