Social Change: The Locavore Movement

An act of social change should reflect the public’s overall appeal to the idea in order for it to be effective. Throughout these seven sources, the positions vary on the benefits, the flaws, and the uncertainty with being a locavore, an individual who decides to eat products that are locally grown or produced. Although the distance for transportation has little effect on the carbon dioxide emission from the food, the locavore movement works on the key issues of health and diversity; however, while the economy of the small farms is increasing in the community, the larger distributors’ prominence is declining. Health is one of the main focus points of the locavore movement. It is suggested that eating local foods is better for an individual’s …show more content…
Local food provides a variety of food that products being transported long distances lack. Since foods that do not travel a long time usually have a shorter shelf life and does not have a high-yield demand, “the [local] farmer is free to try small crops of various fruits and vegetables that would probably never make it to a large supermarket” (Source A). These varieties can range from different apples to different potatoes. These large businesses and supermarkets can only have their central focus on selling an abundant amount of food. Plenty of people would not be interested in consuming the same categories of food daily. Thus, the variety from local foods would be engaging for the individual. There is also another way to view how local foods encourage more diversity for the community. A shift to relying on local foods can “bring back diversity to land that has been all but destroyed by chemical-intensive mono-cropping” (Source F). When the public becomes more informed about the consequences of chemical-intensive mono-cropping, the people will realize the importance of variety in their foods. This diversity can restore a community and establish a better relationship between the producers and the consumers. As more people are educated of the results of the lack of variety, the chances of carrying the locavore movement …show more content…
It is through this social change that the local economy increases, but the economy of the larger distributors diminishes. It was in 2009 that “$2.3 billion was set aside this year for specialty crops...that were grown by exactly these small, mostly organic farmers” (Source E). This number grew from the $100 million that was usually provided for these local farmers in the past. These farmers are then open to more opportunities to better supply the people with the needed nutrition and health. It also encourages more variety considering it is through this growth that crops, like eggplants, strawberries, and salad greens can be grown. On the other hand, the locavore movement would hurt farmers that grow fruits or vegetables from other parts of the world (Source C). Many countries hold transactions between each other with produce. If a well-off country stops having deals with the less-wealthy one, it would threaten the livelihood of many farmers and also the residents who live in the latter. This social change is appealing for the consumers in the local perspective, but it is not as productive on the global