More Tales of Disappearing Local Food
SEPTEMBER 12, 2007 - I was standing at a stall at the Williams Lake farmers' market when I saw an empty jug that seemed to be advertising 'Apple Juice - Unpasteurized.' It was a hot day, and some ice-cold apple juice seemed like just the ticket.
"Well," I said, "how about a jug of your finest apple juice?"
"Sorry," said the women behind the table. "I can't sell the apple juice any more. Just the apples."
Yes, the health inspector had done a sweep and declared unpasteurized apple juice to be forbidden fruit. It's the kind of shut-down local foodies are facing in jurisdictions all across the continent.
Now let's look at the risks - and the consequences. According to this vendor, she was told she could sell the juice to customers who came to her farm, but could not sell the same juice at the farmers' market, even though she squeezes the juice into the jugs and immediately freezes them. As for the apples that become the juice, she can sell them in either place. Do you see a significant difference in the health risk? Neither do I.
Nonetheless, this wrongheaded crackdown has serious consequences. To begin with, fans of her apple juice will now have to burn up extra gas on individual trips out to the farmgate rather than buying in the centralized location of the market. The farmer ends up selling less juice, and her farm is pushed closer to the brink. She can try to sell the juicing apples themselves, but that's difficult because for juicing she tends to use the "ugly fruit" - apples that are misshapen or have other blemishes that make them less appealing to the fussy eye of the modern eater. She already knows that a lot of that fruit will simply rot, unsold. What a waste.
Is this happening where you live? Do you have regulators or inspectors cracking down on the sale of farm-fresh eggs, people selling seeds, your local pickle guy or favourite jam lady? Let's hear about it - and maybe together we can start to make some noise. -JBM
