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A worthwhile article and commentary appeared the other day of interest to Eat Local
Challenge readers: Jeff McIntire-Strasburg of Sustainablog points to Samuel
Fromartz’s article on Grist, “Local
or organic? It's a false choice”. Jeff’s summation and comments are here.
What do you think? – Jack
Jack & Joanne live in Sonoma County and create/write the website Fork & Bottle.
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Fromartz' comments reminded me of Schumaker's saying "Small is Beautiful". Each time we eat, each time we shop, we have a chance to make a choice towards a more sustainable food supply, and buying eggs from my neighbor, even though not certified organic, may be much more sustainable than bagged, organic lettuce from a conglomerate. Thanks for keeping the conversation developing.
Posted by: Birdsong | May 22, 2006 at 06:39 PM
I think Fromartz makes an excellent point: let's not get too myopic. The real problem isn't that people are buying local when they should be buying organic or vice versa. The problem is that 99% of our farm land is treated with biocides and 98% of our food is soaked in the stuff. I didn't realize the numbers were that skewed. It was a wake up call for me.
I also felt relieved after reading the article. Sometimes I put pressure on myself to try to find the absolute best food choice and that's an impossible task. Just doing one is a good thing.
But I wouldn't say local vs. organic is a false choice. When Wal-Mart is the largest purchaser of organic food, we see that organic food is in danger of creating its own low-cost, low-value, centralized food system that relies on imports.
Rather, we need to buy both local, organic and sustainably grown food and humanely-raised animals and... the list goes on. We need to cultivate many food systems.
Posted by: SuzanneM | May 22, 2006 at 07:14 PM
I felt much the same way as Suzanne and Birdsong -- reading this article relieved me, somewhat. I do make an effort to buy locally-produced food, and now that I live in the Midwestern farm belt, that's even easier to do (and there's less of an excuse not to do it...). I try to buy seasonal produce. But there are times when I feel awfully overwhelmed by what to buy, what not to buy, and whether I'm making a difference in the long run. I enjoyed the article, as well as the commentary it's provoking, and I'll continue doing the best I can to support local, small-scale, AND organic farmers.
Genie
The Inadvertent Gardener
Posted by: Genie | May 24, 2006 at 08:40 AM
Of course, local AND organic... but just a quick reminder of all the benefits of organic to your own health...
http://www.organicfoodee.com/topten.html
Posted by: Ysanne | Mar 28, 2007 at 08:50 PM