The question has been presented to me: Why Local?
First, let me point you to a fabulous book called The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. He really opened my eyes to the many problems with our current super industrialized agriculture and its effect on our environment.
For instance, did you know that today it takes "between seven and ten calories of fossil fuel energy to deliver one calorie of food energy to an American plate" and further that "only a fifth of the total energy used to feed us is consumed on the farm; the rest is spent processing the food and moving it around."
So buying your asparagus from argentina, your tomato from Mexico, your apples from Chile, means you are not only getting much less fresh food (it's got to be picked early so it does not rot when it gets to you) but you are also basically eating a lot of petroleum (how do you think they get the food from Mexico to the U.S. to your grocery store?).
We have really stopped thinking about our food and where it comes from. As Mr. Pollan so aptly puts it, "people put more work into choosing their mechanic or house contractor, than they will into choosing the person who grows their food."
I never thought about it that way but its certainly true.
By going as local as I can, I really want to put my food where my mouth is. So to speak.
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
One woman's attempt to save the world by limiting her purchases to locally made items, and for those that cannot be purchased locally, to only purhcase items made in the continental U.S. I refuse to eat and wear fossil fuel any longer.
6 comments:
Ok, but here's what I noticed looking at those "Eat Locally" websites... I'd have to drive all over creation to pick up my hormone free milk and meat and locally grown produce. Is it really better to have hundreds of people driving out of their way than to have it brought to the grocery store on one big truck? I mean, I gladly stop at the local farm stands in the summer when I'd have to pass right by it to get to the grocery store (and it tastes better, too.) But when you figure in the time and money that we all would spend driving around the county to pick up our food, doesn't it kind of cancel out any benefit? Isn't there some kind of economies of scale benefit?
usan,
Thanks for the comment. Yes, it would seem that way. But when we talk about the amount of fossil fuel that goes into growing conventional food on big farms, we have to consider that in order to even run these huge farms they have to have massve amounts of fertilizer and energy. Then the big trucks travel thousands of miles and are generally refrigerated in order to keep your food "fresh." Big agricultural farms (CAFOS) are usually growing one crop -- corn, cow, chicken -- which means that the land is not getting rotated, and in order to keep production, they have to use more fertiilzer, more antibiotics, etc. In turn, this is running into your water, etc. So, it is not just about transporting the food distances, it about the effect that these huge farms have on the environment. Smaller farms which grow a lot of different crops are healthier, they have a symbiotic relationship going. Take that and eat it.
Amanda, I see now that you have a blog and it is dedicated practically to VEGETABLES! Love it. Yes I am huge fan of local produce and co-ops are great too because they bring lots of stuff to me :-) Buying bulk (like rice or Quinoa and such) also saves a lot on packaging. Love the advice. And Susan with your huge garden I think you will be growing local just in your own back yard!
props to you my friend.
i love my prosciutto from parma and my san marzano tomatoes, too.
i adore cadbury chocolate and other delectable sweets I cannot recall at this hour.
I try my darndest in the summertime to eat locally by shopping at my farmer's market way too often for a mother of 4 small boys! (is 3x a week too often to hit the FM?)
you are welcome to come anytime and eat locally at my home!
I would like to say that I was with the Dog last week at a Kohl's in Arizona where she was all set to buy this very nice undergarment. Then she noticed it was made offshore and she put it back.
Dedication! Persistence!
I demand another entry. More enlightenment. Talk to us.
Post a Comment