A visit to your local supermarket or farmers market will show you this story in action.
The Ricker family of Maine makes for unlikely celebrities. Photographs of the farming family—with 70-year-old patriarch Don Ricker, his three sons, four grandchildren, an infant great-grandson, and the family’s mutt—adorn local supermarkets, from Wal-Mart (WMT) to the local Hannaford chain, proclaiming that the juicy red McIntosh apples come from the local Ricker Hill Farm, which was established in 1803 in Turner, Me., by the newly arrived émigré from Poland, Albion Ricker.
After being pushed out of the spotlight for years, the local farmer is emerging as a new celebrity, a movement to celebrate the local farmer is sweeping the country. At the forefront of the movement has been supermarket Whole Foods (WFMI), which for years has put up photos of local farmers in its stores promoting their produce.
Now many other food chains are also playing up local produce, including Kroger (KR), Publix, and Food Lion, a subsidiary of Brussels-based Delhaize Group (DEG). Currently, Wal-Mart is running a “Salute to America’s Farmers” program across several states to highlight its commitment to purchase from local growers. The interest in local food has led to a dramatic increase in farmers’ markets in the U.S. Today there are 4,385 farmers’ markets in the country, an over 50% increase from 2,863 markets in 2000, according to the Agriculture Dept.