Yes, They Have No Bananas — No Lemons Either (Not From New Mexico)
 by Chuck Ring (GadAbout-BlogAlot ©2008)
Quote freely From the Article — Leave The Pseudonym Alone
Yes, We Got No Bananas (click to hear)
Some might ask if I have turned daft, or as others might ask, more daft. What the heck is the significance of the song. Fair question and the answer will come in due time.
I picked up the most recent issue of The Independent (The I) and became enthralled by an article which I assumed to be satire until I realized that The I doesn’t do satire, but they are good at silly and
inane. And, inside their boiling vats of criticism floats the Edgewood Wal-Mart; the target of repeated slam articles and diatribes at the dripping pens of The I. The article turns out to be sour and nonsensical to the extreme. How? Let us see the ways.
The title of the article is, Wal-Mart fails to keep local buying pledge by Robert Raffone and if the reader did not read past the title, he or she might be inclined to negatively shake their head or tsk-tsk at the very least. Mr. Raffone tells us that on a “recent” walk-through of the Edgewood Wal-Mart and more particularly, the produce section, not a single item of produce from East Mountain growers poked their leafy little heads, eyes or ears from the produce bins. Mr. Raffone enumerates a list of produce and fruits that he did find. His list included strawberries, pumpkins, corn and grapes from California along with lemons from Chile and apples from Washington. Mr. Raffone goes on to list oranges from South Africa, as well as bell peppers from Canada and tomatoes from Mexico as being present among the United Nations of produce. But, all locally grown produce was absent without leave from Edgewood’s Wal-Mart.
Let’s examine some, but probably not all, of the viable reasons for the lack of the mentioned items in Mr. Raffone’s article.
- the growing season in the Estancia Valley is 130 days, give or take a few days
- the harvest season is now past and has been for a time
- strawberries are not an abundant crop in the West Mountains (West Mountains to the discerning, East Mountains to Albuquerque folks) or Estancia Valley area
- the corn from the Estancia Valley is long gone for the year with most of it turned to insilage for dairy or beef cattle or sold as roastnears (roasting ears) from the back of pick-up trucks
- pumpkins grow in abundance in the Estancia Valley and some farmers choose to sell on their own locally or ship to other retailers inside or outside the state
- grapes for wine might be viable in this area, but I know of no commerically viable local vinyards, but do know of some “vintage” folks in the area
- lemons? we have a Cedar Grove, but no lemon grove
- apples? maybe from Manzano Mountain Retreat, they have an orchard, but there’s no mention of their selling their fruit or cider off premises
- oranges? I can’t remember the last time I saw my own navel, much less a navel orange and there’s no Valencia oranges in Valencia County, New Mexico. In fact no orange groves anywhere in New Mexico
- bell peppers are probably not viable to a commercial degree in this area
- tomatoes aren’t commercially viable in the Estancia Valley due to the cool or cold night temperature and the inability of some tomato plants to set their blossoms in cool nightime temperatures
- And yes, they have no locally grown bananas
All of the above being said, I realize that there are exceptions to every rule and that is why I’m not ruling out some great home garden or hot house tomatoes being grown here; but I have to have at least a half-bushel to become a true believer and the same goes for bell peppers.
To Mr. Raffone’s credit he did reveal that he was able to find the beer brewed by Sierra Blanca Brewery in the Edgewood Wal-Mart. For those who may not know, Sierra Blanca Brewery is a Moriarty business that employs several locals and they produce other beverages in addition to the beer brands produced by them.
What was not mentioned in the article was a recent initiative by Wal-Mart and the chambers of commerce in the area to introduce local suppliers to Wal-Mart’s local vendor program. Information and forms were provided to those attending the function to allow them to submit their products for consideration under the program. Hopefully, there will be vendors who are able to place their products in Wal-Mart, but the application to the program is left to them .
Mr. Raffone’s assertions, as exhibited by the title to his article and his litany of non-viable products, is disingenuous and to a degree misleading and petty. Perhaps, if past performance of The I is any indicator, we should not be surprised. While there may have been a short compliment or two for Wal-Mart from The I, most articles mentioning Wal-Mart in The I have been couched in terms that cast doubt on the viability and desirability of this corporate entity in Edgewood and the Estancia Valley.
