A national grocery chain buys food from all over, a good bit of which can be called local. A regional grocery, such as Bi- Lo, buys from the region and sells to the region. Bi- Lo, headquartered in Mauldin, S.C. has an easier time calling its food local since Bi- Lo is found only in Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, where Bi- Lo mostly shops for its stores.

The term local can mean different things. The federal government has no definition of local in the same way it has a definition of organic, for instance. Local can mean the food was obtained within the same state as the grocery store, even if the state is Texas or California. Local can also mean a seven- hour drive from the farm to the grocer, arguing a one- day distance is still local.

In the U.S., the average grocery store's produce travels about 1,500 miles between the farm and the grocery store. About 40% of the grocery store fruit in the U.S. comes from overseas.

A huge amount of fossil fuels is burned to transport food across the country. Any effort to deal locally when stocking the grocery store produce sections and the packaged goods shelves is an effort to reduce the demand for fossil fuels. And a reduction in the use of fossil fuels is a reduction in costs. The reduction in overhead in offering the product for sale in the grocery store means the product can be sold at a more competitive price

Bi- Lo and its almost 300 stores in four Southern states can operate on an economy of scale, but it can also operate efficiently within its four states. As Bi- Lo is supplied from farms and packers and processors within the four states, its delivery is contained within the same four states, essentially meeting a definition of local that means less than a one- day drive on average between supplier pick- up and store delivery.

Bi- Lo's local regional policy is reflected somewhat by Wal- Mart's national policy. Partnerships between Wal- Mart and local farmers have increased by 50 percent over the past two years, making Wal- Mart the nation's largest purchaser of local produce, assuming a somewhat loose definition of local. After all, even before the buy- local emphasis was instigated at Wal- Mart, it was the nation's biggest consumer of American agriculture, implying local purchases were already in the logistics mix. Across the globe, Wal- Mart serves more than 176 million customers weekly in 14 markets.

Bi- Lo, it must be noted in an article including Wal- Mart, is no Mom- and- Pop fruit stand, either. Its 216 stores are privately owned by Lone Star Funds, a Texas- based investment group. The stores and their support offices employ approximately 17,200 people. Bi- Lo and its four- state operation should have an easier and more efficient time buying and transporting

on a local basis when compared with the nation's behemoth grocers coupled with their major processing and distribution centers.

What the customer wants, the customer gets, and South Carolina customers want South Carolina food. Bi- Lo has learned to buy its store- brand Southern Home dry spaghetti and other pasta varieties for all its stores from Columbia's AIPC. Its dry beans supplier is in Greenville, where Bi- Lo's ice cream is made. Bi-Lo's milk is bottled in Spartanburg, and its apple juice comes from nearby Greer. Its orange juice is bottled in little Arden, S.C. Bi- Lo's packaged lunch meat comes from Greenwood's Carolina Pride. Chester, S.C. supplies Bi- Lo with packaged fresh green- leaf salads, while Ruth's Salads Company salads come from across the state.

In adjacent Georgia, Bi- Lo gets its sausage from Savannah and its poultry from Sanderson.

Of course, if the customer really wants to buy local food from local farmers, the Columbia places to go would be Rosewood Market and the local farmers market, if it can be kept from moving farther and farther out of town.