MORE IN LOCALLY GROWN

In most regions of the U.S., the types of produce and other goods vary season to season, with a bountiful selection in the spring, summer and autumn, while root crops and cold-stored items make up the bulk of winter’s offerings.

Most food that Americans eat is commercially grown in Washington, Florida or California. If you’re not in or near those states, it could mean that your oranges or apples are traveling quite a distance to get to your grocery cart.

According to Local Harvest, a nonprofit resource for locating farmer’s markets and family farms, most produce that Americans eat is picked more than four to seven days before it’s sold, and shipped an average of 1,500 miles before it is stocked in supermarkets (this doesn’t take into account foods that are imported from other countries). The distance that food travels, often referred to as “food miles,” is often called to attention to point out that the great distance that food is transported causes oil and energy waste, pollution and traffic, packing material waste, increased contamination risk, and the prevalence of large-scale farming practices such as use of pesticides, chemical fertilizers, and hybridized or genetically modified crops.

Proponents of buying local foods say that patronizing nearby farms and producers can enhance and support the local economy and allow a larger portion of the consumers’ food dollars to go directly to the farmer, rather than to unnecessary expenses and middlemen. Buying from local farms saves valuable natural resources and, in many cases, results in better products, since food is usually fresher, grown with fewer pesticides and packaged without much of the wax, preservatives and chemical ripening agents used on far-traveling produce. Finally, many smaller, local farmers use organic farming methods and grow crops that are bred more for taste than for long shelf life.

There is no true definition of how close to the point of purchase food must be grown to be considered local. A study by the Leopold Center at Iowa State University showed that most people consider local foods to be grown 25 miles or less from the purchase point. Others have a more nebulous definition, such as within the state, region or watershed.

While a handful of major supermarket chains, such as Whole Foods, are making an effort to include local products in their offerings, many large chains national cannot handle the logistical issues of buying from smaller, local farmers. But there are other places to buy local foods than at your local grocery store. Farmer’s markets, food co-ops and farm stands are all options, as are the Community-Supported Agriculture programs that are becoming more widely available, in which members of a community can “subscribe” to a nearby farm to receive regular deliveries of the farmer’s yield.

History

Before refrigerated trucks, superhighways, and even the railroad system, eating locally was the only option for Americans.

But with advances in transportation, the low price of fuel, the development of chemical methods to ripen produce and to prolong its freshness, and the growth of national, multi-million-dollar supermarket chains that demanded volume that only large agribusinesses could provide—along with the novelty and convenience of having any type of fruit or vegetable available at any time of year-- the distance between the vine and the plate rapidly increased. Consumers became increasingly reliant on produce that was shipped from across the country, or even from overseas, and smaller, local farmers who found it increasingly difficult to compete with the huge agricultural operations that were often subsidized by government grants.

As Americans began seeing the toll these practices were taking on the environment and on small farmers, many began to find ways of supporting their local businesses. Chefs in the 1970s, such as Alice Waters, whose Berkeley, Calif. restaurant Chez Panisse still celebrates local bounty today, began to develop relationships with nearby farmers and food producers to source foods that were fresher and of better quality than what they received from their national distributors, a development that also helped spur interest in American ingredients and indigenous regional cuisine. For consumers, farmer’s markets, independent food stores, and food co-ops were among the first sources for local goods. As a growing number of chefs across the country started to look in their own backyards for better-quality produce, meats and cheeses, they helped to promote the practice of patronizing smaller farmers through their menus, helping these struggling farmers to survive in the face of the competition from agribusinesses.

Today, many cities have active CSA programs, a few major retailers like Whole Foods are setting an example by stocking a portion of their produce, cheese and meat departments with local products bought by their regional offices, and a handful of colleges and schools have also incorporated local produce into their cafeteria’s offerings.

Context

If you’re buying locally, don’t expect to find tomatoes in February or strawberries in October. Unless you live in or near an incredibly fertile growing region, buying locally often limits the variety of your options, since you’re limited to the foods that are grown in season, as well as those which can thrive in the local growing conditions—i.e., you won’t find oranges at your farmer’s market in Wisconsin.

Locally grown foods often can cost more than conventional foods from major agribusinesses. This is in part because smaller farmers don’t necessarily benefit from the government subsidies given to larger agricultural corporations.

Finally, some are concerned that focusing on local farmers and businesses comes at the detriment to the sales of imported foods that help the economies of less-developed countries, who rely on cash crops and food exports.

External Links:

Wikipedia - Local Food

Local Harvest

FoodRoutes

Localvores

Tufts Food Awareness Project

Locally Grown Food: Good for our health, and the health of our communities

Locally Grown Foods Find Growing Market

University Support of Locally Grown Food

Whole Foods Market’s Locally Grown Produce

Study Shows Increasing Consumer Support for Locally Grown Foods

In Oregon, Thinking Local

Slow Food USA

Further Reading:

The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan

Bringing the Food Economy Home: Local Alternatives to Global Agribusiness by Helena Norberg-Hodge, Todd Merrifield and Steven Gorelick

Experts Say Eat Local for Health, Planet and Wallet By Jeb Tilly

Home Grown: The Case for Local Food in a Global Market by Brian Halweil