tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post5287358657844442352..comments2024-03-22T00:35:19.082-07:00Comments on Casual Kitchen: A Paradox For LocavoresDanielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388302796031288076noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post-8860349392523618072014-04-24T16:02:36.747-07:002014-04-24T16:02:36.747-07:00Brian:
I think the issue with transport was the s...Brian: <br />I think the issue with transport was the sheer time required. A trip by ship from Europe to the USA then could take many months. The simple fact that almost all settlers to the New World *had* to take up farming goes to show that it wasn't possible to depend on food shipments from Europe or anywhere else in the way we can rely on our transport infrastructure today. <br /><br />Your point is a reasonable one, but it still doesn't obviate the land use question in any way. <br /><br />DKDanielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02388302796031288076noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post-64976466330880834472014-04-24T15:34:54.098-07:002014-04-24T15:34:54.098-07:00I agree with the principle of questioning the larg...I agree with the principle of questioning the large scale utility of locavorism, but; your presentation of America in the eighteenth century is fairly hyperbolic. The mere fact that there were settler colonies in what is now the States should show you that transport was commonplace. Britain exported huge quantities of food to the Colonies and America would have also imported food from other nearby colonies.<br /><br />Which is all to say that even at a time when transport was a detractor people still depended on food imports to a large degree. Briannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post-61326900650444448882014-04-23T07:56:00.918-07:002014-04-23T07:56:00.918-07:00I read a book several years ago that touched on th...I read a book several years ago that touched on this. I am not sure what book it was, but I kind of think that is was The Way We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter (Peter Singer and Jim Mason).<br /><br />One of the things that really struck me was the following anecdote: you can buy rice grown in the central valley of California (I live in California), which is "local", or you can buy rice in Asia that is shipped to California.<br /><br />It actually uses less energy to buy the rice from Asia, because the rice is grown where it's natural to grow rice (as opposed to Central California where you have to pipe in a LOT of water). Shipping energy is less than production energy.<br /><br />I like to eat local to support my local farmers - when it makes sense to do so. It's easy to grow strawberries and broccoli here, and there are several ranches with cattle. But bananas, I'm out of luck - and apples don't grow terribly well. I'm fine with Washington apples.mm1970https://www.blogger.com/profile/09251260692988968988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post-50749037475843581952014-04-22T09:41:15.989-07:002014-04-22T09:41:15.989-07:00and p.s. on artisan or "heritage" produc...and p.s. on artisan or "heritage" produce etc. ...<br /><br />that is what food tourism is all about. chacha1http://www.ombailamos.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post-85900147458316293972014-04-22T09:39:27.699-07:002014-04-22T09:39:27.699-07:00I think locavorism and prudent, ethical land use a...I think locavorism and prudent, ethical land use are not mutually exclusive ... as long as people stop thinking of "agriculture" as something that is done only on wide horizontal tracts of land. :-)<br /><br />Hydroponics and vertical gardening seem to me to be the best options for the person who wants to grow as much of their own food as possible without having to own forty acres and a mule.<br /><br />New realities only become a "problem" when people try to apply old solutions to the new realities. chacha1http://www.ombailamos.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post-13399316719758465882014-04-22T08:04:04.759-07:002014-04-22T08:04:04.759-07:00Great comment Steve, thank you. I hear you on the ...Great comment Steve, thank you. I hear you on the artisan products, and I also wonder what will happen even to non-artisan products like your basic Macintosh apple: it doesn't travel or keep very well, it bruises easily... but man, if you eat a fresh one here in Northern NJ or in Upstate NY it is an unforgettable, delicious experience. The best apple in the world in my opinion. <br /><br />Except that it doesn't travel or keep very well, and it bruises easily! Which means that scale producers are going to want to replace this amazing apple with something that *does* travel and keep well and *doesn't* bruise easily. That's why you see more and more Granny Smith apples or crossbreeds like Jonamac apples in the grocery store year round. And it's not like Macintosh apples are exclusive artisanal products only eaten by hipsters either. Yet they are probably going to be displaced, eventually. <br /><br />So this is another issue I struggle with on the pro/anti locavore debate (even though admittedly this point contradicts the point of the post!). Non-local, scale-produced foods are successful in the market for reasons like cost, storage potential and sturdiness--factors that usually have little to do with taste. Yet another paradox. <br /><br />DKDanielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02388302796031288076noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post-11864839700555586602014-04-22T06:07:45.489-07:002014-04-22T06:07:45.489-07:00Given the infrastructure efficiencies, essentially...Given the infrastructure efficiencies, essentially the entire United States is "local", and being a "locavore" is generally useless. The argument is really between "corporate" producers versus "artisan" producers. Corporate producers create great volumes of consistent, largely standardized product. What the "locavore" is really looking for is what the Artisan producer is putting out there - much lower volume, more differentiated and unique product. And given our distribution efficiencies, this artisan product is generally accessible widely. "Locavores" want Berkshire pork, heirloom tomatoes, organic/pesticide free fruits/vegetables, grass-fed American Waygu, etc. All stuff that the big boys can't/won't produce in sufficient volume for their requirements. I love "local" Farmers Markets, but if you look closer at many of them, the actual products sold are these artisan products that are decidedly not from the micro-locale.Steve Tallanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05776976692095951323noreply@blogger.com