Someone dear to me challenged my desire to eating locally. This person tells me that doing so is bad for the glocal economy and may even require more fuel consumption than eating foods from all over the planet. Here's what I have to say about that. (If you already think eating locally is the way to go, you might skip this post).
While fuel consumption is an issue when it comes to eating locally versus from factory farms, it is not the only concern.
There are really three goals: Local, sustainable, organic. Local generally assumes all three. Why do I care?
Local is best because we are then getting in-season produce that is spared the long journey that requires excess fuel and makes the food days old before it even becomes available to us in the grocery store. The argument proposes that it takes more fuel to start plants in a greenhouse in cooler climates (such as Maine), than it does to transport them. I vow to dig up more information on this.
In the meantime, what kinds of vegetables and fruits are we talking about? Plants such cucumbers, pepper and tomatoes do take a few weeks of indoor growing before they can be planted outside here, but many others - carrots, peas, spinach, potatoes - can be planted right in the ground making it unnecessary for any extra fuel to be spent. I still doubt the energy requirements for starting cucumbers indoors is greater than what it takes for them to arrive from South America, but I'll see if I can back that up. Fruits and veggies that require even warmer/longer growing seasons - citrus and bananas - are simply not a part of the true locavore's diet. That person would need to get their vitamin C and potassium from other sources.
There are still other benefits to eating locally. Eating food that comes from your neighborhood farmer ensures freshness, which means it has retained the greatest amount of nutrients. Plus, small farms can grow a wider variety of produce. Fruits can be selected for their taste and nutritional value instead of for their ability to resist pests and travel long distances.
Speaking of pests, let's look at the benefits of organic food, meaning the use of chemical pesticides, and in the case of livestock, antibiotics and growth hormones, is restricted. Pointing out the obvious, I don't want to eat chemicals. These chemicals do have health risks for humans. Less obvious is the negative effects they have on the plants. The more chemical pesticides are used, the less effective they become, as the pests build up resistance.
Another issue is genetically modified plants, commonly grown by factory farms. As I already mentioned resistance to chemicals and pests, and ability to survive transport play more of important role here than taste and nutritional value. I don't think I have to tell you which choice I would make. Who wants a pink, mealy, tastely tomato, when they can eat a red, juice, sweet one?
The third issue is sustainability. Here's where I real know the least. It is also the issue that has the greatest global consequences. My basic understanding is something like this: Farms that follow sustainable practices (generally organic, not genetically engineered food, crop rotation) will survive the longest. This means they can stay put rather than move to another area, cutting down more trees. This means we can feed the world for longer without creating more global warming. OK, I may be seriously off base on this one, so I'll stand corrected if so. I'll also vow to do some more research.
Then, there is a bonus to eating locally: less packaging. Even if I eat organic produce that I buy in the supermarket, I have to buy it in a package. No matter how much I try to recycle some of that inevitably ends up in landfills. By eating local veggies, especially if I grow them in my own garden, I have much greater control over how much packaging is used.
I was also told that the global economy would suffer if we stopped buying food from South America. I'm not an economist, and never will try to be even an amateur one. But, I have two thoughts... I prefer to think that it is more important for me to support the local economy than the abstract global one. I don't even believe that the people of Costa Rica are benefiting if I buy their bananas. I think some large corporation that could be based in the U.S. or elsewhere is benefiting. Secondly, my simple mind thinks that all the reasons above are more important than money.
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