Lexington, KY - As the "buy local" theme seems to be gaining momentum, locally grown foods seem to be popping up everywhere.
But that is no coincidence in this state with one of the largest ag-marketing initiatives in the country present to help guide those products from the field to the shelf.
Still it doesn't hurt at all when the nation's largest retailer pitches in to help neighboring farmers earn a buck - and customers save one as well.
That is what Walmart has done by expanding its partnership with local producers, one that goes back to the days of company founder Sam Walton.
The Richmond store is the most recent site to increase its intake of home-grown commodities and did so with a celebration of sorts that included free samples.
Jason Wetzel, Walmart senior public affairs manager, said the company has done this for years and has a network in place to make it happen.
"Buying from local growers has been a priority for Walmart for many years. We have several food distribution centers throughout the U.S., and that has helped us grow our local purchases over the years," he said. "From 2006 to 2008, Walmart's partnerships with local farmers grew by 50 percent, and we are committed to expanding this even further."
Wetzel added that during the summer months, locally produced fruits and vegetables available for purchase at Walmart stores in the same state where they were grown make up a fifth of Walmart's produce. He also said the retailer purchases more than 70 percent of its produce from suppliers based in the United States, making the company the biggest customer of American agriculture.
Billy Gatton Jones of Lexington knows how valuable a relationship with a company like Walmart can be to a farming operation.
Jones is the owner of WindStone Farms, LLC, which has had a presence in local stores for years selling the company's popular jams.
"We've been doing business with Walmart for about eight years, and we started with them in our fresh blackberry operation. They have been very good to work with," he said. "We literally take them all we can get our hands on. Of course, we have to use some of our blackberries for our jam operation."
The company has sold their jams in Walmarts for about the last six years and is set to expand that relationship.
"We currently are in about 30 Walmart Super Centers, and we hear that we are going to about 65 by the first of October, so it will be a dramatic change for our company," said Jones.
He added that Walmart has never asked him to do anything a "little company" can't do. "They just have asked us to be competitive and to bring them a product that is superior. Walmart has really let us grow as they have grown. They support Kentucky agriculture, and they certainly have supported our farm."
That's a big deal in a state where tobacco was once king of the agricultural economy. But with a shrinking market and mounting governmental control, farmers are turning more and more to alternative crops such as fruits and vegetables to keep the family farm in business.
Joel Wilson is the owner of Wilson's Cedar Point Farm, a family-owned farm located in Pulaski County. He has experienced firsthand the need to make the switch and has done so by way of raising a diverse choice of vegetables, including tomatoes, beans, hot and sweet peppers, sweet corn, fresh garlic, squash, eggplant, onions and okra. The farm also partners with the University of Kentucky and seed companies to conduct agricultural research, particularly with peppers.
"I actually started growing vegetables in 2000 with bell peppers for a co-op. I had been raising tobacco, but I wanted to stay on the farm," he said. "Tobacco is not what it was 10 or 15 years ago. The tobacco industry is just suffocating and there are not going to be many tobacco farmers left. Now, an acre of vegetables is a little more profitable than an acre of tobacco."
Wilson's products are among the many being sold at the Richmond Walmart, and he was on hand for the recent announcement.
"I am glad (Walmart) is trying to buy locally. It's been beneficial and I've got something I can rely on there. I appreciate them working with us. I call them the rock of the foundation," he said.
However, Wilson added that they're not the whole foundation. As he has diversified his farm, he has a diverse network in which to sell his products. He sells to buyers throughout the region and is a regular at the Lexington Farmers' Market's Southland location. Wilson also is a member and president of the Somerset Farmers' Market.
"I used to ship all the way to Florida, but it's just too expensive. I don't want to get a trucking company. I'm a farmer, not a trucker," he said. "It only makes sense to consumers that the closer (their produce) is, the better it is."
Whether increased transportation costs, a desire to find a safer food supply, or just the need to get back to basics due to the economy have contributed to the "local movement," Kentucky has many necessary ingredients already in place to help consumers find their local foods.
Along with the contribution Walmart is making to the local food economy, there are certainly other venues producers are affiliated with, including 124 farmers' markets across the state. Approximately 2,000 market vendors sold an estimated $8 million worth of goods in 2007, up from $5.4 million in 2003, according to the Kentucky Department of Agriculture.
And that ain't small potatoes. With 83,000 farms dotting the landscape, Kentucky ranks fourth in the nation in that category, and for the last two years, farm gate receipts have topped the $4 billion mark. That arguably makes agriculture one of the leading industries in the state and lends itself to other markets as farms depend on a variety of goods and services to stay in operation.
Aside from sustainability for the farms, one of the big advantages of buying local goods is the quality factor for customers. But convincing them to buy locally has been a matter of educating them.
Jones said that in most cases their blackberries are on the store shelves within 36 hours of picking, adding that there is a significant difference in blackberries that come from his company as opposed to those from other countries.
"Here's the thing one has to remember: There is no way a farm like ours can compete with a 1,000-acre, blackberry-strawberry-blueberry farm in Mexico. The playing field is just not level," he said. "What we can do is give a superior, fresher product. Does that cost the consumer more? Yes, it does. But I've said there will always be a healthy market for the best of anything, and that's how we sell it."