Pitfalls of Localivory

[RWebb]

Oregon man calls off quest to eat only local food

SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- A Salem man has called off a yearlong attempt to eat only foods grown locally because he says he was adding more greenhouse gases to the atmosphere by driving around the state to shop.

"I felt like I was doing it for the wrong reasons in the end," Justin Rothboeck said. "I was doing it more out of a sense of guilt than actually enjoying it."

With four months to go on his quest, the 26-year-old law student and former vegan quit trying to eat only food grown, processed and sold in Oregon and Washington.

The early end to his experiment illustrates the problem that advocates of local food face in their effort to bring consumers fresher, more nutritional food that is easier on the environment because it reduces carbon emissions for transportation.

Rothboeck said he realized that by driving all over the Willamette Valley to find local food, he likely spewed more carbon than his local diet was preventing.

"There is an inherent assumption that when you shorten the amount of miles the food traveled that you reduce your carbon footprint," said Deborah Kane, the vice president of the Food and Farms program at Portland-based Ecotrust.

"It is so oversimplified. The amount of fossil fuel burned to fill your grocery store with products is nothing nothing at all compared to fossil fuels burned by shoppers bringing food home."

Most farms in the past had been very diversified to sell to local markets, said Larry Lev, an Oregon State University extension economist.

"Farms grew a lot of different crops," Lev said. "Then farms became specialized in a limited number of things."

Now, just 13 percent of the farms in the United States produce 80 percent of the food, Lev said.

Rothboeck helped some people reconnect with locally grown food, according to followers of his experiment who commented on his blog.

He helped point out the many issues that eating locally brings up: food security, transportation and carbon emissions, lost knowledge of food seasonality and how food is grown, industrial growers versus family farmers, and dollars spent on marketing versus production.

"The local spin on things is interesting because I like to buy things locally," said Susan Chase.
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If a single consumer can't do it around here, then it likely cannot be done anywhere.

But, if the whole food supply system is concentrated more locally, then I'll bet that substantial GHG and energy savings could be achieved.

[mudman]

I think it is pretty sad that he wasn't able to easily achieve his goal. A good percentage of Europe does it as a matter of course, but I can't buy carrots that don't have serious miles on them. (not that I would buy when I can grow)

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by mudman

(not that I would buy when I can grow)

No kidding. Our garden is maybe 50 feet by 50 feet and we can't eat all it produces. My wife cans as well.

But we can't, because of our zone, grow certain stuff we like (think celery).

Not sure where this kid was headed. Sometimes it is cheaper by the dozen.

[jyl]

I suspect how feasible 100% local is, depends on the time of year. And how desirable 100% local is, depends on how varied a diet you like.

During summer/fall, the local farmers market has most things I want. Veggies, dairy, cheese, bread, meat, poultry, shellfish, some herbs. Local fish is available too. Within 1 mile of my house.

However, during winter/spring, the local stuff dries up - not surprising, given our latitude/climate.

And even in summer/fall, the local fruit selection is very limited. Want a pineapple, or an avocado? Not going to find it local, here in Oregon. And of course there are more ethnic or exotic foods that aren't local - e.g. my daughter's fave, tofu.

In the end, I support buying locally, but "all things in moderation" still applies. Doing things 100% just to make a statement is, well, just to make a statement.

[HardDrive]

Why must it be 100% local? Why would you even try to do such a thing? What a stupid western way of thinking about it.

Buy local when possible.

There. That was easy, wasn't it?

Why does everything in this country have to be some kind of death sport?

"Wind Power or DIE!"