Eating Local

Why do we expect a variety of produce to be inexpensive and available year-round? Perhaps if the true cost of growing strawberries and tomatoes in the winter time and trucking them thousands of miles were reflected in the cost, people would adjust by eating locally.

By focusing on the span of the growing season and on local consumption, you can make sure that you’re eating smart and supporting your local farmer. Want to know what’s in season right now? That’s easy – just visit the homepage of the National Resources Defense Council. With a quick search, I found a long list of produce available now in Wisconsin or in bordering states including: beets, bunching greens, cabbage, carrots, garlic, horseradish, Jerusalem artichokes, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce mix, mushrooms, onions, parsnips, potatoes, rutabagas, shallots, spinach, sweet potatoes, turnips, and winter squash.

Sure, I can go to my nearby grocery store and purchase tomatoes for a reasonable price. But those tomatoes were likely shipped from across the country – shouldn’t those food miles be (perhaps substantially) reflected in the cost? And if they were, wouldn’t I be more inclined to make squash soup rather than bruschetta for tonight’s appetizer?

The NRDC notes that, “In the space of a generation, we’ve become accustomed to eating food that’s never grown roots in local soil. In fact, most produce grown in the United States travels an average of 1,500 miles before it gets sold.” Those food miles quickly add up, and they contribute to global warming and air pollution. But what if we noticed those food miles more readily, like in an increase in our grocery bill?

The issue of food prices also ties into an earlier blog post on California’s irrigation problems. If eating local depends on the sustainability of local farms, and if the sustainability of local farms depends on irrigation, perhaps we need to take a hard look at our priorities and our practices.

According to the World Water Forum, farming accounts for 70 percent of the world’s water consumption – and most of its wasteful use. By designing and implementing more efficient irrigation systems, we can address problems related to water shortages and we can continue to support local food consumption. Of course, new irrigation systems cost money. What if the government implemented a tax on non-local food? Such an idea has already been proposed for soda, which could result in hundreds of millions of increased state revenue. Would American taxpayers support it?