I was interviewed for a recent article by Green Philly about the challenges of running a sustainable business in an unsustainable world. This article followed their initial piece on The Rounds, which highlighted some unsustainable practices they employed.

The contradiction we face as a sustainable business mirrors the challenges many of us encounter in our personal lives. We aspire to embrace sustainable and ethical lifestyle choices, yet it can feel impossible within a system dominated by exploitation. Given these current limitations, we believe there are three fundamental principles we must adhere to:

Be transparent and honest.
Put sustainability at the core of our operations, rather than treating it as an afterthought.
Listen to feedback and welcome constructive criticism.

I’ll use these principles to explain how we made the decision to carry non-local items.

How we made the decision to carry non-local:

When we first started Philly Foodworks, we focused solely on offering local products. However, after speaking with our customers, we realized we were losing sales during the winter due to a lack of diverse offerings. Discussions with our producers made it clear that if carrying non-local items could help us sell more local produce, we should consider this option. Here are the guidelines we follow when selecting non-local items:

We do not carry a non-local item if the same item is available locally. For produce, when we do carry a non-local item, we focus on household staples and cease carrying the non-local version six weeks before it becomes available locally. This strategy helps create excitement for the local items and avoids competition from non-local products.
If the item does not grow locally, we will carry it year-round (e.g., lemons, limes, bananas, etc.).
We collaborate with local, independently-owned businesses to source our non-local items.
We do not intentionally engage in any marketing practices that misrepresent non-local items as local.

Transparency:

To maintain transparency, we categorize our non-local produce items separately. We utilize product tags to indicate the growing practices used for each item and whether it is grown in the U.S.

Sustainability at the Core:

We are committed to ensuring that 90% of everything we sell is produced within 150 miles of our location. We have invested in local farmers to help increase their production. We have also developed comprehensive product acquisition and warehousing logistics systems to accommodate a diverse range of small producers. Our focus is on using our resources for farmer and producer development, working with local farmers to expand their offerings instead of building supply for non-local items. This focus has sometimes affected our ability to work with certain produce wholesalers that may not want to partner with us due to our low order volume during the summer, when there's less demand for non-local produce.

Listening to Feedback:

We value customer feedback; when our customers have requested more information about our non-local products, we've responded by updating our product tags. When our farmers express a need for assistance in moving root crops during the winter, we increase the number of local items in our shares. Additionally, when our employees raise concerns about specific countries of origin for products, we have asked our wholesalers to refrain from sending those items.

We envision a future where two-thirds of grocery purchases in the Philly area come from within 150 miles. We recognize that we have a long way to go and many challenges to address. Perfection is unattainable, but we believe that maintaining integrity in our processes will help us work toward the most balanced outcomes.