Eat Local considers importing some veggies and fruit

Shoppers at Eat Local Sudbury, a grocery store and food co-operative, could soon be able to purchase organic bananas and limes, at the store that has traditionally sold only locally produced foods.

Eat Local's 700 members have until Saturday to vote on whether or not the grocery store, located at 176 Larch St., should carry food from organic and fair trade sources from outside Canada.

“For a long time, people have come in asking for avocados,” said Peggy Baillie, Eat Local's managing director.

Up until now, the store has stuck to its local food mantra, but has decided to let its members decide if it should carry products that cannot grow in Canada.

“Bananas, for example, have been traded for quite some time and are a staple of people's diets,” Baillie said. “As we're expanding, we're realizing that it's an important part of what we can offer at the co-op.”

Offering a wider variety of products, said Baillie, would help make Eat Local more of a one-stop shop for its customers, who may buy tropical fruits and vegetables elsewhere.

But Baillie said if a fruit or vegetable can be grown in Canada, Eat Local would not import it if the store policy were to change.

“One of the fundamental elements of the local food movement is not displacing food that is grown locally,” she said. “We're not going to be buying lettuce from California when we could definitely get it here.”

Any imported produce, said Baillie, would be approved by Equitable Exchange, an organization that ensures producers overseas are paying their workers equitable salaries and following ethical labour practices.

As for the added carbon footprint from imported produce, Baillie admitted it is the biggest issue they have faced when considering the policy change.

But she said people won't stop eating bananas, and Eat Local could at least offer more equitable options for some shoppers.