Eating Local: Is It Really Worth It?
1
Austin Ciuffo
Dr. Williams
Philosophy of Food
10 December 2016
Eating Local: Is It Really Worth It?
In modern society, there are several differing perspectives regarding the morality of food production and consumption. The mass production of food has brought forth major issues in terms of health, pollution, animal abuse rights and corporate greed. After exploring these issues, I have chosen to focus on the debate about buying locally grown produce versus non-locally grown produce. Locavorism is a term defining a person who chooses to eat locally grown food instead of food that has been imported from other regions around the country or world. Growing up, I always assumed that eating locally grown foods was better for my health and for the environment. It can be argued that a majority of the population likely holds the same belief. It took a deeper education about the food industry for me to realize the reality of the situation. Through research, I have found concrete evidence that locally grown produce is not as healthy and environmentally friendly as most people assume. In this paper, I will argue that locally grown produce is not as healthy or environmentally friendly as non-locally grown produce. I will then present an argument against my premises; followed by a rebuttal for why locally grown produce, in fact, is not as beneficial as non-locally grown produce.
My first premise against locally grown produce is based on its lack of health benefits. According to Bioversity International, “2 billion people suffer from micronutrient deficiencies, caused when one’s diet lacks essential vitamins and minerals required for proper growth and development, such as vitamin A, iron, zinc, and calcium.”1 Locavorism simply adds to this issue. Locally produced foods do not offer the diverse selection of fruits and vegetables that are necessary to maintain a healthy diet, due to the fact that farmers are restricted by their environment and geography as to what they can grow. According to GOODNET, vitamins A, B, C, D, folic acids, calcium, iron and zinc are the most important vitamins, nutrients and minerals that are necessary for a healthy diet.2 When relying on locavorism, it cannot be guaranteed that produce with all nutritional necessities will be available. On the contrary, at your local grocery store, you have access to many different fruits and vegetables that may not be grown in your area. Having access to a greater variety of fruits and vegetables that include various vitamins, nutrients, and minerals allows one to achieve a balanced diet.
My second premise addresses the negative environmental impact of local farming. In terms of fuel efficiency and the environmental impact, the mode of transportation is much more important than the distance of transportation.Helena De Bres uses tomatoes as an example in her article, “because boats use much less fuel than trucks and have greater storage capacity, the carbon costs, per tomato, involved in moving local tomatoes around many neighborhoods in multiple trucks may be higher than delivering them by a single large ship from a foreign country and then larger trucks across state.”3 These large shipments may also supply thousands of grocery stores, while local trucks delivering all over the state may only supply a few markets at a time. Therefore, it may be more fuel efficient to ship non-local produce on a large scale than local produce on a small scale. Also, shopping at a grocery store is more fuel-efficient for the consumer. It can be argued that it is much more fuel efficient for someone to make a one-stop shop at their local grocery store than for them to drive all around their towns to local farms, produce stands, or markets in order to buy locally grown produce.
As an objection, it may be argued that locally produced food is more beneficial than non-local in terms of health. According to the Rodale Institute, fruits and vegetables have the most nutritional value when they are ripe.4 The majority of the nutrients form as the fruits and vegetables actually ripen. From the moment they are picked, “their sugars convert to starches, their plant cells begin to shrink and nutrients begin to diminish.”5 When foods are grown in different states or even countries, it may take several days to several weeks until they arrive in one's local grocery store. Therefore, they must be harvested prematurely, preventing some nutrients from ever forming. In short, the longer the fruit or vegetable is able to remain on the vine and ripen, the better the nutritional content will be. Researchers at Montclair State University published a study that concluded: “the vitamin C content of broccoli was cut in half when it was shipped from out of the country compared to when it was grown locally.”6 The reason for this is because big production corporations use “special chemicals and gasses in order to delay the produce’s ripening process which means the nutritional value it had before it was harvested has ultimately been lost by the time it gets to the local grocery store.”7 Local foods do not have to travel far to get to the local market and ultimately the purchaser’s plate. Local produce takes an average of 24-48 hours to arrive after it has been harvested so there are no special chemicals or gasses required to delay their ripening process, allowing them to keep as much nutritional value as possible. The produce can ripen as nature intended and can be picked when its nutritional value is at its highest. Therefore, it can be argued that eating locally grown foods is more beneficial to one's health than consuming products grown non-locally.
My rebuttal to this objection is that buying locally grown produce, and still balancing a healthy diet, is not economically possible for most people. Purchasing locally grown produce is more expensive than buying produce at your local grocery store. According to a study done by Politics of the Plate, “local potatoes were almost 58% more expensive” than the ones available at a local supermarket.8Furthermore, according to a study published by the American Dietetic Association, “shopping at supermarkets, a low-income family would have to devote 43 to 70 percent of its food budget to fruits and vegetables to meet Dietary Guidelines, which recommends 5 to 9 servings of fruits and vegetables per day.”9 If a family is forced to use 43-70% of their food budget on produce at a supermarket, there is evidence that the percentage would be even higher were they to buy produce at a farmer’s market or other local food sources. This leaves them with an extremely low percentage of their budget to purchase other necessities such as meats, grains, sources of calcium and protein, etc. With such a low percentage of the budget left, the family may then be forced to buy extremely cheap, less healthy, and filling foods to try to fulfill the rest of their dietary needs. This makes the family overall less healthy than they would be had they purchased produce at a lower price from the supermarket, which would give them more opportunity to buy other foods necessary to fulfill a healthy diet.
In conclusion, it is clear that locavorism may have certain health benefits, but after research, the environmental impact and overall health effects do not outweigh these benefits. Eating locally grown produce limits one’s diet in a way that cannot be outbalanced by the lack of artificial ripening. Furthermore, the mass transportation of food is much more fuel-efficient than individual trucks taking one load of produce at a time and shoppers not being able to make one stop to get all of their dietary needs. Therefore, it can be argued that locavorism is not as healthy and environmentally friendly as purchasing and eating non-locally grown produce.
I hereby pledge that this paper is in accordance with Wofford College’s Honor Code.
Notes
1."Diet Diversity for Nutrition and Health." Bioversity International. Accessed December 11, 2016.
2."11 Essential Vitamins and Minerals Your Body Needs." Goodnet: Gateway to Doing Good. October 30, 2013. Accessed December 11, 2016.
3. Bres, Helena D. Local Food: The Moral Case. PDF. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
4."Why Local Food Is Better for You." Rodale Institute. October 17, 2013. Accessed December 12, 2016.
5.Ryan, Briana. "Why Is Local Food Healthier?" Greenopedia. July 14, 2014. Accessed December 12, 2016.
6.Mesenburg, Mary. "Why Local Food Is Better For You." The Good Food Blog. July 10, 2013. Accessed December 12, 2016.
7.Mesenburg, Mary. (Same Article)
8.Estabrook, Berry. "New Study Compares Prices at Farmers’ Markets and Supermarkets. The Results Might Surprise You." Politics of the Plate. May 10, 2011. Accessed December 12, 2016.
9. Williams, Carla. "Eating Healthy Might Prove Too Expensive for Poor." November 01, 2007. Accessed December 12, 2016.