Food Security critiques

So a friend of mine pointed me to some critiques of the local food movement. I think it's important to keep up with these dialogues as there is much to be learned. Hearing counter-arguments helps me think deeper about the movement, its goals and shortcomings.

Here is my summation of the arguments I've heard thus far:

AGAINST EATING LOCALLY

- Most of the greenhouse gas emissions from food come from its production, not transportation
- Sometimes imported foods are more efficiently produced
- Eating locally means driving more to find your food, contributing more pollution & GHGs
- Other lifestyles choices may be more important in saving the planet
- Food is one of the few products that poor countries can sell to the west
- Eating organic, vegetarian, vegan, or foods processed without the use of heavy machinery might be more important than eating locally.
- We don't have oil security, clothes security or electronics security etc so why food security?
- Nearly a third of the environmental impact of the food we eat is actually caused by us throwing food in the garbage.

ARGUMENTS FOR EATING LOCALLY

- Local food is fresher because it tends to be picked when ripe and shipped shorter distances
- We need to make sure that we can feed ourselves should something go awry with our global food system
- The average North American meal travels roughly 1,500 km before reaching our plates
- Local food is healthier, being fresher and less often genetically modified and/or sprayed with preservatives for shipping
- Eating local supports our local farmers: a dying breed who fill one of our most basic needs
- It is easier to find out where, how, and by whom your food is being processed when you are able to pinpoint or even meet the producers of your food
- Eating locally is not the be all and end all of the environmental movement. We can expand the concepts use in the local food mentality to create sustainable cities that engage in mindful trade without wrecking havoc on the planet through multiple avenues.
- The local food movement is part of a larger movement to consider the consequences of our lifstyle choice, composting projects are often seen alongside local food campaigns.

A few of my reflections:

- If you eat locally, but drive all over town/the province to find local food your positive impacts might be entirely negated. Same thing applies if you choose tomatoes from a greenhouse in December in Vancouver. Take transit to the store, or try a delivery company. Click on the Get Local link to find out what is local and in season.

- If we can buy from farms that use sustainable practices to grow, not giant tractors on swathes of decimated land we'll be doing a load more of good than the opposite. That is part of the eat local plan and I'll be doing my best to learn and share how this can be done.

- COMPOST! The nutrients we take from the land should go back to it, not be wrapped in plastic and left to decompose anoxicly in landfills, producing methane gas. For composting tips and ideas in Vancouver see the City Farmer link on the right, or check back to this blog, I'll explain how to set up a worm bin composter and keep it from smelling up your house.

- I just read in Businessweek Magazine (no joke) that even the head of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation thinks African cities should be producing food to feed themselves first: "If Ghana's farmers can find buyers for their crops, Raikes argues, they will have an incentive to make their land more productive and give this West African nation a more secure food supply" - Jay Greene, Blommberg Businesswekk Dec 14, 2009.

- Lastly, the fact that there are a million ways to be kinder to our life-sustaining Earth is exciting. Please don't assume that I think eating locally is the answer to all our problems, but it is a big part of the solution to at least a few of our problems (more on that later) and a great place to start.

I hope this helps! Constructive comments are welcome.

Oh yes, did I mention that this is a learning process? I doubt I would have thought so much about these issues had I not made this goal. It's all baby steps!

Happy day/night!