What Local Foods Backlash?
- Topics:
- Blog, Local Food
Wednesday, January 7th, 2009, 3:58 PM
Just checking out that Time magazine hot trends of ‘08 again and seeing their commentario on local foods. Apparently, another food trend from last year was the locavore backlash.
The backlash, which certainly got a lot of media last year in my opinion mainly because the media loves controversy and saying the heretical–and, after all, what could be more sacrosanct than praising your local tomatoes?
Never mind that one of the big articles that set off the local debate raised questions about the benefits of Brits chomping on home-raised vs. New Zealand raised lamb. The study concluded–and the author of the article concurred–that it was actually environmentally better to choose the far-flung meat than the local meat.
Michael Shuman did a fantastic take down of the research study, arguing that the comparison was apples and oranges. (Read more here). He also pointed out that with study funding from the New Zealand lamb industry, the results (eat more New Zealand lamb!) seemed a little biased in nature.
It seems to me that the locavore message suffered not from an analytical flaw, but partly from a messaging one: the locavore celebrants have a whole set of criteria for the food they desire–it’s not just about mileage. Locavore’s are also seeing food that’s raised sustainably (and for many justly) raised; they’re seeking to make consumer choices that support community building, not just a food company’s bottom line. But of course many who hear the word “local” simply think “distance”, missing out on the holistic complexity of the locavore message.
I’ve also noticed that the local foods critics tend to use extreme examples to build their cases, like comparing driving 15 miles to buy some farmers market peaches vs. picking a peach at your mega-grocery store where economies of scale arguably increase efficiency. Sure, the first instance is not so environmentally sound, but I don’t know many locavores who get the importance of picking local produce and somehow miss that spewing all that gas to get to the market is not smart. Again, most locavores I know are holistic thinkers, the kind of people who will walk to their farmers market, bring reusable bags when they do, and compost the leftovers when they’re done. In other words, a pretty eco-minded bunch.
Finally, this off-base local foods backlash doesn’t seem to be making much of a dent in what people are actually doing. Says Michelle Locke of the AP, this currently (hot) trend is taking shoppers of all stripes by storm: “Suburban moms? Check. Artisanal-cheese-sniffing foodies? Double check. And how about shoppers in the decidedly unhippie halls of Wal-Mart?”
I guess the backlash hasn’t translated to people turning up their noses at local turnips and that’s a good thing–for our health and for the climate.
March 17th, 2009 at 10:55 pm
As someone who participated in the Splendid Table’s Locavore Nation project for a year (we were solicited to eat at least 80% local and blog about it), I must say that in a way we were kind of written off in the end as being too “pie in the sky )quote un quote).” We were honored yet presented as a fad.
I don’t think that that is true. What’s wrong with buying locally and seasonally when it makes sense? For example, what is wrong with my choosing to buy milk from a family -owned dairy in Western Washington if I live in Western Washington? Buying milk from California is silly if we can support the local economy if good food is produced by local farmers.
Paulette
March 18th, 2009 at 4:34 pm
With the White House announcing its digging in to their own vegetable garden and thousands of kids doing the same in school gardens across the country, I think it’s becoming harder and harder to claim that interest in local is a passing, or fringe, fad. Tell that to the First Family!
March 19th, 2009 at 8:05 pm
That’s right! I am so excited about the news of the Obama’s garden. What an example they’re sending to the country–to the world!