Shoppers, meanwhile, have to choose carefully if they really want local produce.
Habeeb Abdussalaam, a 61-year-old insurance broker from Windsor Mill who believes strongly in the need to preserve area farms, was shopping at Catonsville's Safeway recently and was pleased to see the store promoting local produce. "I see that says New Jersey," he said approvingly, looking at the sign on the apple case.
But a closer look at stickers on the apples showed that they came from farms thousands of miles away. "That's unfortunate," he said. "Just tell it like it is."
Even when grocers source locally, they market nationally. Safeway rolled out its "Locally Grown" campaign in mid-June - a perfect time to highlight local produce in California, where the chain is based. But that was a little early for Mid-Atlantic stores, which were instructed to have their signage and display cases up just the same, said Greg TenEyck, a Safeway spokesman based in Lanham.
"We're not trying to mislead," he said. "It's about being in compliance with a corporate marketing program. It's very regimented."
That explains why, just inside the front doors of the Catonsville Safeway last week, under a sign that reads "Locally Grown. Picked at its Peak," sat green grapes from Mexico, organic blueberries from California and Dole bananas whose origin was unspecified. Truly local offerings included New Jersey squash and blueberries, Pennsylvania mushrooms and Virginia green beans.
A bounty of local corn, watermelons and peaches will arrive in Maryland stores in the next few weeks, TenEyck said. Small, color-coded signs for individual produce items will make clear what's local.
"There will be lots of local produce," he said. "Right now, not so much."
It was easier to distinguish local produce from the rest at Whole Foods. The store in Mount Washington marked individual items with signs - "Good Stuff from Around Here" - that not only specified the farm where it was grown, but also stated how far the farm was from the store.
Organic beets, kale, rainbow chard, collard greens and cucumbers all came from Lady Moon Farms in Chambersburg, Pa. ("113 miles from here!") Basil from Sun Agua Farms in Dalton, Pa. ("207 miles from here!") Salsa and white queso dip from Maggie's in Charleston, W.Va. ("371 miles from here!").
