Local Food vs. Smartphone

~ This article first appeared in The Leader Vindicator Newspaper. ~

For all the fuss that surrounds local food and local economies, I’m stricken by the lack of value assigned to products originating close to home. 

Recently a family farm completed the lengthy process of paying their dues to the government and was granted permission to sell a product they take pride in to the public.  Such is the nature of the product that it can be distributed to multiple retailers, thus making available to numerous citizens something wholesome with strong ties to the region in which they live.

I’ve been following with interest the progression of sales, and I’m floored to discover that the race to the bottom has begun: everyone is selling the local farm’s product for the lowest price possible.

If we want to realize the potential that community agriculture has to offer, including but not limited to better health, better relationships, better standards of living, better scenery, a better environment, and better value for traded dollars, then we absolutely mustn’t default to the orthodox sales system that devalues everything it touches.  Thin or breakeven margins work well for major retailers because they assume an unlimited supply of materials and command massive segments of the marketplace, thus amplifying pennies-per-sale into billions of dollars.

A local market is not unlimited.  It is, by definition, finite.  Pennies-per-sale yields just that: pennies.  A community revolution will not be funded by a few cents.

When a retailer perceives so little value in a local product that they reduce it to bargain basement prices, they’re transmitting to customers that the product is of no greater importance than competing generic products.  With no inherent value braided into the essence of the merchandise, there isn’t enough wind in the lungs of any salesman to rally life-changing support for the small economy he’s claiming to participate in.

The saying ‘One bad apple ruins the whole bunch’ applies here.  If one participant lacks the creativity and confidence to convey to customers the far-reaching value of paying a fair price for goods purchased, that participant will drag down the rest of the economy.  Anyone who dares to be different will have an uphill battle, indeed.

Money is important.  The start-up and maintenance costs for farmers to enter into a retail marketplace are staggering.  I have the distinct honor of knowing a number of farmers who have made the leap, and I am one myself; to a tee, behind the scenes we all have dreams to improve our businesses, but we’re scrapping for capital to make it happen.  Where will the funding come from?

Let’s have a little number fun.  This is hardly scientific, but it gives us an idea of what’s out there.

The population of Clarion County is roughly 38,779.  It is estimated that 81% of the population owns a smart phone, so in Clarion County that’s 31,411 people.  The average cost of a smart phone in 2020 was $580.27.  31,411 phones at $580.27 is $18,226,860.97.

The average cell phone plan in the US costs $114 per month; multiplied by twelve months equals $1,368.  Most plans are bundled, so let’s assume every family of four has one plan valued at $1,368 annually.  31,411 people divided by four is 7,852.75 families, spending $1,368 annually is $10,742,562 for cell phone use.

$18,226,860.97 in phones plus $10,742,562 equals $28,969,422.97 in buying power, just for phones in Clarion County.  That alone would transform a lot of farms, sans bank.

I refuse to believe we need state and federal assistance programs to revive our community.  Private money is out there, and there is a lot of it.

Our stumbling block in the local economy is convincing 31,411 people to downgrade or eliminate something they want – superfluous gadgetry – for something they need.  Another way of saying this is we need people to want our food more than they want a phone.

How is it possible to quell the technology addiction?  By demonstrating positive change as a result of local commerce.  Local food has to be as attractive as a cell phone advertisement.  This will never, ever happen if someone markets the wares as though they just came off a truck at the proverbial Megamart.

Allan Nation often quipped that purposeful differentiation is one of the few routes to a successful outcome.  The low-value marketing scenario described above indicates that it will be impossible to convince everyone in a county to consciously deviate from what is normal in order to achieve change; someone will always be shortsighted enough to undercut the mission. 

This thoughtless suppression is why ‘community’ doesn’t spring up spontaneously; rather, it starts as one and grows.  On our farm, we’re deliberately unlike everyone else, and some people are offended when they don’t find the exact paradigm they expect from every retailer.  That’s ok; they’re thinking about pennies, and we’re dreaming about changing the world (or, at least, a piece of it).  Our customers’ commitment is creating a community that really will make a difference.

They are creating new farming opportunities where none existed before, and they’re forming generational relationships with food producing land that, thanks to deliberately directed dollars, gets better and better with each passing year. That’s an investment that will never falter, and I’m forever grateful to those oddballs who bypass orthodoxy and show up, week after week, driven by a desire for change instead of a bargain-basement deal. Thank you for valuing what you eat.