How Well-Traveled is Your Food?
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 05.12.06
TreeHugger has beat the local food drum before, with 10 reasons to eat local, experiences from the 100 mile diet and even four cities' worth of recipes for eating locally. Even so, many people are still not on board with eating locally grown food. In the US, the average meal comes from five different nations, and in Australia, it's not unusual for a meal to have traveled over 30,000 km from farm to plate. Here in the States, a group of bloggers have come together to try to raise awareness about the benefits of the local diet by starting the Eat Local Challenge blog. Each author is committed to eating exclusively local food for a specific time period (usually a month) and reporting on it. Several on the west coast have chosen May. Those who have taken the challenge this month report that they are learning tons of new things about their local foodshed, and are excited to learn about the endless possibilities that come with eating local food. Read the blog, take the challenge, eat local food, and we'll all be a little bit less well-traveled. ::Eat Local Challenge via ::The Age and ::Hugg (site in beta)
37,940 kilometers = 23,574 miles.
I'll start making eating local more of a priority when people decide that dressing local is just as important. How far did your outfit travel to get to you?
Hmm.. Why wait for others? Better to lead by example and do what you can.
Alisa,
Just based on shipping weight and volume - not to mention refrigeration - what you eat in a year has several times more impact than what you buy to wear.
And, hey, I get most of my clothes locally. At the resale shop.
This statement "[e]ach author is committed to eating exclusively local food for a specific time period (usually a month) and reporting on it." is not an accurate description of the Challenge. Each author (myself includes) created their own challenge. Links to their "pledges" are shown in this post. My focus this month is on my own kitchen: I want to cook meals made from foods grown within 162 km of my house. So far, I'm cooking a variety of delicious meals, with a few excursions from the 162 km circle. Living in Northern California makes this sort of activity possible. Someone in Ontario, Canada, for example, might pledge to find locally produced fruit preserves, eggs and cheese. There is room for all kinds of explorations of your local "foodshed."
Thanks for the precision, Marc.
We in South Asia, normally love locally produced food items- especially in the main meals, we eat locally produced rice, vegetables and fish. We do not have delicacy like western people but I must say that the taste of fresh food is much better than 1 month old imported foods.
To add onto what Marc has said...
I'm actually from Ontario and I'm attempting as best as I can to Eat Local to the greatest extent possible. I've never tried this before and I'm finding that my purpose, to learn more and equip myself with knowledge, is working well because as each week passes by... it's getting easier.
I'm getting to know artisanal cheese producers, organic/local/hydroponic grocery operators, farmers, fisherman, restauranteurs, etc. I'm forcing myself to ask questions I never would have before. It's one step towards being less ignorant and making a concious effort.
Maybe this isn't better, there are a lot of arguments against it. But how will I know what's better if I don't ask questions or even try it for myself?