I have a confession to make in case there is any doubt. I am an unabashed supporter of the Edgewood Wal-Mart, most other area businesses and our area citizens working at our businesses. Now you have it … in case there was any remote reason to believe otherwise.
Now, if we could just find the true motive for Mr. Gordon’s plight and fight with Wal-Mart, we could lay to rest the rumor concerning Mr. Gordon’s angst at not having Wal-Mart advertising posted in his publication. One can hope … or, not.
GadAbout-BlogAlot ©2008
Quote freely From the Article — Leave The Pseudonym Alone
6 Responses “Yes, They Have No Bananas — No Lemons Either (Not From New Mexico)”
By coincidence, I was in Walmart this morning and heard two employees talking about complaints that Walmart was not advertising in one of the local papers. I asked them if it was The Independent, and one of them gave a nod. They didn’t say exactly who was complaining, though.
Well-done Mr. Ring! Yours is a well-researched article that sheds light on the latest unjustified anti-Walmart attack ad by the “Independent”.
Initially against the opening of the store in our town, I, too, have become one of their biggest fans! While almost every one seems to acknowledge it is a beautiful, well-run retail operation, too little is said about the store’s generous support of many community events,as well as contributions to local charitable organizations.
Our local Walmart, under the able direction of James Torres and his management team, has proved itself to be a good neighbor. As such, this model corporate resident should not have to put up with such scurrilous biased attacks as came out in the “Independent” last Wednesday. Perhaps it is time that the publishers learn that the “Independent” is, in fact “dependent”! Specifically, the paper is “dependent ” for income on those who purchase it. This point needs to be driven home! Why not save your “Quarters” for a few weeks. Read the Blog you are currently looking at! Watch TV, Even buy a magazine or another print source. Let those who disgrace the trust that the public places in true journalists go unrewarded! It will be some time before I buy another copy of the publication in question. Care to join me?
The article on Walmart was nothing more than trying to “put down Walmart “—such writing as this is often seen in the Independent. Just like when the Independent tried to make one believe that they supported democracts, republicians, and other parties during the elections. Get real! YOUR beliefs show in most of your writings —which are too far to the left for me. But, I couldn’t help but respond to this article when I read the reply from Bob S. that said it would be some time before he bought another copy of the Independent. Well, I haven’t paid for the Independent for over a year. I usual read the Independent but I get it free in a variety of ways and that will always be the way—free and legal!!
While we do not support boycotting of any publication, we do support recycling. It sound like that is what Sue West is doing and we believe Bob Steiner must be dumpster diving or getting his copy from a friend. Or, not.
To the tune of Gilligan’s Island.
Come listen to a story of a community that wanted only locally grown.
They thought that’ll be the way to go, eat only what they’ve sown.
They drew up an ordinance, to buy nothing from afar.
They pledged nothing would then come in by train, ship or car. (Train, ship or car !)
No lemons!, No Limes, No pineapple! Not a single citrus fruit!
No papayas and no mangos, and bananas were out to boot !
No maple syrup or buckwheat cakes, they were three hours away by car !
No cod nor scrod nor crab nor shrimp, all shores were just too far ! (all shores were just too far!)
They sowed their fields with assorted grains of wheat, barley, oats and rye.
But, too late they realized, their land was just too dry !
And the cows they kept ate what little what was left. And within the ensuing drought,
their utters were left quite bereft, and their calves all died out. (Their calves all died out!)
The children cried, the elderly moaned for days when they were fed.
But now they could only dream of that, when they tossed in bed!
While the original article pointed out some very valid criticisms of a piece in a local newspaper, let’s not throw the vegetables out with the rinse water with respect to locally grown produce. While the Estancia Valley may not be the best place to grow some vegetables, there are some local producers and there are certainly people growing produce within the State of New Mexico, and we would encourage enterprises to purchase as much food produced locally and in-state as practicable.
At the time of year Mr. Ring wrote his article, much of the growing season here was, in fact, over. Had Mr. Raffone conducted his inspection earlier in the season, it might have been a different matter, but it is difficult to fault a retailer for not selling products that in all likelihood were not available at the time.