Eating locally features many benefits, but is more complex than just a slogan.
Yesterday, I met with a close friend. He’s a great conversationalist and consistently inspires quality philosophical discussions. This chat was no different. He was in the market for some convincing evidence on the value of eating locally; a fair question, given the media propaganda we’re surrounded by. We’ve been told that eating locally reduces our energy impact on the world around us. From the Huffington Post:
A growing number of studies, including one recently published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, suggest that our food production and distribution systems are incredibly complex, making it increasingly difficult to rely on bumper-sticker solutions.
I truly dig the push to not take food movements (or anything related to how we spend money) at face value. We are a nation of trend followers at best, sheep at worst, and we must be consistently mindful of the incentive of the messenger.
That said, and to keep this concept simple, it’s difficult to make an argument that walking next door to your neighbor’s house to their chicken coop to grab some eggs is inferior to driving 5 miles to Whole Foods or Vons and buying even the highest quality eggs. This is not a complex environmental math equation. Our drive pales in comparison to the trip the truck driver might take to get the food to your supermarket. From Clemson University:
On average, most food travels over 1,500 miles before it reaches our plates. These are called food miles. That distance obviously has a negative impact on the environment. Transportation costs (by truck, rail, or air) must be added to the price each of us pays. The transporting vehicle burns fossil fuels that pollute the environment. Often, packaging is heavier to protect contents traveling great distances. And preservatives may be applied to maintain freshness. All of these things have a negative impact on the environment.
While this is true, there are far too many variables to consider to make this a black and white discussion. Eating a locally grown tomato in February southern California is drastically different proposition than eating a tomato “locally” grown in a hothouse in New York. The energy required to produce foods where they don’t naturally grow is a significantly higher cost than the energy required to transport those foods, even over long distances. If your dietary habits stay the same, eating local foods doesn’t benefit the environment.
There is, of course, another potential benefit to eating locally. Locally sourced food has a shorter time between harvest and your meal. Subsequently, the nutrient value is less likely to have decreased. Food imported from across states (and countries) is older, has traveled long distances and often sits in distribution centers before arriving at the doorstep of your vendor.
We can take much of the guesswork out of this conversation. Instead of blindly following a rule about only eating food from within (x) miles of your house, commit to eating mindfully, locally and seasonally. Go truly local whenever possible. We can grow our own produce and hunt or raise our animal flesh. We can befriend others committed to these practices and cut a deal. The closer we can get to that ideal, the healthier our environment and we will be.
Be resourceful,
Kap
Chris says
As almost always, great perspective Kap.
Gabe Kapler says
Thanks, Chris.
Laura says
Commit to eating mindful is a GREAT way to help someone eat clean. Where I live, the growing season is so short but finding my everyday fruits &vegetables is not a problem Today the wind-chill is -6 outside but rest assure my spinach & fresh strawberry salad will make it seem like summer.
bill says
some fascinating advances in technology may soon see us producing most of our food locally. Apparently our traditional ways of producing food are grossly inefficient, and extremely damaging to the planet, compared to what they can be. Exciting times ahead!
gavin says
The Kapquation: Good intentions + good information + independent thought – over-complication = Sensible Solutions. Allow occasional challenges to decisions, but generally sticking to the tested formula promotes an efficient, principled progression through life, sans energy-depleting pollutants. An open-source code for use in numerous applications. As with most everything, if everyone makes even just a little extra effort, exceptional results ensue (my own formula, maybe worth a challenge on occasion).
lien says
yes, best way is to get the locally grown organic veggies/fruits is from certified farmer’s markets … we have quite a few excellent ones in the los angeles area like hollywood, encino, beverly hills, long beach, santa monica (sat and wed, arizona and 2nd) is one of the best in the countries, imho, especially the one on wednesday … i am not a raw tomato eater but the tomato season arrives the stands there offer more than a dozen different varieties for customers to try and some of them just blew me away (one of my favorites is the beautiful gold/orange sweet and fruity pineapple), same for stone fruits like peach, plums … and so many other kinds of produce that we don’t normally see at supermarkets … even more true to the local eating is grow your own 🙂
Peter Summerville says
Lien,
Where in Encino? I would love some more specifics on that.
-Peter
lien says
Hi Peter, Encino is in the San Fernando Valley north of Los Angeles and the farmer’s market is on Victory Blvd http://encinofarmersmarket.org/about-us/, http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/encino-farmers-market-van-nuys#-QHMH3f5P2hLHbhpfAEb-w
Peter Summerville says
Lien,
That is valuable information! Thank you for sharing that. I just moved down to SFV so I am excited to try out some of these places.
All the best.
-Peter
lien says
you are welcome 🙂 … if you are into vegetarian food then this place is worth checking out, imho, http://followyourheart.com/
Jack says
I go to the Santa Monica ones fairly frequently – apparently the one on Wednesday is frequented by a lot of chefs in the neighborhood, which I assume is a good thing. Like you said, some of the properly-ripened tomatoes you can get at these markets makes the supermarket stuff taste like cardboard 🙂
lien says
the wed one is almost twice as big as the sat one, it has the best farms and many chefs go there … but the sat market is wonderful too … and yes, as far as flavor goes the same can be said for peach and apricot … prior to discovering how fragrant, juicy, sweet they are from the farmer’s market i could never eat the ones in the regular markets … can’t wait until the summer to enjoy them again 🙂 … and also harry’s berries 🙂 … i love to recommend this book from one of my favorite farmers http://www.masumoto.com/our-writing-art/mas-writing-2/epitaph-for-a-peach-four-seasons-on-my-family-farm/ … he will be down in long beach in may http://www.aquariumofpacific.org/events/info/the_future_of_food_mas_masumoto/
Jill says
I have trouble finding “Local organic” produce…faced with the choice, is it better to go local or buy organic even if it has traveled X miles to get here?
lien says
my 2 cents is if you can’t find local organic then it’s better to buy organic because we don’t want local produce that’s grown with chemical fertilizer, pesticide, or gmo (genetically modified organism) unless that you go to a certified farmer’s market and the farmers don’t spray the fruits/veggies (i always ask if the stand doesn’t specify organic) … i understand the dilemma of eating organic food that has been transported from far away 🙁 … but my personal health experience had kind of dictates me to stick with organic food. If you live in southern California then i like to share this link for local organic or chemical-free produce http://www.localharvest.org