Tuesday, March 31

Little Difference #12

pears from Portugal

Little Difference #12 - Produce Signs


Honestly, this little difference just delights me! Pears from Portugal, leeks from Belgium, apples from France, grapes from South Africa - the origins of each type of produce is written along with it's price at most grocery stores here in Luxembourg. This makes a shopping trip much easier for a locavore. And much more interesting for a curious person like myself. Although I'm not a locavore, I do prefer to buy produce that was grown close to home whenever possible. I find that these signs make a difference in how I shop. I'll skip the apples from China in favor of the ones from France.

In Seattle I would occasionally see produce items marked "Made in the U.S." Some fruits would have Chili or Ecuador stickers on them, but there was nothing as consistent or specific as the identification here in Luxembourg. Maybe at Whole Foods or PCC the produce origins are marked more clearly.

celery from Italy & beets from Belgium

In case you're curious, I have seen a few produce items from the U.S. - pomegranates and grapefruits - not consistently though. Apples from China and seedless grapes from South Africa and Chili. However, the bulk of produce here seems to be from France, Spain and Belgium. I suppose that changes from season to season.

potatoes from France

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is so cool! "Apples from France".

' said...

Thanks cool! I wish they did that here.

Heather - CROQZine - Dollar Store Crafts said...

Interesting! They mark local berries & other produce at one of my local grocery stores (a local chain), but that's really cool!

Thanks for sharing all the little differences! :)

Heather

This Girl loves to Talk said...

they have started doing this in australia, but the sign isnt as prominant, the font is much smaller -

that is pretty nice of them to help those who want to buy locally

jojoebi-designs said...

they do it in Japan too but it is written on the packaging label. There is a section in the fruit & veg which is Japanese grown and you can scan the special bar code with your phone and it gives you all the info about the farmer and where exactly the produce was grown...only useful if you can actually read Japanese.

Other food labels are pretty rubbish, no where near as detailed as the standard labels at home.

Monkey's Mama said...

They're pretty good about it at Ballard Market. They say "Northwest grown" which probably includes Oregon and then they label other countries and states - mostly for the fruit.

Catherine said...

To mention the origin of products is a legal obligation in the European Union. I'm not a locavore either, but I tend to avoid anything from Spain if possible. If you ever go to Southern Spain and see the giant plastic fields that litteraly cover the landscape, you'll understand why! I think French stuff are a little bit more ethic (just a little bit, but well). Oh, and now, everytime I shop in Luxembourg supermarkets, I'm looking for a woman photographing stuff ;-)

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