What Does It Mean To Eat Locally

What does it mean to eat locally? There are two primary forms of “local” when it comes to food says Roslynn Brian from the Department of Environment and Society. One, “Direct to consumer (farmers to you) and [two], direct to retail/ food service (farmer to restaurant, hospital, schools, and organization).” Local food movement is a movement which aims to connect food producers and food consumers within a 100 mile radius of eachother. The local food movement is a growing trend in America today. Despite the issues of less food being available, local food is best for people because it, helps the environment, provides nutritional value, and allows communication between the producer and the consumer. Local food production can only help the environment …show more content…
Doctor Joseph Pimeral a professor at Correl University states “your food travels an average distance of 2414 Kilometers to get to your plate, which is part of the reason every calorie you eat takes an average of 10 fossil fuel calories to produce (qtd. Ironside 683). Adriene Jill a reporter for Marketplace, a radio program says, “Transportation only accounts for about 10% of the pollution created by the food we eat” (698). The other 90% of pollution is produced from storage and production. Reducing the distance the food has to travel, cuts down on the amount of fossil fuels that are consumed throughout the process. However Sarah DeWeerdt a writer based in Seattle believes that, “The environmental impact of food also depends on how it is grown. Swedish researcher Annika Carlsson-Kanyama led a study that found it was better, from a greenhouse gas perspective, for Swedes to buy Spanish tomatoes than Swedish tomatoes, because the Spanish tomatoes were grown in open fields while the local ones were grown in fossil fuel-heated greenhouses (DeWeerdt). Sarah is saying that even though these goods are grown locally they still damage the environment just as much as pesticides …show more content…
Say for instance you live in Ohio, but you love oranges. If you are in favor of the local food movement, oranges might not be attainable for you in Ohio. The distance from Florida to Ohio is 1,060.2 miles. Yes, local food decrease the traveling distance between direct to consumer and direct to retail production, but it untimely diminishes the variety of goods available in local food markets (Pelletier 703). Pelletier an author and blogger states that, “Most of the animal feed is made of ingredients that come from much farther than a 100 mile” (703). The supply of food will not meet demand with in a 100 mile radius. The things you love that are not in season will be