AP: Locally-grown foods look to bigger business

.....In Mississippi, Wal-Mart has started buying purple hull peas — similar to black-eyed peas — directly from farmers in the Mississippi Delta, a deal cemented with USDA help. One of the farmers, Charles Houston, says the checks from Wal-Mart have helped many of his area's small farms survive, paying for new irrigation and infrastructure.
Wal-Mart, the nation's largest retailer, pledged to double its share of locally grown foods between 2009 and 2015.....
 http://bigstory.ap.org/article/once-niche-local-foods-becoming-big-business