I do not always buy local.
Shocking, but true. I buy my produce and meat as locally as I can, but my
staples come from the Big Box Store. I’ve mentioned before in this blog that
being a locavore year-round is simply not practical for me and my family, so I
do my best, and balance it with whole, mostly organic, products from the grocery store. Recently I’ve
seen a trend in my favorite box store that I’ve found disturbing; in the
vegetable and fruit cases are several signs like this:
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| Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky |
Wow, you say, that’s great! Local food is becoming more available,
even in large chain supermarkets!
That’s progress, right?
Well, I answer, it begs the
question, how local is local?
“Locavore” is an invented word, of
course. People have started identifying themselves as locavores in response to
the trend over the past 30-40 years of shipping food from faraway places in
order for any and every food to be available anywhere at any time of the year.
This group of purists has agreed upon a simple definition of “local”: food that comes from less than 100
miles away. For me, that is a
circle which roughly covers one quarter of my state north to south, and one
half of my state east to west. As we live in east central Illinois, the circle
extends into Indiana, to just before Indianapolis. Looking at the map above, such a circle would be extremely
small in comparison to the five-state spread shown. I’m relatively sure that a truck shipping cherries from
northern Michigan is using a lot of resources to get to central Illinois. It may even be part of a distribution
center system for the entire Midwest.
More than that, this advertising
for eating local is missing basic elements that reach beyond a calculation of
distance. If you are eating local,
you must factor in answers to the following: 1. Do you know the farm (and is it
possible to even trace the product back to a particular farm, instead of a
cooperative)? 2. Have you met the farmer? 3. Is your purchase having a direct
effect on the livelihood of the farmer, and thereby supporting the local
economy? 4. Is it possible to visit the farm and see firsthand the food you and
your family are consuming? 5. Are there chemical-free/organic farming practices
in place at this farm?
I struggle already with the
decision to eat locally grown products that are not organic or grown without
herbicides or pesticides versus products grown far away bearing the “certified
organic” label. Usually I make my decision based on lists of the “dirty dozen”
or the “clean 15,” such as the one recently published in the Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/01/dirty-dozen-2014-ewg-pesticides_n_5246989.html
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| My organic kale has traveled from California |
The decision often boils down to
whether I’m willing to pay extra—sometimes double—for a certain piece of
produce. But the reasoning is
never simple. I generally take a
lot of time to grocery shop, since I'm considering so many factors.
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| Often my decision to buy organic or not is based on cost |
So, if I consider myself relatively well informed,
and I still have a difficult time deciding which products to buy, think how
hard it must be for those who don’t have the time to do the research, and are
depending on the store to inform and educate. At this point, most people have
heard of the value of eating local, but many don’t know how to go about it.
Using “local” as a marketing pitch
is a cheap shot, Big Box Store.
Your product still comes from 500 miles away, and contains toxic
chemicals, and uses loads of resources to transport. And Consumers, please take
a minute to consider truly local produce; you can find it at a farmer’s market,
in a local CSA, or at a local co-op. You could even find it in your own back
yard. It may take a little more
effort, but it is definitely worth it to truly buy local, and to not fall prey
to yet another advertising scheme.
I was unaware that “local” was agreed by locavores to be within 100 miles. I like that definition and agree with the principles behind it. It does take some extra time to search the sources out ….at first……and then it becomes part of your repertoire and you do it without thought. It is worth the initiating investment.
ReplyDeleteAs for cheap shot or advertising scheme, I am still undecided. The term “local” has been used as long as I can remember and can have several meanings; in this community, this county, this region, or even this country. Much like the term “made in America” it has been historically used to help consumers ensure that local producers are included in the supply chain and your dollars are supporting someone local. Locavores have the added additional intentions such as reducing the eco-impact of shipping and storing.
According to the website of the big box store in question, they have stores in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky. They may have been using the term local to indicate the apples came from the Midwest region—which they clearly indicated-- rather than Washington or Chile. Did they deliberately attempt to deceive the patrons, were they using the term to depict the Midwest, or were they merely misusing a term that has no uniformly agreed on or legal definition?
More importantly, as you pointed out, consumers need to pay attention to what terms mean. The map is there, pay attention. I also see a NuVal rating of 96 on these apples, which is a fabulous rating, if you know what it means and the rating aspects are important to you.
Adoption of a national legal term of “organic” took over 30 years. This is a good example of why having similar certification for the term “local” might be important as well.
Great post and follow up comment about some things I hadn't thought of. It is complicated sometimes to try and eat according to our principles, and it isn't always possible to do it exactly the way we would like, but I think you are doing well at being very thoughtful about it.
ReplyDeleteCyndi, good point, especially about determining the limits of a shared definition of "local." It was a combination of factors that made me think the "local" branding was a sort of deliberate scheme: placement of the item between its more exotic counterparts, for example, or next to the organic section so shoppers are faced with a price dilemma. As for apples, no one disputes their nutritive value; that's why we often make a decision to buy non-organic varieties if organic is not available (and wash it carefully in vinegar or a vegetable wash). As I understand it, the NuVal rating has to do solely with nutrition, and doesn't factor in possible toxins applied to fruits and veggies. But apples always show up in the "dirty dozen" list of most pesticides detected. Discussion of how to settle upon an agreed definition of "local" might be fodder for another blog post! Thanks!
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