'Locavore' is the Oxford English Dictionary's word of the year

http://www.sierraclub.org/compass/2007/11/them-bellyful-but-we-mindful.asp

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Them Belly Full but We Mindful

'Locavore,' a word describing those who eat only (or more realistically, mostly) local foods -- that is, foods grown and harvested in the local 'foodshed,' another neologism of note -- is the Oxford English Dictionary's word of the year. Another environmental term in the running was 'upcycling,' defined as "the transformation of waste materials into something more useful or valuable."

Locavorism (if it really has attained the status of -ism) is an extension of the Slow Food movement, which strives to make us all more mindful of the foods that sustain us by taking the time to cook and savor it. Mindfulness is a laudatory goal, to be sure. In that spirit, however, it seems important to acknowledge something which locavorism's champions often seem reluctant to admit; namely, that the very idea makes one at least as mindful of the limitations on eating locally as it does the possibilities therein.

Even in a place like the San Francisco Bay Area, after all, where the term locavore was coined and which is blessed with a long growing season and a climate amenable to a wide variety of crops, some things are just out the window. Coffee, for example. And bananas. And maple syrup. Other things only exist in very limited quantities -- things like, say, olive oil and even wheat. And there went breakfast. Still, I salute the intentions behind it. I do. It's great food for thought. It's just that, well, ... excuse me while I go refill my coffee.

but the essay points out some insurmountable problems. I'd still like to see decentralization of agriculture occur where it's practicable, however. For example, California's central valley is a great place to grow vegetable crops due to its long growing season, but it requires a tremendous amount of water for irrigation and millions of gallons of fuel to haul produce to every far-flung locality in the country. I can foresee a day when it becomes cost-prohibitive for Big Ag to concentrate operations in specific areas while enduring ever-increasing costs for water and shipping.

If decentralization leads to competition for ADM and ConAgra, it seems to be a good thing. And if organic farming is able to break Monsanto's stranglehold on modern agriculture, that doesn't sound so bad either.

discussing such things:
http://casaubonsbook.blogspot.com/2007/11/more-will-be-asked-of-us-revisiting-100.html

It gives a whole different meaning to this trend.

A snippet:
The simple truth is that no matter how wonderful the local markets, your local farms probably won't support most of the populace. Thus far, local food is a luxury item, for those in the know, and those who have access to it. Because of the sheer number of interested consumers, markets are indeed expanding rapidly - and that's absolutely wonderful.