According to recent statistics, The average bite of American food has traveled
1,500 miles before reaching your table, changing hands an average of six times along the way. With that said, the growth and distribution of traveling produce requires almost 10 times as much energy as the food contains.
Really?Gabe recently told me there is a Strawberry producer that grows their strawberries in California, ships them to Colorado to get packaged, and sends them back to CA to be sold. WHAT?
There is something so wrong about all of this. There is perfectly good land to grow on all around us, not to mention regional produce is being grown where it shouldn't be, and being shipped to where it should be growing. This is what happens when eating becomes industrial and economic. Production of food is done as fast and cheap as possible, and these large industrial farms are detached from the earth they are growing in. Not to mention, we are eating up resources that aren't replenishing, and consuming energy that really, truly, doesn't have to be consumed.
One-fifth of America's petroleum consumption goes to producing and transporting our food!
The local food movement isn't simply about supporting the local economy, or eating fresher food. It is a statement against the industrialization of eating and this backwards way our food system have been structured. Next time you go to the market, check out where your produce is coming from, and think about how much energy is used getting it to you.
Of course not every type of food can be grown locally. But it would be a good idea for all of us to start thinking seasonally and become a teeny, tiny bit more aware.
Where to start? Maybe with a uber-local, energy efficient, Backyard Farm.....
(All stats were pulled from "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan. Read it, it's pretty great.)
Who Will Be the First White House Farmer? 
