There are many claims being made about the benefits of buying local food. But without a set definition, what does “local food” really entail?
In a speech given in fall 2008 at The Local Food Connection conference, David Lively, Marketing Director of Eugene-based Organically Grown Company (OGC), picked through the bin of local food claims and examined each for soft spots, discoloration, and sweetness. Here are selections from his speech. We invite you to contribute your own thoughts.
David Lively:
I want to spend some time today analyzing the claims that are made in the arguments for local food systems. I have followed the development of the local movement and its messages closely. Here is what I think of some of them. I have decided to rate them “No,” “Yes and No,” and “Yes.”
Does eating locally enhance FOOD SAFETY? – NO
It is a mistake to attribute greater safety to locally grown foods, and if the claim continues to be made it will certainly come back to haunt the local foods movement, because eventually something is going to go wrong.
There is very little, if any, reason to believe that your ability to look a farmer directly in the eye, or even to visit his or her farm, assures you of a greater degree of safety than if you ate food grown somewhere farther away.
Food safety is an issue for all farmers and all eaters, regardless of location. Nothing that we do – whether it is growing food for direct sales, labeling and tracing every leaf of spinach from field to refrigerator, or destroying all wildlife existing within sight of farmland – will ever be enough to ensure food safety.
Does eating locally ensure FOOD SECURITY? – YES AND NO
The food supply can as easily be attacked within the United States as outside of it. In fact, the closer it is attacked to the point of consumption, the less likely the attack will be detected.
When Hurricane Katrina hit, New Orleans’ citizens faced very real food security issues. OGC donated truckloads of produce. It was important that we had an efficient national food network that could transport across the country rapidly and house materials in large distribution locations. The national network served while the local network collapsed. Of course, it is important to establish a solid local food supply so that we can pitch in when others need us or if we become cut off ourselves, but it isn’t the end-all; national networks are also imperative.
On the other hand, there is the issue of the long-term ability of a people to feed themselves. I’ll buy this one with cash. I believe that the two most important issues in food sustainability are water and seeds.
Seeds are so essential that they have become a perfect point of attack for those powers that wish to take control of our agriculture, our food and our lives. Some of the most profound advocates of post-conventional agriculture, when asked “what is the most important thing we can do?” will tell you – “save seed.”
The local food movement can do us a great service on this front, and their efforts should be supported wholeheartedly.
Does eating locally mean food is FRESH? – NO
I have seen a lot of locally grown crops that were in very dire straights when they reached market. In most cases, freshness is not a matter of distance, but of condition.
Time and heat – together, they can make for a great vacation, but they are also the constant and deadly enemies of harvested fruits and vegetables. Produce coming in from local farms, few of which have adequate post harvest cooling equipment, need to be placed in refrigeration to help slow respiration. Food from distant locales that has been kept cold will be fresher than local produce that travels by truck bed on a hot day.
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:38 pm
The study of macrobiotics teaches even more benefits to mind, body and soul and demands local product.