Minor Thoughts from me to you

With the spring weather that we had this year, eating local doesn't look like such a great idea:

The floods that damaged farms in southern Wisconsin will likely result in fewer fruits and vegetables at farmers' markets this summer and help boost already high prices for organic eggs and meat at grocery stores in the fall.

A cool spring meant many farmers were about two weeks behind in planting. The storms struck just as their first plants emerged from the ground.

"Twelve inches of water falling on, say, this field of beets that were just starting to peak through the soil, it just washed them away," de Wilde said. "They couldn't withstand that kind of deluge."

Organic corn fed to livestock that provide organic eggs, chicken, beef and pork was barely 4 inches high, half of what it should have been, said Eric Newman, vice president of sales for La Farge-based Organic Valley, the nation's largest cooperative of organic farmers.

Thankfully, today's progressive consumer can secure an organic diet no matter what the local market is like:

California supplies over half of the nation's organic fruits and vegetables and should be able to make up for losses in Wisconsin and other flooded states, Newman said.

It's a good thing we have a robust, distributed economy. Even though local farms are having a tough time, we won't have to worry about anyone starving or eating an unbalanced diet.