Choosing local vs. organic foods.
Posted by dessie on Aug 08, 2009 · Member since Jul 2009 · 769 posts
Which is better for the environment - choosing organic or local?
If you go to the farmers market, not everything is organic, if anything.
However, some organic foods are shipped half-way across the world, which causes pollution and whatever else.
Personally, I don't have the choice of local at all (because of where I live).
We have a small farmers market 15 minutes away, but that's mainly corn and maple syrup.
I'm not even sure if the foods are from around here or if they bring them from Albany or something.
(1 hour drive).
I'm not looking for an argument of what's vegan, just what you would choose if you could only choose one.
even if you don't eat local or organic.
sorry if there is already a thread for this.
I was curious.
That's a hard decision--personally I would vibe out the vendor. If their stuff seemed gorgeous and exuded an air of happy, healthy produce, I'd gladly choose local. But I'm a big believer in organic, so it's tricky. Ideally they would be both!! Right now, I'm going to the farmer's market and will be avoiding the non-organic stand, but that's because I can. Everyone else does organic there. But in places where organic isn't as available, I think local is a really fabulous choice. There is just nothing like eating something that was just picked and super-fresh!
Sorry...I don't think I really answered your question! But it's a tough one...
:)
You don't have enough information.
Okay so lets say it's not organic, just how much in pesticides has been put down, and how much of that has contaminated rivers so on so forth. Also the cost to the enviroment of bringing to you, how local is it?
Then if it is from afar, and it's organic, has say, rainforest been chopped down to grow it?
Also what transport has been used to bring it to you? If there a long term plan for offsetting the cost to the enviroment? As carbon offsetting doesn't always work, e.g. the tree's are planted but not protected and just get chopped down in 15 years time etc.
I'm lucky enough to be able to buy organic and local, if not I'm not sure what I'd do.
It was simply hypothetical question, as we buy what is cheapest and not organic or local.
(we have food stamps).
thanks for your answers, guys :)
do you know who I am?
no, should we?
no, should we?
He's a 19 year old poster from the UK that enjoys debates. It's all there in his profile, lubes.
do you know who I am?
Flavor flav?
what kind of question is that.
Tom?!?!
To answer the question, I buy all of my groceries from Trader Joe's, and the produce is organic 90% of the time. Ideally, I would like to buy local and organic.
The closest hfs is in Saratoga, 45 minutes. and they don't carry produce.
The one in Albany does.
However, we buy most of our stuff at price chopper.
They have a "health food" section, which is pretty big.
I try to buy my packaged foods organic, although not always.
Tom?!?!
uh huh, sorry thought I quoted you.
Out of curiosity how local does a local set of produce need to be? within 5 miles? 10? 15? 50? 100?
Tom?!?!
uh huh, sorry thought I quoted you.
Out of curiosity how local does a local set of produce need to be? within 5 miles? 10? 15? 50? 100?
I will go to the farmers market and ask.
I've never been.
I've always been told it's more expensive, unless you buy in super bulk.
I will ask.
I honestly know nothing on local, but I thought it meant the farmers in the area uh, farmed it.
Glad you joined, by the way.
I buy local from the minnonites(sp?) it is local and organic and best of all cheap!!
Tom?!?!
uh huh, sorry thought I quoted you.
Out of curiosity how local does a local set of produce need to be? within 5 miles? 10? 15? 50? 100?
I will go to the farmers market and ask.
I've never been.
I've always been told it's more expensive, unless you buy in super bulk.
I will ask.
I honestly know nothing on local, but I thought it meant the farmers in the area uh, farmed it.
Glad you joined, by the way.
ah yes but by area what do we mean?
ah yes but by area what do we mean?
I live in the mountains.
so, we'll go with the adirondack area.
I buy local from the minnonites(sp?) it is local and organic and best of all cheap!!
Um, buying from the Mooninites is not local.
http://www.popgoesthelibrary.com/uploaded_images/mooninites-776380.jpg
maybe I live on the moon, CK........
Lately here in Spain and some other areas of Europe it is being shown that "organic" often translates as "three times the price for regular produce." There are supposedly all kinds of controls on how the stuff is produced and yet I'm always hearing about how this or that product has been discovered to be normally produced stuff labelled, marketed and priced as "organic."
I do what I can by buying seasonal produce from small local vendors, many of whom have their own market gardens or know the people they buy from personally, at least for part of their produce. But when it comes to stuff like sauces, tahineh, anything processed at all, "organic" is up for grabs, here.
From what I've read the general consensus is that it's better for the environment to eat local rather than organic. I'm lucky to belong to a local CSA that grows organic. I feel very good about that. I should pay more attention to where things come from. I'll buy a bag of organic oranges and get home and notice they are from California and I'm thinking "I'm in Florida and there are organge trees all around me. Ugh".
Personally, I've always suspected that the local versus organic debate was started by all the agricultural farmers who don't want to be bothered farming organic. I always find it telling when a smaller farm operation advertises "no spray" and then trash talks organics no end while you're picking through the produce. "You just have to pay a tax to the government" or "it's just a lot of paperwork" they say. "This is the same thing." No it's not. Organic standards include what kind of seeds you can use, what kind of fertilizer you can use, what kind of pesticides, etc. A lot of people don't like the standards but they are better than no standards at all.
At my farmer's market, which is pretty large, there are only a couple of organic stands, and they are by far among the smallest operations there. Then you've got Red Jacket Orchards, Stark and a couple of other hugies who clearly travel many many hours in their big trucks to get there. So they get the benefit of everyone's business by being considered "local," while the poor guys from Evolution Organics in New Paltz are struggling through this potato blight season with their sad tomatoes.
I am also suspect of the local over organic argument because only a fraction of the produce my family consumes can be grown here in the northeast. Am I really supposed to give up bananas, lemons, limes, pineapples, avocados, mangoes and ginger--all of which make near constant appearances in my kitchen? And what am I supposed to eat in the winter? Even at the huge Union Square market on Saturdays, in the dead of winter there are usually just a bunch of apples, some candles and bread, and that creepy sheep farm stand.
I don't think the people making the local argument are arguing that you shouldn't be eating produce from other geographic locations, because that is just too limiting for most folks. So at the end I see the argument boiling down to things like green beans, and why you should buy them from the farmer 5 hours away who is too lazy to farm organic.
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