Brokering crops

You learn something new everyday and I just learned about the guy that gets crops from global farms to supermarket shelves - it never occurred to me that there's a guy, a produce broker. But I guess there's always a guy that pulls the deal together, particularly with commodities.

He's based down at the food distribution center, negotiates pricing with farmers, and provides quality produce to retailers by doing quality control - particularly for those fruits that continue to ripen after picking.  Now it's even more clear why the hood gets seconds - it's all about the broker and I'm thinking there's less leverage in the hood.

I was so excited I couldn't contain myself and although I am a proponent for local produce I couldn't resist requesting onions and garlic and anything interesting that comes about.  I started thinking about how great it would be to have an endless supply of weekly produce - we could really step up our vegetarian game.  I  am so fascinated that I am trying to compile questions so that I can learn more about the transportation side of global agribusiness.

The kicker is, his wife, whom I met today only buys frozen veggies because she prefers to cook them in the microwave. I couldn't believe someone would turn down the pick of the litter, right off the boat, for flash frozen.