Of course, the point isn’t some sort of abstract “moral purity” or forgoing “unnatural” methods of obtaining food; the point is to reduce the consumption of energy required to obtain your food. That means that any effort you make means something; if you make local choices some of the time, you will produce some energy savings. (I see WhyNot said this, and eloquently expressed the general principle.)
It’s something I should do more of. I try to choose products that are made in Quebec, but I should find out more about how to find them and how to adopt a diet rich in them. It doesn’t mean I’m going to forgo my morning coffee*, or clementines in December, but it would make the savings it would make.
*Although I only buy fairly traded coffee. As it happens, NDP MP Paul Dewar hosted a brunch in Ottawa this year in which all the products were locally grown – except the coffee. I think it would be politically unwise get your constituents up early in the morning and then not have coffee.
I think you did, in fact, pretty strongly imply that, but if you’re saying that was not your intent and it’s not your position, then I take back my comment.
Well, I don’t take back the fact that I’ve thought about the issue and disagree with the “buy local” concept, but I take back my criticism.
Since the nearest ocean to me is 700 miles away as the crow flies, it would be impossible for me to eat seafood on this diet. And there’s no way in Hell I’m eating any fish pulled out of a river or lake in Illinois. Blech.
Here’s an interesting article on “the Fife Diet,” the week’s menu for some locavores in Fife, Scotland (hardly a tropical clime, especially at this point in the year).
As has been pointed out, they’re not fussed about buying distant-sourced salt, pepper, wine, chocolate, and other staples; it’s about reducing your distant-sourced consumption, not eliminating it altogether.
I could probably fill most of my vegetable needs locally – my mom’s a member of a program where she gets a metric assload of locally grown organic vegetables every few weeks from a farm. Once, she got together with a neighbour and bought half of a cow, and was working on that for a large number of months.
Is it all about economics? The first thought that went through my addled brain as an impetus to sourcing your food locally is the safety issue. I try not to be a fear monger on most days and attempt to abate my outlandish fears with a tad bit of logic. However, the pet food scare, mad cow and the whole spinach debacle has made me think about the safety issues regarding large scale agriculture and food processing. If you buy a cow from Joe down the way, it is far less likely to be contaminated in a large scale processing plant thats effects span not just states, but continents. I’m not sure it is less likely to be contaminated overall, it would just negate your worry about such incidents.
As I read about the pet food contamination, I also read all the different brands that were affected. Dozens of brands, across every price point and from veterinary only brands to low-brow supermarket brands. How much do we really know about our foods? Exactly how dangerous is the current method? How likely are we as individuals to be affected by something like that?
I live in a hurricane prone state. Every hurricane warning that comes through (heck, even a tropical depression) the stores empty out of water, batteries, etc. How long could I live and eat without power or resources such as the local supermarket? Most folks, less than a week, maybe, if they stretched it, two weeks. Our dependence on quick access to commodities puts us in danger. I am working towards a goal of having 12 weeks worth of foods stockpiled. Not just against things like hurricanes, but also financial hurdles. To me, it is a security blanket against natural disaster, economic troubles, health issues and job security.
I know I’ve wandered a bit off tangent, but I do feel like such attempts can extend beyond the hippy ideologies they seem to start off as. I don’t believe such things as being more locally conscious of our food, being more environmentally responsible, conserving what/when we can are things that are better for us overall. Not because I necessarily give a shit or buy into global warming or terrorism, but because they are smarter for ME and MY family, economically, ecologically and financially.
I think I’d feel slightly safer with food from a large producer who has the money and incentive to take anti-contamination seriously. Serious money is going to be lost if a large producer makes the news as a source of contaminated product. If meat from Joe’s cow is contaminated it’s not going to make the news. It doesn’t mean smaller producers are safer, just less news-worthy.
I’d say it’s ok, but then I live next to a working shipyard and have much respect for those farfarers. Heck our cod comes from 800 miles Northeast of here and I consider THAT local.
I shop at a chain grocer and I get everything I need within three miles of me. If I became a locavore, I’d wind up wasting more gas and spitting more carbon monoxide into the air driving all over town trying to get everything I need. Seems rather silly.
Ultimately, I’m not going to buy things if the costs of doing so outweigh the benefits, or if what I get out of doing so is insignificant. I’m disinclined, for example, to start shopping at my local farmer’s market, because it’s 15 minutes out of my way and happens only during work hours on weekdays. I’m disinclined to shop at a store that sells organic, locally-grown produce when it’s a couple miles out of my way (I don’t own a car) and more expensive, especially when, in my experience, organic produce isn’t significantly better. At least, not sufficiently superior to make worthwhile the changes I’d have to make in order to get them.
Not long ago, I and some friends decided to do the locavore thing, at least for a while.
It wasn’t that difficult, because our local supermarket makes a point of stocking local produce whenever possible, and some of it is from the same farmers who sell at the farmer’s market. There is also a small butcher shop near me that sells locally-raised meat and meat products, and they buy from the same farmers, well, yadda yadda yadda.
However, I’m in a unique position, geographically speaking. I live within 50 miles of a lot of major snack food companies, including Hershey Foods, Knouse Foods (which makes Musselman’s apple sauce, among other brands), and Utz potato chips. As part of the experiment, we also considered economic factors. These companies (along with Giant Foods, our local supermarket chain) are based here (and have been), hire here, and use local foods themselves. The location of each company is not accidental – each is situated near the raw ingredients needed to make its products.
Given the economic benefits of each company’s presence in my region, I see no reason to feel smug at the expense of my neighbors.
Could - probably. I’m in Minnesota, but if you allow “fresh” to include “canned” and “frozen” it should certainly be possible to get through a Minnesota winter on local food. My great grandparents certainly did. Even my mother didn’t see an orange until high school.
Would - no. We are organic/coop shoppers for probably 30% of our groceries - and organic non-coop shoppers for an additional 30%. (The remaining 40% is complete junk - Pringles, Coke…) That translates into a lot of grown local stuff - since the coop tries to buy local where it can. But it isn’t a purchase criteria for us. I like bananas and oranges. We drink a lot of juice - and locally grown apple juice is good, but would get old. I’m gluten intolerant, making it difficult to eat breads off locally grown wheat - I get most of my grains from rice - not a common Minnesota crop. Plus it would mean no chocolate. I’m not giving up chocolate.
It’s something I’ve vaguely considered, but I wouldn’t try to start in mid December - but in spring, maybe.
It would definitely be healthier than what I’m eating now.
