Gainesville Publix Buying More Local Foods?

Now that the economy is taking a bit of a hit, a lot less people are getting delivery, and a lot more are looking to Publix for local, fresh produce. Publix is stepping up to the plate, and doing more to improve their customer’s experience. They are now buying more produce from local markets in order to support local food industries and help the entire Gainesville community.

There’s a great post on Publix’s decision to buy locally on Jimmy Conner’s blog, here is an excerpt:

My local supermarket around the corner from my house, Publix, is a fine grocery chain with a fatal flaw.

Publix buys very little local produce and other perishable products and, more often than not, ships all these goods to my store in Gainesville, Florida from points in the US as far away as California. As I have mentioned before, I am amazed to regularly see California produce in my Publix that was shipped across country at enormous expense in fuel and to my modest financial resources.

Seeing California citrus in my Publix’s produce section during prime Florida citrus season really sets me off. It is an astonishing waste of fuel and an insult to Floridians by a homegrown, Florida-based company. It is not enough for Publix to be a homegrown Florida company. they need to buy locally too.

The August 6, 2008 edition of the New York Times has an article entitled, Supermarket Chains Narrow Their Sights by Marian Burros (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/06/dining/06local.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&ref=dining. I highly recommend Burros’ article and hope that higher ups at Publix will take heed to the message that Burros delivers.

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