Eat Local
I’m veering off topic, but this relates to one of my Business Sustainability points, so I’m going for it. Short supply chains. On a personal level, you should be aware that the food you buy at the grocery store has traveled an average of something like 1500 miles. There are several really great reasons to re-evaluate your food purchasing habits.
- Moving all of that food around the globe burns a tremendous amount of fossil fuels.
- It’s likely your neighbors are producing much of the same food items. By neighbors, I mean people living within the same state, at the very least.
- Local food is generally nutritionally superior because produce must be picked well before ripe in order to make it to your table before it spoils.
- You know local food tastes better, for the same reason as #3. Homegrown tomatoes? I rest my case.
I bring all of this up today because I just returned from the local farmers market with a free-range, organic turkey from a family-owned and operated ranch about 30 miles from here. I’m feeling pretty good about myself. And the rancher insists that we will notice the taste difference. With 19 guests descending for Turkey Day, I’m also very happy that I didn’t have to worry about finding a good turkey. Now if I can only reconcile my gourmet husband/amateur chef with my unruly, 1950’s casserole-loving family, life will be good.
Check out Local Harvest. They have an extensive directory of local growers that can be searched by zip code. I’m shocked at what can be found within 50 miles of our North Texas location. I feel a road trip coming on!
-Vesta
Posted: November 18th, 2006 under Off Topic.
Comments: 2
Comments
Comment from Eric H
Time: May 12, 2007, 1:09 pm
This is something I have been struggling with. First of all, very little is grown within 100 miles of here. The one thing the area is noted for - green chile - is also sold in all of the big chain stores, including Wal-Mart (it is actually locally grown).
Last autumn, I went to one of the little farms just north of us to get freshly picked chile, onions, etc. It actually cost more than at the grocery store. Okay, I argued with myself, but at least I’m buying local and that’s good, right?
But I then figured that if everyone did the same thing, it would probably require far more fuel than if they loaded it on a truck and brought it closer to us. With returns to scale (which is really what the Natural Capitalism authors are talking about when they refer to “tunneling through the cost barrier”, though they would never recognize it as such because they’re usually too busy bashing unnamed economists), it may actually be less energy intensive to ship products to a grocery store from outside the magic 100 mile horizon than to grow it closer and we drive to it. And that’s especially true if you consider that some regions may be naturally disposed to growing without fertilizer or large-scale water projects than this one.
This is an optimization problem, but the optimum distance probably varies by where you live, season, crop, and so on. I can’t solve it for me much less universally. The Local Harvest site lists our local Food Co-Op, but I know for a fact that they truck stuff in from Tucson, and they probably import some of their goods. Perhaps this all adds up to “You shouldn’t live in the desert.” And so my struggle to understand where to go on this issue continues …
BTW, I recommend the Mutualist Blog. The proprietor, Kevin Carson, is a fan of NatCap and regionalism. Of course he doesn’t live in the desert, either.
Comment from ellarooblog
Time: June 1, 2007, 11:25 am
There’s the cold optimization of it, but there’s also the human and nutritional aspects. I do pay more for my eggs, but I’ve also met the chickens, as well as the rancher’s entire family. I know that the chickens range free on clean (no chemicals) grass, legumes, and bugs - as do his many children. 
I haven’t joined our local food co-op, either, because they truck in the food. I might as well get my veggies from the store, for less money and driving/trouble on my part, and probably more efficiency up the distribution chain.
I find that many of my left-wing ideals are just as complex and messy to implement. It’s enough to make one give up and live the American dream, as regularly scheduled.
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