‘Is local always good?’ – Part 2
Discussion continues around Andrew Martin’s NYT article, supposedly debunking arguments for local foods – although as I’ve written previously, I’m not so sure debunking is his aim. The point made by Tom Philpott at Grist is an important one – that in some cases non-local may be less carbon-intensive because we have systematically privileged conventional agri-business infrastructure over that needed for local food production and distribution. Philpott writes:
we’ve systematically dismantled the infrastructure required to make local food energy efficient, and invested billions of dollars in the industrial-food system. If we’re interested in an energy-efficient food system, let’s reinvest in local slaughterhouses, canneries, train systems, distribution points, retail outlets, etc., etc. [source]
Philpott is drawing on his critique of a previous local-food-debunking article published by the Economist, which suggested that local food shopping is worse for the environment than supermarket shopping.
However, I think there is another important point being missed in this discussion. The environment should not be our only concern when choosing where and how to source our food. Don’t get me wrong – I am as concerned about global warming and CO2 emissions reductions as the next local foods guy – but we are potentially missing a strong argument by suggesting that reducing carbon is the only reason that local food networks are a good thing. What about the people who are involved in food production? Would you say, on the whole, that conventional agri-business or local food networks are more equitable for all those involved in production?
This a point raised today by Worldchanging, and one which I touched on a couple of days ago in a post about the Food Carbon Footprint Calculator website. I’ll be writing about it more here, since it will form a major focus in my research. I would be interested to hear what those involved in the debate at Grist and in other places think about the role of social factors in local foods debates, in addition to the quest for carbon reductions??
