Byron Center's E. Miedema & Sons is just one of the area farms that will benefit from a decision by Meijer to expand its selection of home-grown fruits and vegetables by 20 percent in 2010.
Meijer is going back to its roots. The retail giant began by selling locally produced foods from area farmers. In 1934 Hendrik Meijer took delivery of local, farm-fresh eggs, milk, fruits and vegetables for his newly opened grocery store in Greenville, Mich.
Through Meijer's Home Grown initiative fruits and vegetables from local producers has grown over the past five years. It now includes 75 Midwest farms and farmers, up by 10 from a year ago.
Last year alone, Meijer sold more than 20 million pounds of apples from Michigan.
Locally grown produce accounts for nearly 27 percent of all the fruits and vegetables sold throughout the 195-store chain during the peak growing season.
Meijer says it will pump more than $60 million into local economies through its program of partnering with farms throughout Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky. In 2009 it spent $50 million.
"With 'just-picked' fruits and vegetables arriving daily to our stores, we like to think that we provide our shoppers with a farmer's market experience," says Mark Stevenson, produce director at the Grand Rapids-based supercenter chain. "We're not only putting money in local farmers' pockets, but we help bring farm-fresh, local produce straight to the tables of our shoppers. And there's nothing quite like farm-fresh food from the Midwest."
Five members of the fourth generation of Miedemas made a commitment in 2009 to the company that supplies produce to grocers across the region after their fathers bow out.
Meijer is a Grand Rapids-based retailer that operates 195 stores throughout Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky.
Writer: Kathy Jennings
Source: Frank Guglielmi, Meijer
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