PLENTY Spring 2020 Plenty Spring 2020-WEB | Page 44

food for thought
Going Local makes good Sense
by B art Y abl o nsky • Owner , D aws o n ’ s M arket
I
have always believed my career should serve a pur-
pose. I wanted to do something to give back to the
community that made life better for people. I found
that in food. At first you wouldn’t think owning a gro-
cery store would do much for the greater good. But I’m
passionate about the food we sell at Dawson’s Market.
We have a strict set of standards for selecting items to
stock on our shelves. You can shop our store and know
that what you are buying is free of all the bad stuff that’s
been added to our food over the years. So, no artificial
sweeteners, colors or additives, meats free of antibiotics
and hormones, and lots of local choices.
When I started in the natural foods industry with
Fresh Fields back in the late 90s, organic was top of
mind. While we continue to offer many organic items,
the trend has shifted towards local. As it turns out most
small local food artisans and producers follow organic
standards but just don’t have the capital to apply for the
certification. There are a number of other certifications
very similar to organic like “Naturally Grown” for small
farms and producers that are passionate about the en-
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vironment but can’t handle all the USDA requirements
for certification.
As we witness the consolidation of various indus-
tries, grocery being one of them, I feel a need to protect
the little guy. Small businesses are the backbone of our
country and we have to ensure they don’t get run over
by giant corporations. When smaller companies are
swallowed up by larger ones, they start to lose the con-
nection to the communities they serve.
I believe supporting local producers is important
for a number of reasons. Not only do they often follow
organic or all-natural standards, but they also require
less transportation and packaging, earn and spend their
dollars locally, and employ members of our community.
And I think their products often taste better, too!
In addition to providing clean good food for our
customers, Dawson’s supports over 75 local producers,
including Rockland’s Farm Winery, Waredaca Brewery
and Lewis Orchard located in our Agricultural Reserve.
We have helped many companies get started as well. I
love encouraging and supporting people who just have