The Produce Riddle Part 1: Organic VS Local
by TreeHugger 
on 03. 8.05
In a capitalist economy, your purchases and buying habits can have the same weight as how you vote. Treehugger is committed to raising consumer's awareness of how those purchases can play into the bigger world environmental picture. And out of all the things we buy, what we buy the most often is our food. The food we buy influences quality of life, usage of gasoline and petroleum resources, and toxic chemicals worldwide. So, in this two-part series, we'll look at how you can use your produce purchases to vote for a sustainable future. To start with, you need to know that organic produce may not always be the enviro-conscious picnic it's cracked up to be...
The BBC has an interesting piece about a UK study which found that in Great Britain, the total environmental cost of organic produce could be higher than that of non-organic local produce, because of the potentially long distances it had to travel to get to the market. As is often the case with trend-driven products, like organic produce, the idea that it is "organic" commands higher prices, which, in turn, allow more money to be spent in producing the same crops.
This increased spending allows growers to be located much further away from the point of sale, since now, more money can be spent on transportation and refrigeration. Now spending more money is fine, but the real cost of all that shipping fruits and vegetables around is in oil usage. Ships, planes, trucking networks, and refrigeration systems all run on oil energy. And all that oil contributes carbon output to a system which could be nearly closed-loop as far as CO2 emissions are concerned.
The BBC article focuses on Great Britain, but in the United States and Canada, the problem is even more severe. Tomatoes and peppers are routinely brought north as far Chicago, New York, and Montreal from southern Mexico and Central America. In the past when tariffs kept imported fruits and vegetables priced relatively high, apples might actually have been a fall fruit only; now in major cities, you can find as many as 5 varieties year round, from as far away as New Zealand and Chile. With these kinds of long haul travel, even organically grown produce can use as much oil and chemicals as the most fertilized locally grown stuff.
It's no trick realizing that this is a problem for those of us concerned about excessive oil usage. The real tricky problem is figuring out ways of buying produce that doesn't fall into this trap. Tomorrow in part two of our story, we'll look into some simple things you can do to try to reverse this trend. :: The Organic Dilema at the BBC [by DM]
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Until the late 1970's, when grocery chains consolidated and integrated their supply chains, local "truck garden" suppliers were allowed into even the biggest chains during summer. Most of those sources closed from the double whammy of supply chain integration and suburban sprawl, which drove the family owned truck gardeners out of business and off their land. Presently, US-based organic farmers often are forced to live far from their customers and to participate in national distribution schemes in order to get market access. That means they utilize the same trucks, packing houses, shipping crates, distribution centers, crates, routes, and routes that every other supplier does. In winter, the same logic applies to organic growers in Mexico or Florida supplying Maine customers. So whats the difference here on the transit burden? Can't wait to see the next installment.
I'm lucky enough to live close to Amish country. Not only are vegetables locally grown, but their done without any pesticides, petrochemical fertilizers or fossil-fuel burning tractors.
What a very interesting article, it does make the prospect of eating organic seem rather grim. However, in many areas of the US - such as New Hampshire where I live - pretty much ALL of our produce has to be trucked in, organic or not.
For those of us in snowy climates there's not much we can do to buy locally in the winter. Alternatively, it would be super-cool if the trucks used for shipping converted to running on vegetable-based bio-diesel. The idea of my organic food coming to me on a bio-diesel truck makes me all giddy inside!
I don't eat organic produce because it's carbon neutral or how far they have to travel to me, I eat them because I don't want all the extra chemicals and fertilizers used to produce them. If I can buy local I will, but if not I would rather they be trucked in from Mexico than grown with pesticides and other harmful chemicals.
This article clearly points out local is better, most people would agree, but it is NO reason to not eat organic.
Long-distance food also supports the need for wide highways that carve their way through wilderness areas, creating barriers and hazards for wildlife.
There are plenty of ways to eat local organic – from supporting organic markets to gardening and preserving fall food. Even in the winter, I can find locally grown organic potatoes, cabbage, carrots, turnips, squash, apples, and more. See http://www.veg.ca/issues/local_organic.html for more info. Or click on my name below.
There's a great book about this subject, just published this year by World Watch, called "Eat Here." It's by Brian Halweil.
Lots of good info on local food:
http://www.worldwatch.org/features/food/
i don't think i've ever been faced with an "either organic or local" decision. they are usually the same option. the local vendors at our farmers' market were the first to offer organic produce in my area and the conventional produce was shipped from places like south america.
buying organic today encourages more organic production in the future which means it will eventually work it's way closer to the customer. it's a budding industry for the mainstream and needs consumer support in its infancy (probably not a fad). organic suppliers want to make money too and if they are wasting it on travel, then they will move because it effects their profit. if the local farmers see people choosing organics, they will be influenced. if people stop buying organic, the farmers will stop growing it. maybe the long-term result of buying organic is more important than the short-term 'damage'.
as for NH, some produce can be stored in root cellars all winter (cabbage, squash, apples, corn). check out Mother Earth News for great tips and how-tos for local seasonal food in all climates.
I would prefer that my veg/fruit be grown locally but I buy organic because of the health benefits, not for environmental reasons. I'll gladly pay more for organic produce that's trucked in than for locally grown food that is contaminated with pesticides.
I am concerned with environmental impact but I'll bet that the majority of organic produce buyers buy organic for health and not environmental reasons.
Locally, while some of us may dislike Whole Foods, they do buy much of their produce from local organic growers. I'm in Seattle, and I can usually do better - with farmers' markets and CSA, but sometimes I go to the Whole Foods or the Puget Consumers' Co-op, and I can find local organics there.
Hmm... I notice that the Whole Foods here in NYC has most of its produce coming from California and Texas. One thing that nobody has mentioned yet is that much of local produce, though it may not be "Certified organic" is pretty clean. Being certified organic is a very rigorous process that some farmers dont want to hassle with. Here in NYC I buy local from the farmers market. In the dead of winter I can buy apples and root vegetables. The apples from the farmers market, though not certified organic, are good enough that they dont give my throat the itchy reaction I get when I taste a gross supermarket apple.
As for the New Hampshire question... well... I hate to say it but, in the snowy winter, if you want to live close to nature and NOT eat imported foods, you probably have to eat some meat. If not, it's potatoes, cabbage, carrots, turnips, parsnips, celeriac, apples, and lots of lentils... which, incidentally, has been the bulk of my diet this winter...