Saturday, July 3, 2010

This little piggie went to market

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One of the first "BUTS" that comes up in conversations about local/regional/organic food is that it is too expensive for average people (and students!). So I decided to test this assumption by comparing our weekly market shopping with two supermarkets in Stellenbosch. One supermarket is known for its very affordable prices and the fact that you can pick your own produce, the other for its unfailing quality and organic range. For the purpose of this exercise, let us call the former F&V and the latter WW.







Organic Market
(all organic)
F&V
WW
(organic = o)
Product
Quantity



Yogurt (full cream)
1 L
R45
R19.99
R25.95
Yogurt (low fat)
1 L
R25
R19.99
R25.95
Milk
1 L
R12
R9.99
R11.95 (o)
Whole Chicken
1 kg
R35
R23
R35.95 (o)
Eggs
6
R12
-
R7.45
Hummus
120 ml
R25
-
R11.95
Butternuts
1 kg
R30
R4.99
R6.99
Sweet Potato
1 kg
R10
R4.99
R10
Potato
1 kg
R10
R6.99
R11.50 (o)
Beetroot
A bunch
R7
R5
R13 (baby)
Broccoli
1 kg
R30
R25
R26.99
Carrots
1 kg
R10
R4
R14
Spinach
1 kg
R24
R15
R64.95
Tomatoes
1 kg
R10
R12.99
R13.99
Lettuce
A head
R5
R5.50
R7.89
Bananas
1 kg
R17
R10
R13.99
Pineapples
1
R12
R5
R5.95
Oranges
1 kg
R10
R4.99
R6.95
Gooseberries
1 kg
R50
R113
R84.95
Naartjies
1 kg
R10
R12.99
R14.95
Guavas
1 kg
R20
R7.99
R20


I was unable to find the market's variety of organic produce in the two local supermarkets and therefore had to compare some of the organic market prices to the cost of conventionally-grown produce in supermarkets. WW had some organic produce, indicated by an ‘o’.

In the case of spinach and gooseberries, WW only had smaller quantities available. I used the price for 200g spinach (R12.99) to calculate the price for 1 kg of spinach (R64.95), and R16.99 for 200g of gooseberries to calculate the price of R84.95 for 1kg. F&V also only had smaller quantities of gooseberries and the 1kg price was calculated the same as WW’s.

Nevertheless, this table clearly indicates that the organic market’s prices are not necessarily higher. The market has the highest price for only 28.6 percent or 6/21 of the produce, mostly in comparison to conventional prices. Compared to the three organic vegetables I could find in supermarkets, the market had a higher price of 5c for only one product.

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It is important to remember that the prices paid for non-organic foods don’t include the costs of environmental degradation like (water and air) pollution and soil deterioration, which are common effects of chemical farming. This is because we don’t pay the environment for its resources (e.g. soil) or services (e.g. pollination or water purification in the water cycle). I’d much rather pay an extra 5c for organic produce, because I know that not only is the farmer getting a fair price for her produce and can continue farming, but I’m also helping her to look after the parts of the environment necessary to grow MY food. If I don’t pay that 5c now, my great grandchildren might have to pay it (with interest) in other ways in the future.

So buy organic, but also buy from the farmer if you can. If more of the money you spend on food ends up in the farmer’s pocket (as opposed to the middleman’s), she has more money to invest in the conservation of environment that we depend on.

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1 Comment:

gec said...

Hmmm... interesting. According to my calculations, if I exclude the products that aren't available at the cheap supermarket, the total for the organic market shopping list is R372 and for the cheap supermarket list it's R311.40.

While the "organic for the future" argument seems good on the face of it, I can think of plenty of people who would wince at the thought of their grocery bill being R60 more just so they can feel green. Some people don't have that at their disposal at all, so no amount of rationalisation will make them change where they shop.

With the local markets and stores around here it seems the focus is more on local, and not so much on organic. What I have to say for shopping there, is that I'm always surprised how much I can get for almost no money at all. It's meat and luxuries that load your bill, not actual produce. (Whereas at the supermarket even buying just produce can load things in Japan.)

The idea with the local markets here is that they can be cheaper than the supermarket, because farmers cut out the middleman--as you also mentioned. So they are encouraged to price their products somewhere between what they would've got if they were selling through another party, and what it costs in the supermarket. This isn't always the case, but I can say that where products are more expensive it's generally because they are better quality than the equivalent supermarket product.

My question with regards to this price analysis is: if these farmers are already cutting out the middleman, organic or not, shouldn't their produce be a bit more competitively priced, even when compared to the lower-end store? Also, wouldn't price be the only factor in changing many people's minds about organic/local produce?