Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

livingontheland - [Livingontheland] Buy Local

livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Healthy soil and sustainable growing

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] Buy Local
  • Date: Wed, 30 Jan 2008 19:20:19 -0700


Buy Local
http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/buylocal/


The concept of buying local is simply to buy food (or any good or service)
produced, grown, or raised as close to your home as possible. With
industrialization, our food is now grown and processed in fewer and fewer
locations, meaning it has to travel further to reach the average
consumer’s refrigerator. Although this method of production is considered
efficient and economically profitable for large agribusiness corporations,
it is harmful to the environment, consumers and rural communities.

Food Miles, Resources and the Environment
"Food miles" refer to the distance a food item travels from the farm to
your home. The food miles for items you buy in the grocery store tend to be
27 times higher than the food miles for goods bought from local sources.i

In the U.S., the average grocery store’s produce travels nearly 1,500
miles between the farm where it was grown and your refrigerator.ii About
40% of our fruit is produced overseas and, even though broccoli is likely
grown within 20 miles of the average American’s house, the broccoli we
buy at the supermarket travels an average 1,800 miles to get there.
Notably, 9% of our red meat comes from foreign countries, including
locations as far away as Australia and New Zealand.iii

So how does our food travel from farm field to grocery store? It’s
trucked across the country, hauled in freighter ships over oceans, and
flown around the world.

A tremendous amount of fossil fuel is used to transport foods such long
distances. Combustion of these fuels releases carbon dioxide, sulfur
dioxide, particulate matter and other pollutants into the atmosphere,
contributing to global climate change, acid rain, smog and air pollution.
Even the refrigeration required to keep your fruits, vegetables, dairy
products and meats from spoiling burns up energy.

Food processors also use a large amount of paper and plastic packaging to
keep food fresh (or at least looking fresh) for a longer period of time.
This packaging eventually becomes waste that is difficult, if not
impossible, to reuse or recycle.

Aside from the environmental harm that can result from processing,
packaging and transporting long-distance foods, the industrial farms on
which these foods are often produced are major sources of air and water
pollution. Small, local farms tend to be run by farmers who live on their
land and work hard to preserve it. Buying local means you can talk directly
to the farmer growing your food and find out what they do and how they do
it. Do they grow their food organically? If they're not certified organic,
ask them why. Many small farms, even if they haven't taken the
certification step, still utilize sustainable or organic farming methods
that help protect the air, soil and water.

Health and Nutrition
The Meatrix Parlour!Buying food from local farms means getting food when
it’s at its prime. Fresh food from local farms is healthier than
industrially-farmed products because the food doesn’t spend days in
trucks and on store shelves losing nutrients.v

Food transported short distances is fresher (and, therefore, safer) than
food that travels long distances. Local food has less of an opportunity to
wilt and rot whereas large-scale food manufacturers must go to extreme
lengths to extend shelf-life since there is such a delay between harvest
and consumption. Preservatives are commonly used to keep foods stable
longer, and are potentially hazardous to human health.
Industrially-produced foods are also difficult to grow without pesticides,
chemical fertilizers, antibiotics and growth hormones, all of which can be
damaging to both the environment and human health.

Even though most Americans live about 60 miles from an apple orchard, the
apples you typically buy at the grocery store travel 1,726 miles between
the orchard and your house.iv That’s further than driving from Portland,
Maine to Miami, Florida!

Local foods from small farms usually undergo minimal processing, are
produced in relatively small quantities, and are distributed within a few
dozen miles of where they originate. Food produced on industrial farms,
however, is distributed throughout the country and world, creating the
potential for disease-carrying food from a single factory farm to spread
rapidly throughout the entire country. The 2006 E coli outbreak is a good
example of this, as contaminated spinach from a single region in California
managed to sicken people in 26 states.vi

Products such as ground beef, which is pooled from hundreds of different
animals, are of particular concern. The meat from a single diseased cow
could end up contaminating hundreds of pounds of food distributed to
thousands of people. Once such a product is on shelves, it is very
difficult to determine where the contaminated meat came from. Preventing or
controlling disease outbreaks in such a system is nearly impossible.

In addition, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the federal agency which
inspects meat and poultry, does not have the authority to order a recall of
dangerous or mislabled product once it has left a plant. The agency can
only urge the company to issue a recall themselves. This often leads to
delays in notifying the public, wasting valuable time and increasing the
odds that unsafe products get eaten by consumers.

Family Farms and Community
According to the USDA, the U.S. has lost over five million farms since
1935.vii Family farms are going out of business at break-neck speed,
causing rural communities to deteriorate. The U.S. loses two acres of
farmland each minute as cities and suburbs spread into the surrounding
communities.viii By supporting local farms near suburban areas and around
cities, you help keep farmers on the land, and, at the same time, preserve
open spaces and counteract urban sprawl.

What You Can Do
Join the growing movement of consumers around the world who are making a
little extra effort to find food raised nearby.

