Eating local hurts the planet?

[Jesse Hull]

Two scientists argue "food miles,"

the distance from farm to plate, is a worthless measure.

Article: Excerpt from 'The Locavore's Dilemma'

Interesting takes:

1- "The locavores’ only original addition to the rhetoric of past generations of food and environmental activists is the concept of “food miles”".   

OK, but do the reasons regarding local food have to be "original" to be important?

 

2- "[as opposed to during transport] food losses are more significant in retail and food service establishments and in homes... roughly a third of the food bought by consumers — was thrown out every year... Locavore initiatives such as Community Supported Agriculture result in more waste of fresh produce than is the case when people shop at supermarkets."  

Wow, really?  My experience is that those who take the time to grow their own food or buy locally are very conscious about what gets thrown away.  In addition, they are very conscious of HOW leftovers get disposed of (compost vs. landfill).

 

Comments?

[Sokota Ireland]

In our household, we grow a lot fo what we eat, (including meat) and all of our organic waste is composted, which provides us fertile soil for next years crop.

[Jesse Hull]

Ha! Funded by GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, and Phillip Morris.
Disagrees with over 90% of the scientific community on global warming.
C'mon Vlad, how bad could Heartland be really?

I haven't had a chance to dig into who funded Desrochers' & Shimizu's research yet...

[Vlad Jovanovic]

That excerpt reads like it was published by the Heartland Institute.