You eat local, I'll eat global
Good for the people who want to limit their diets, as much as they can, to locally produced food.
I'm not with them.
Sure, they want to support local producers.
They don't want to contribute to the fuel consumption required to transport food long distances.
Those are fine ideals, but I really can't support them for personal and also broader economic reasons.
First the big picture reasons. The Triad is trying to build its economic future, in part, as a transportation hub. I think that makes sense, so I could hardly endorse practices that reject the value of moving goods to and from the Triad. Besides, we're part of a global economy, and I'm all for trade -- food products included. We produce a lot more pork and poultry in this state than North Carolians can consume; growers depend on shipping it to other markets. Trade isn't meant to go one way only.
Personally, I support globalism. I'm happy to be able to buy fresh fruit and vegetables during the winter, even if they come from Florida, California or even Mexico or Chile. Don't farmers and farmworkers in those places deserve to make a living, too?
In fact, I'd rather not give up a lot of the produce that comes from more than 100 miles away, the parameter used by some of the "eat local" folks. What's wrong with supporting the North Carolina seafood industry, or apple growers in Western North Carolina? Does anyone make orange juice or grow coffee within 100 miles of here?
I suppose we could carry this idea to other products besides food. If you buy a computer, make it a Dell. Smoke? Light up an RJR or Lorillard cigarette. What about a car? I guess you could drive a Thomas Built Bus.
Comments (7)
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Did we read the same article?
"Awareness is the real issue.
"It's teaching people about where their food comes from," she says. "To have a connection with what's going into their mouths."
There are no strict rules, no absolutes. Participants find what works best for them, concessions and all."
The 100 Mile Challenge is just temporary--to raise awareness. Many eat local advocates use an 80/20 guideline (80% local, 20% 'global'). I don't think this one is going to take down the transportation hub or the corporate farm industry.
Posted on June 1, 2006 4:19 PM
You connect in your way, I'll connect in mine.
Posted on June 1, 2006 4:31 PM
Besides, if you had dug a little deeper, you would have seen that I extended my challenge to include foods from North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia, when I couldn't find food produced within 100 miles. I ate seafood. I drank coffee. This was not an extremist diet - it was an exercise in paying close attention to where our food comes from. Most people haven't a clue. If you had just lost your family's small farm, your view might be a bit different.
I won't even go into the globalization issue, since it is much too complicated for a comment or even a post.
Posted on June 1, 2006 4:31 PM
All the best to you, Laurie. Of course I eat local produce when it's available but take advantage of other options, too. It's a matter of choice.
Posted on June 1, 2006 4:39 PM
That's great, because I tried very hard to express that choice is what this is all about. I would like you and I both to have that choice.
Posted on June 1, 2006 4:42 PM
Doesn't this issue tie in to your earlier blogpost, Mr. Clark, dealing with energy consumption/conservation? You'll recall I gave some practical suggestions for curbing costs for heating one's home. Eating locally may be another example of gaining "energy independence".
Thomas Jefferson's ideal was a nation of citizen-farmers. We might not go back to an agrarian society, even in NC (until the next Great Depression forces it upon us...and economists know this is inevitable...all of this goes in cycles, even if for a limited time...we were in the midst of unprecedented industrialization in 1929). Still, there are immediate benefits beyond eco-religiosity.
Imagine if we ate mostly local food, so the costs of shipping, storage and the like were discounted? We'd save money, too. Grow a fair bit of it yourself, and save a bundle. My wife's family gets bushels and baskets of produce every summer from just a couple gardens. We freeze and her mom pickles. Saves plenty.
As I may have remarked before, we live on one income and save the second one for retirement, etc.
Posted on June 6, 2006 1:15 PM
Hi man! Your site is cool!
Posted on March 21, 2007 6:38 PM