* Check out our Eat Seasonal page to find when foods are in season in
your area.
* Buy food directly from your local farmer at a farm stand or a farmers
market. Or join a CSA group and get a farm share.
* Encourage your local grocery store to stock food from local farmers.
* Visit our Shopping Guide section for CSAs, farmers markets and other
sustainable outlets.
* Join the 100-mile diet movement.

Did You Know?

* The majority of the money spent on grocery-store food goes to
suppliers, processors, middlemen and marketers. Only 3.5 cents of each
dollar actually goes to the farmer.ix If you buy food from a farmers market
or farm stand, you can be sure that most, if not all, of your money is
going directly to the farmer.
Eat Seasonal
Hand in hand with buying local is eating seasonal. Find out what
foods are in season in your area.

* Communities reap more economic benefits from the presence of small
farms than they do from large ones. Studies have shown that small farms
re-invest more money into local economies by purchasing feed, seed and
other materials from local businesses,x whereas large farms often order in
bulk from distant companies. Large factory livestock farms also bring down
local property values with the intense odors they emit.xi
* A typical carrot has to travel 1,838 miles to reach your dinner
table.xii
* In the U.S., a wheat farmer can expect to receive about six cents of
each dollar spent on a loaf of bread—approximately the cost of the
wrapping.xiii
* Farmers markets enable farmers to keep 80 to 90 cents of each dollar
spent by the consumer.xiv
* About 1/3 of all U.S. farms are located within metropolitan areas,
comprising 18% of the total U.S. farmland.xv

For More Information

* Food Routes' Buy Local Campaign includes information on the benefits
of buying locally and offers resources for promoting local food production.
* Visit the Locavores website to get tips on eating food grown within
100 miles of your home.
* Watch the Harvest Eating video podcast to learn about shopping and
eating seasonally.

Reports and Articles

* A Guide to Serving Local Food on Your Menu
This April 2007 article from the Glynwood Center details how to serve
local food in your restaurant and other foodservice settings.
* Home Grown: The Case For Local Food In A Global Market
This paper explains in greater detail why buying local food is the
best choice.
* Food From Our Changing World
This paper outlines the preliminary results of a survey on public
attitudes about globalization's impact on food sources, production, and
safety.
* In Search of the Ripe Stuff
This May 2003 article from the Christian Science Monitor provides
background about the local food movement.

Sources

* Pirog, Rich, and Andrew Benjamin. “Checking the Food Odometer:
Comparing Food Miles for Local Versus Conventional Produce Sales in Iowa
Institutions.“ Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, July 2003.
* Ibid.
* Jerardo, Alberto. “The Import Share of U.S. Consumed Food Continues
to Rise." USDA Economic Research Service, July 2002.
* Pirog, Rich, and Andrew Benjamin. “Checking the Food Odometer:
Comparing Food Miles for Local Versus Conventional Produce Sales in Iowa
Institutions." Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, July 2003.
* Norberg-Hodge, Helena, Todd Merrifield, and Steven Gorelick. Bringing
the Food Economy Home: Local Alternatives to Global Agribusiness.
Bloomfield, CT: Kumarian Press, 2002.

* Fox, Maggie, “U.S. FDA Says Spinach Safe but Has Bigger Concerns."
Environmental News Network, October 2, 2006.

* USDA Economic Research Service. “Farm Numbers/Largest Growing
Fastest." Agricultural Outlook, October 2002.

* American Farmland Trust. Farmland Protection Issues. 2006, (accessed
October 2, 2006).
* Pretty, Jules. “Some Benefits and Drawbacks of Local Food Systems."
Briefing Note for TVU/Sustain AgriFood Network, November 2, 2001.
* Flore, Jan L., Carol J. Hodne, Willis Goudy, David Osterberg, James
Klienbenstein, Kendall M. Thu, and Shannon P. Marquez, "Social and
Community Impacts," in Iowa Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations Air
Quality Study: Final Report. Environmental Health Sciences Research Center,
University of Iowa, 2003: 148.
* Herriges, Joseph A., Silvia Secchi, and Bruce A. Babcock. “Living
with Hogs in Iowa: The Impact of Livestock Facilities on Rural Residential
Property Values," Center for Agricultural and Rural Development, Iowa State
University. Ames, Iowa, 2003.
* Pirog, Rich, and Andrew Benjamin. “Checking the Food Odometer:
Comparing Food Miles for Local Versus Conventional Produce Sales in Iowa
Institutions." Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, July 2003.
* Pretty, Jules. “Some Benefits and Drawbacks of Local Food Systems."
Briefing Note for TVU/Sustain AgriFood Network, November 2, 2001.
* Pretty, Jules. “Some Benefits and Drawbacks of Local Food Systems."
Briefing Note for TVU/Sustain AgriFood Network, November 2, 2001.
* Environmental Protection Agency. "Ag 101, Land Use Overview." EPA.
January 2004.






  • [Livingontheland] Buy Local, Tradingpost, 01/30/2008

Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page