The Linux Extremist

Being a suspicious sort of fellow, I tend prefer buying things from a local vendor than from someone distant. In particular, I am not a big friend of supermarkets: I much prefer the idea of being able to buy berries from a farmer a few minutes drive away rather than relying on Tesco importing it from somewhere in Central America where the berries are sprayed with pesticides lethal enough to be on Saddam Hussein’s top 10 favourite chemical weapons list, and the pickers are probably spitting on the fruit to spite the pompous gringos.

There’s more to this than just desiring superior taste and freshness (and not wanting to poison myself or get the dreaded lurgy). If I’m spending money locally, then I’m pushing money back into the local economy, rather than sending it to El Diablo, Alcalde of the Berry Farmers. Also, if I have a problem with a product, I’m much more likely to get a good response from the bloke up the road than from El Diablo.

You would think that the internet, with its global focus, would actually work in El Diablo’s favour. Theoretically, I can go onto Tesco’s website and others, and get the best price for berries, which usually implies handing over money to the Alcalde. However, the internet also enables me to buy locally as well on a more consistent basis; up until the internet came along, the only way small, local concerns had to get their marketing message out was to go to farmers markets and pass it on through word of mouth. These days a great many producers in my area (West Sussex, England) have websites and provide a means whereby I can get much of my food locally. Here are a few representative samples -

1. Nyetimber Vineyards (www.nyetimber-vineyard.com) - a slick site, selling West Sussex sparkling wine. Don’t laugh, English wine actually has gotten some very good reviews as of late, indeed, Nyetimber’s Classic Cuvée 1998 has been rated the best sparkling wine outside of the Champagne region.

2. Lurgashall Winery (www.lurgashall.co.uk) - this small company makes & sells fruit wines, and the rather peculiar Silver Birch Wine (made from tree sap); not bad.

3. The Chilli Jam Company (www.thechillijamcompany.co.uk) - locally made hot sauce. I swear by their Fireball sauce. My girlfriend, being more sensitive about such things, would swear at it if she got a taste.

4. The Chocolate Alchemist (www.thechocolatealchemist.co.uk) - OK, so the cocoa beans have to come from outside England, but they process it themselves and their organic chocolate is excellent; especially recommended are their white chocolate and raspberry bars.

5. Deer View Products (www.deerviewproducts.co.uk) - jams and chutneys mainly. Their whisky marmalade and goosebery jam are excellent…and organic.

6. Stumpys Brewery (www.stumpysbrewery.com) - not to my taste, but definitely local and not the run of the mill beer.

7. Lurgashall Mill (www.wealddown.co.uk/shop.htm) - part of the Weald & Downland Open Air Museum. I buy my wholemeal flour from them.

Not all of these sites, it should be mentioned, offer online transactions, but at least they offer a means by which these products can be purchased consistently.

The availability of local produce on the ‘Net reminds us of something important; the internet is not just about big, global things. It also can cater to very narrow, niche and local concerns. The modern era and modern technology are not necessarily going to crush small firms, rather, the forces of change may help even the playing field, and ensure that big companies don’t have it all their own way. It also means that this evening, I’m popping open a bottle of Nyetimber with the thought that I’m doing something the French would rather I didn’t. Now that’s worth smiling about.

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