Locally Grown - is it economically better?
posted in diet, economics, frugality, no impact |In my last post I wrote about stumbling upon community supported agriculture - eat locally grown food. Prior to finding this gem, in response to my high gas prices commentary Jay pointed out:
My gut says it’s possible that food grown elsewhere and trucked in could still be “better” for the environment than that grown locally due to various efficiency considerations. But I’m not making any claims as I have absolutely no idea which one is better. So, show me the data.
Now, very often writers (myself included) write stories based on loose information - half truths, speculation, or theories. So I’m going to attempt to look into the 100-mile diet and can we really save the world in doing so?
The 100 mile diet site has 13 reasons to eat local - here’s the ones that I feel highlight the economical reasons:
- 4. Get in touch with the seasons. - I love this one. Eat in season foods means eating foods when they are at their best and fresh, not frozen from god knows where (which means not putting the impact of world-wide travel on your food).
- 7. Save the world. - Yes, you can save the world as an Iowa study found. More information (like how much money would be pumped back into the local economy) can be found at WorldChanging.
- 13. And always remember. - Everything about food and cooking is a metaphor for sex. Okay, so it’s not an economical reason, but still, a little sex in cooking for two is never a bad thing.
Miles to Go Before I Eat has calculations available to help show the different methods of food traveling to your doorstep - it’s not pretty how much energy is wasted for far-off eats!
Has anyone else come across information arguing for eating locally? Or has anyone come across definitive information detailing how it’s all a crock?
