Food & Design: Buying Local

We are all feeling the pinch of the recession. Times like these makes everyone look at their spending and see where the can cut back and conserve. One noticeable changes individuals can do to save money is to cut back on their weekly grocery bill. Clipping coupons, choosing wisely on their meal plan or just being aware of what you buy could save people hundreds of dollars in a year. However, being aware doesn’t mean cutting corners.

BUY LOCAL
Emmaus is a small town on the eastern side of Pennsylvania.  For the past seven years, Emmaus has hosted its own farmers market on every Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. from May to Thanksgiving. What an unique feature about this market is that all of the vendors are from a 75 mile radius around Emmaus.  This ensures that these sells have a direct line to their goods and that they know the growing process of their goods.

In the grocery store, the buyer rarely knows where their food is coming from.  In addition, this isn’t helping your community.  By buying local you are making sure that your money is staying in your region, which will help build a stronger community as well as a stronger local economy.  As I learned from Christi Dunning, Emmaus Farmers Market Manager, the Emmaus Farmers Market (EFM) keep strict policies for their vendors.  Dunning explained that they have turned possible vendors away because a part of their product wasn’t grown or established in the area.  The EFM wants to provide their community with producer only products.  By keeping everything locals allows the customer the ability to talk to the farmers who grew the fruits and vegetables.  These customers can find out more about their food but it also gives a face to their food producers.

SO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR THE AVERAGE JOE’S?
Now I am not here to tell you about statistics in fair trade practices or even give a lecture about keeping your food local.  I am however going to give you benefits with having your farmers close.  When you grow locally, your food will taste better.  Local food is normally picked within the past day or two which keeps more of the flavor.  Studies have showed that the average distance food travels from farm to plate is around 1500 miles over a week-long period.  This delay changes the chemistry of your food which then decreases its nutritional value.  Also when you buy locally supports your local community, and not just benefiting the farmers but also you.  These farms protects open-space, which could have gone to land development.

There will always be pros and cons for staying local and organic.  I have provided just some of the pros of doing both but their are several more ways local and organic products can help you.  To find farmers markets near you check out the site LocalHarvest.org.  They have addition information about staying local, as well as the network of finding markets that are local.  Find farmers markets, farms restaurants and grocery stores in your area.  Also, I encourage you to check out documentary Food, Inc. that is due on June 12, 2009.

Alexandra Gergar is an active lover of food.  Starting a food blog, Lemons in Water, she now resides in Pittsburgh where she is a local caterer.

Follow me on Twitter: AlexGergar

Food & Design: Pepsi Natural

GOING ORGANIC

It seems like the new trend for products is to go organic these days.  Or at least trying to find a more eco-friendly or natural approach to their products.  So one would think that this would be an interesting approach for a cola company, PepsiCo. to switch over to the “natural” ingredients that nature has to offer.

IN THE UK
At first, Pepsi tried out the “natural” approach to its United Kingdom customers.  Calling their new recipe Pepsi Raw, PepsiCo. introduced a cola made from sparking water, cane sugar, apple extract, tartaric acid, which comes from grapes, just to name a few.  This is such an interesting idea for a cola company -remove the high fructose corn syrup and market it as the natural cola.

Now, on this side of the pond, American customers will find three similar Pepsi products sweetened with natural sugar in March and April: Pepsi Natural, Pepsi Throwback and Mountain Dew Throwback.  The two throwbacks will be available nationally April 20 for eight weeks.  To complement the name, the throwback packaging will have a retro-look.  As for Pepsi Natural, the glass bottle, sold in a four pack will have a sleeker, simple design showcasing the three main ingredients: sparking water, sugar and kola nut extract.  In addition, Pepsi is labeling this as the “all natural cola”.

WHY DID PEPSI DEVELOP A ‘NATURAL’ COLA?
Back in the early 1980s, most of the major cola manufactures made the switch to high-fructose corn syrup from refined sugar.  At the time, the lower cost of the syrup and the cola wars made the switch obvious.  Now, with the current market’s negative press for all things high-fructose corn syrup, Pepsi realized that part of its market share was dropping.  With different approaches and new flavors to keep with current trends, PepsiCo tried Pepsi Raw and now Pepsi Natural.

WILL CUSTOMERS EVEN DRINK THIS?
Let’s face it. Pepsi has created some interesting drinks to extend their product line.  In fact, some may say that their product line is a bit over-extended.  The question is, will people want to pay about twice as much for this “natural” Pepsi?  Providing a solution to the negative press for the sugar substitute syrup, Pepsi created a solution for its customers.  However, its does pose the question: is there a price where no cola is better than natural cola?  When you double the price of your good, just to serve a niche market of individuals who want to drink cola but without the chemicals, will this product extension survive?  At this point, I think its too early to tell.

Personally, I think this a step in the right direction for the beverage industry as a whole.  As Americans, we have grown accustomed to drink our sweets and sometimes forget to watch what we put into our bodies.  This would be a positive step for cola drinkers into this new and improved natural Pepsi.  However, even with the term “natural” Pepsi is not trying to market this cola as a health drink.  In the Times, a spokeswoman said, “We’re not saying it’s healthier.  It’s a premium drink for people who like natural products.”

Alexandra Gergar graduates from the University of Pittsburgh with a BS in marketing and finance.  Cooking since she was a child, she now  has a food blog called Lemons in Water.

Product design is a conversation with your audience, why not blog in the same manner?

Alex Gergar