dagblog - Comments for "An Environmentalist on the Lie of Locavorism"

Thank you for the very good

trkingmomoe — Sun, 12 May 2013 04:21:48 +0000

Thank you for the very good points. My income doesn't let me shop organic foods like I would like too. So I have searched out a way to provide some good quality foods with a share of a CSA farm and doing some growing for myself. It is important to have choices. My neighbors have watched what I am doing and have started to plant a few tomatoes and other plants. They didn't think that they could get anything to grow in this trailer park. I guess it is a matter of education. I have read about enterprising people who turned empty lots in cities like Detroit and Chicago into a income by urban gardening. It is good for the economy and good for the environment because plants do use CO2. Many urban area's don't have any choice and local gardens make a option that normally isn't there.

Boisvert doesn't actually

Donal — Sat, 11 May 2013 23:10:14 +0000

In reply to An Environmentalist on the Lie of Locavorism

Boisvert doesn't actually provide the math, but his article is probably a retread of Math Lessons for Locavores, a 2010 Stephen Budiansky NY Times OpEd, which was itself a retread of Food That Travels Well, a 2007 James McWilliams NY Times OpEd. In 2010, Tom Philpott, and many others responded in Grist:

The first thing to note here — editors and would-be media moguls, listen up — is that contrarians, too, can lapse into formulaic and repetitive arguments. McWilliams in 2007 and Budiansky in 2010 both went hunting for the exact same game: the shrill locavore who demands that everyone eat only food grown within a hundred miles, in order to save transportation energy. And both flatten that hapless specimen with a shotgun blast of impeccable logic.

The second thing to note is that the unfortunate locavore now splayed out before us is a phantom, a specter, what logicians call a straw man.

But a very organic straw man. Eleanor Starmer, of Food & Water Watch, wrote:

As it happens, I was already doing some food calculations the day Budiansky’s piece ran — but not of the sort he discussed.

My numbers included the following: As of Friday, 450 million eggs originating from two Iowa egg operations — both of which buy feed and chicks from the same company — had been recalled from stores in 14 states for salmonella contamination. These days, record-breaking food recalls are happening with disturbing frequency. We won’t soon forget the 2009 peanut recall that affected nearly 4,000 products; the 2008 recall of 143 million pounds of ground beef, the largest of its kind in history and which included beef distributed through the National School Lunch Program; or the 2006 recall of E. coli-contaminated bagged spinach that sickened hundreds in 26 states.

There’s a common theme underlying all of these food disasters. Each case involved one company processing or selling an ungodly amount of product to retailers and consumers across the country. This phenomenon is called “concentration,” or the control of a market by a small number of companies. And it’s come to our food system at a pace rivaling the takeover of our airwaves by reality TV shows.

The local foods movement is not so much about choosing between what’s grown here and what’s grown elsewhere. It’s about having any sort of choice at all.

As a boondoggly

EmmaZahn — Sat, 11 May 2013 15:18:57 +0000

In reply to An Environmentalist on the Lie of Locavorism

As a boondoggly public-private partnerships that uses more volunteers than paid staff, the Brooklyn Grange makes more sense than the Georgia Aquarium which occupies 13 acres of prime real estate and is filled with a whole lot of salt water and a bunch exotic non-edible sea creatures, some of which would actually eat people if they could catch them.

I didn't know what a CSA farm

trkingmomoe — Sat, 11 May 2013 09:46:26 +0000

In reply to An Environmentalist on the Lie of Locavorism

I didn't know what a CSA farm was until last summer, when I followed other food blogs. They would write about each box they picked up and then post recipes. So I looked for one in my area on the internet. I read nothing but good reviews on the CSA boxes from all over the country. Those boxes were treated like Christmas presents and full of good surprises. Some of the farms really put quite an effort into what they grow. They were getting produce that I only see once in a while at organic food stores. Many gourmet varities you see in food magazines are included in the box. Some people would go in together and share the cost and split the box. People are willing to go to eat and spend more for a meal that is cheaper at home. I see no reason to spend a little more for produce to make great meals when you don't have the funds to eat out. It gives you something to look forward too. Supporting local farming is a good thing even if it comes from a urban lot.

I have been urban gardening

trkingmomoe — Sat, 11 May 2013 09:04:51 +0000

In reply to An Environmentalist on the Lie of Locavorism

I have been urban gardening for the last 9 months and enjoying it. I also followed last winter the local CSA farm's newsletter. This year I plan to join and have been saving each month because it is expensive ($600) but I can also break it down in payments. But it is organic and has a long season here in Florida (Oct. thru May). I kept some of my canning jars from when I used to be able to can. I will freeze and can the excess that I get. They offer heirloom veggies and fruits too. I bought several pineapples this spring to get the tops to plant. I made pineapple jam out of some and it tastes so good. I am thinking of making another batch because I have priced it. Making is cheaper. The author of this article hasn't got a clue about what he is talking about. I drove truck and can tell you much of it is picked green and ripens in route. I had to make sure to not let them load me to the max weight because the fruit would put on weight as it ripened. Pineapple is bad for that. Oh and he forgot how expensive it is for fuel to run the refrigeration on the wagon or train car. My little strip of a garden has been a joy of yummy food. I had forgotten how good a cucumber tasted from the garden. The ones we get now at the grocery is bland and tasteless. I am working on a vertical garden because of space. I bought 2 heirloom tomatoes and have taken cuttings off of them (black Russian and orange strippy) and getting a second crop from the cuttings. I have a cherry tomato that has been producing all winter and must be a perennial because it has new growth from the roots. I am ready to put in hot summer veggies. You have to pick what grows in your area and fits your space. I am to the point now where it has become very cheap for me to do this. I use very little chemicals and have been sticking with heirloom seeds. Also pick veggies that are hard to find in market or expensive to buy. There is a lot you can grow in containers too. I live in an impoverished area and urban gardening is being encourage. You can't grow everything but there is plenty that you can.