In Hawaii there are many small farms that people rely on as their source of income. These small farms owners either sell the produce on their own to the public or they go to grocery stores, restaurants etc. and sell them their produce. People believe that it costs more to buy things grown locally, and in some cases that is true, but if people decide to buy produce locally then that money spent keeps on circulating through the Hawaiian islands.
For this article I interviewed local farm owners on what they believe the affect of big box companies has been on them, and in many cases I was surprised with the answers I received. When I asked most farmers how their produce sales have been affected after the economy went down hill they said that the amount of produce bought had remained the same but they had had to lower their prices. I find that most farmers prefer to sell their produce to restaurants or companies that sell produce to restaurants because it is a more stable income.
Through my article I came to understand that it is not local farmers vs. the big box companies, I learned that it is actually a dog eat dog world between all of the local farmers. Each farms produce has to be top notch or people will go to other farms to buy their produce ans at the last resort if all of the local farmers are not up on their farming game, buyers will be forced to go to large chain grocers to get their produce.
