A new movement took shape in San Francisco a few years ago. Concerned about food miles, a group labeling themselves "culinary adventurers" started making an effort to eat only foods grown or harvested within a 100 mile radius from the City. This at a time when the average food item in the US travels 1,200 miles before consumption. Cutting out 1,100 miles can have a significant impact on greenhouse gases. Because it isn't just the distance that matters. All during transit, many food items are refrigerated or even frozen, and all that adds a considerable burden to the environment.
Not all that long ago, 100 miles was a serious distance to go gather food. These days, the reverse is true. Some would call that progress. If it is, we will have to go back and regress, because it is not sustainable. This type of progress takes too much energy. Putting in 10 calories of fuel for every calorie you harvest may work when the planet has only a billion or so people. But it won't work once there are 10 billion.
These days an idea like eating locally grown food is so revolutionary that the locavores only attempted to sustain it for an entire month. Similar movements were started in the UK, Canada, and Western Europe. The San Francisco group began in summer, an auspicious idea. They were so successful that they extended their initial endeavor into September. Now they have been going strong for nearly three years. And a new word is in the dictionary: the locavore.
Eating "local" food is rather easy in California, as the state is a key food producer and one that produces a very large variety of items. Much of it is grown within the 100 mile radius too. The agricultural lands of the Central Valley are quite near and Sacramento is only about 85 miles away. Eating local during or close to the harvest season also made things a lot easier. But it is always good to start easy.
The real challenge comes in winter of course, when appealing fruits and vegetables from the Southern Hemisphere are splashed all over supermarket shelves. Yet that is the time when things really matter. No fresh food travels longer than fruit and vegetables from Chili in winter. And cherries from Chili for Christmas have become a great hit in the UK according to the BBC.
Eating local foods only is a great way to make a difference and reshape our economy into a more sustainable pattern. Sure, it takes some sacrifices and sometimes you have to forgo some instant gratification, but in the long run, it is healthier and better too. Locally grown food that is in season just tastes better than those watered down cherries and peaches from Chili.
Here is a great New Year's resolution. Try to eat local food only for an entire month. You will have to change your diet and it will take some effort and maybe even some hassle. Winter is a tough time in many parts of the country. But that is what New Years Resolutions are all about. Try something that is challenging. If you live up North, take a look at the Scottish local food recipes on the BBC website.
But there are rewards. You will rediscover food if you do. If you eat peaches year round, they don't taste special anymore. You forget about the taste and just gobble them up. This is not just fiction. There is a marked decay in taste in food. Consumers shop with their eyes and supermarkets know it. They push appearance and size of fruits over taste. And consumers go along. Fruits that used to have intense tastes and smells are now pushed out by oversized balls bloated with water. But with perfect skin.
Eating such food makes you fat. If you wait however, you will forgo immediate gratification. But the reward will be worth it. Nothing tastes better than fruits in season. And if you have to wait a long time for it, it will taste even better.
Friday, December 21, 2007
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