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Should you be a locavore?
Fall 2009 Newsletter

The Wellness Letter, published by the School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, has an article in the July 2009 issue called “Should you be a locavore?”

The article points out the advantages of a “100-mile diet” (everything you eat is grown within 100 miles of your home), but it also cites some possible disadvantages. For example, although locally grown fruits and vegetables taste better, not everyone lives near a farm or even near a farmers’ market. And for those of us in northwest Illinois, unless we freeze or can locally grown food, winter would be a time when few local fruits and vegetables would be available. The article also mentions foods that many of us would have to give up year-round: for example, lemons, oranges, coffee and tea.

Even reducing one’s carbon footprint is more complicated than it might seem. Researchers trying to calculate the exact energy cost (growing, fertilizing, planting, cultivating, harvesting, refrigerating and transporting) of various food items come up with different numbers. If foods are grown and processed more efficiently, does this make up for the energy cost of transporting them? Does transporting large amounts of food by rail or large trucks emit more or less carbon than carrying small amounts a shorter distance in many trucks? In addition, we might want to consider that “interstate sales of food are a major part of our economy, just as producing food for export is important in many developing countries.”

The one thing the article states as a “sure way to cut carbon emissions while improving your health” is to eat less red meat. A Scientific American article found that the annual beef diet of an average American causes as much greenhouse gas emissions as driving a car 1800 miles. And many studies have shown that people who eat a lot of red meat are more likely to die prematurely.

In conclusion, even though eating locally may not always be a perfect solution to global warming, it is probably a good idea. Instead of eating grapes and pineapples every day for breakfast, perhaps we should save them for occasional treats. And when we decide to splurge and enjoy that juicy rib-eye, at least try to make sure it was locally produced.

—Thanks to Nancy Winter for the Berkeley article. Go to www.simplylocalfood.com for more information.