Eating locally isn't always better

by Rigel Celeste (Subscribe to Rigel Celeste's posts)
Aug 8th 2007 2:33PM

Have you been making an effort to eat locally? Why? There are lots of reasons, but one of the biggest ones is the thought that the shorter the distance food travels to get to you the smaller the carbon footprint it leaves in the way of consuming fossil fuels. But measuring the environmental impact by "food miles" alone can be surprisingly misleading. Once other factors like production, water use, and harvesting techniques are put in the equation suddenly local isn't always better.

Case in point: lamb raised in the lush fields of New Zealand and shipped across the ocean by boat to England use four times less energy and environmental resources than lamb raised in British pastures, because there the fields are exhausted and the farmers use feed. And meat isn't the only product where it may be more energy-efficient to buy it from across the globe than from across town, similar situations were found for dairy and fruit.

Wow, what a mess. How are we supposed to know?

Via Slashfood

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Comments (3)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Chris A 8-08-2007 @ 3:41PM

Why does this blog constantly try to find exceptions to the rule? The fact that people are starting to be conscious of how far their food has traveled is without a doubt a good thing. Are we now supposed to abandon the philosophy of buying local as a rule of thumb? Of course not. Bringing up a single exception is pointless unless you are trying to get people to change their buying habits. Unless I know the details about every farm, buying local is still a good strategy.

Rosy 8-08-2007 @ 5:17PM

I don't think the article is trying to discourage anyone from buying locally as a general habit. If we are to be truly conscious consumers we should make every effort to be aware of what really accomplishes that end and it reminds us to put more thought into how we do it. I find that the biggest shortcoming of ecologically oriented websites, tv shows, etc. is their lack of balance in the information they provide, simply relying on the current rhetoric.

Stewart 8-08-2007 @ 7:25PM

As energy becomes more expensive it will push the price of food with high carbon footprint higher. Why not just select on price, assuming no subsidies are distorting it.