The localvore's dilemma

original-bostonglobe
The localvore's dilemma

Sometimes buying local food helps in the battle against climate change. Sometimes it doesn't. And sometimes, it's just too confusing to decide.
By Drake Bennett | July 22, 2007

AT VARIOUS POINTS in the coming months, a few hundred of Vermont's most ethical eaters will take the "Localvore Challenge." The actual dates of the challenge vary from town to town, but the idea is that, for a single meal, or a day, or an entire week, participants will eat only food that was grown or raised within 100 miles of where they live.
Vermont's localvores (also known as "locavores" or "locatarians") and their counterparts around the country are part of a burgeoning movement. In recent years, as large companies with globe-straddling supply networks have come to dominate organic agriculture, "local" has emerged as the new watchword of conscientious consumption. Over the past year and a half, the interest in local food has been fueled by best-selling memoirs and manifestos about local eating and dietary self-sufficiency, such as Barbara Kingsolver's "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle," Bill McKibben's "Deep Economy," and Michael Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma."

The case for local food is several-fold: It tastes better, its proponents argue, and preserves species biodiversity. It shores up small-scale economies and communities in the face of globalization and cultural homogenization. It even, some of its advocates claim, protects against terrorism: a decentralized food system could limit the impact of a virus or other bio-agent introduced into the food supply.
~snip~
.
.
.
complete aticle here

Sustainable
Local
Organic

I'm not convinced that economies of scale trump everything else.

Also, those of us who live in warmer climates than Vermont probably don't have to buy hothouse veggies to buy local.

lead us to believe. For instance, if you're serious about local and seasonal and you invest some money in an energy star freezer and buy loads of goodies at their peak and put it up for winter then you're way ahead of the game. That's what we do. And as far as energy consumption our electric co-op gives us the option of 100% green/renewable sourced production which we avail ourselves of. It was great- we actually got a few dollars rebate last year when all the oil went sky high because the wind and geothermal energy was cheaper than the petro energy.

One thing's for sure and that is it's awfully hard to rationalise the food calories of salad greens or strawberries from California in Jan or Feb in the northern tier of states vs the energy expended to get them there.