[mr_hanky]

Wow, not sure anyone was going to be interested in this, cheers guys/gals,

I like the point above about the typical thinking that people closer to you are more important. I think +ve side is that the money is circulated very locally and so should benefit the buyer.

I live in the UK, and most of the imported apples taste better than ours. Price does not really matter to me. I am reluctant to buy those australian/african apples because I try to be eco friendly and this led onto the discussion with a friend and the disagreement about the most important reasons to buy local produce.

My thoughts are that if I dont spend my money in the local economy and some local farm struggles, they should either grow something else or do something else. In the UK there are plenty of careers and ways to make $$$. This may not be the case for the African apple growers. So for economic and taste reasons I prefer the african apples, but for the environment I prefer the UK ones.