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BinaryApe, flickr
The 100-Mile Diet might get people to seriously think about where there food comes from, but it's a simplified view. As we've recently mentioned here on Super Eco, going vegetarian might count for more greenhouse gas reduction than going local and once you open up the debate to the other factors, the choices for a truly healthy meal become much more difficult.
This is especially true for people who live in large urban centers like New York City where almost all the food has to be shipped in from somewhere.
Growing method
A hot-house tomato grown in NYC using fossil fuels consumes more energy than a field tomato from California. However that same hot-house tomato in NYC using renewable energy compared to a tomato grown in a heavily irrigated drought-year in California will come out on top.
Raising method
When we move out of the vegetable realm into meats, does a free range lamb raised on a local upstate New York farm eating only from the famer's field and slaughtered on-site really require that much more energy than a bag of lentils shipped from Saskatchewan?
Processing
Something local that's pre-prepared and packaged will use up a lot more energy than something from farther away that's fresh. That seems like a given, but when when a tired locavore is out shopping at his or her local organic supermarket and sees "made from local ingredients" on a pre-packaged meal, the temptation to grab it is high.
Social-economic factors
How are the workers who grow the food treated? Now we're moving away from simple greenhouse gas consumption and into a broader definition of health, but could you really feel comfortable eating raspberries picked by illegal migrant workers with no rights and next to no pay?
Unfortunately the more detailed we get, the more complicated our choices become.
And if I think too much about it, I'll either give up eating altogether or find myself a patch of land somewhere and grow everything myself by hand using no electricity.
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Indeed. There are huge complications and sometimes local is a poor choice. The biggest single contribution you can make is going as vegetarian as possible as meat production is an enormous source of ghg.
After that you can use your own judgement.
Thanks Steve! As someone who has tried being a vegetarian and not been able to cope - it just does not work for my body - I continue to eat meat but pay attention to where it comes from and how it's raised.
And at all times I think back to my favourite quote: all things in moderation, including moderation. ;)
Thanks for this post Alex. As you indicate, choices are rarely as simple as we are first lead to believe. There are also a number of other issues such as food intolerance/allergies - someone with Celiac disease in Saskatchewan may have to ship in rice from afar just to survive. I think we all have to pick the best choices for our situation taking into account our preferences and our pocketbooks.
Jacki - that's a great example - there are so many other things to think about - it gets pretty crazy sometimes, eh?
Certainly it's a balancing act, and one that requires both label reading, and asking questions. Also, the more often you attempt to shop this way, the easier the choices get because you build a memory of things you've read and farmers you've talked to. It takes time and paying attention, something Americans are having trouble with in part due to all the electronic distractions that waste the day...cell phone, texting, twitter.
I will add that NYC has literally hundreds of farms within 100 miles of it. And wonder if we really need tomatoes at all to survive the winter? Either way, I wish more people would give their food the attention it deserves. We are what we eat applies to the earth as well as our middles.