Posted: 02/28/07

Is local the new organic?

Tara Hostnik
thostnik@smcvt.edu

A few summers ago, I worked at John and Velma Brigante's Farm Stand in Colchester. The Brigantes, the lovely old couple who owned the farm, were the sweetest, most down to earth people I have ever met. Every day that I worked, I would go out into the fields, pick some fresh strawberries, toss them in my mouth and enjoy the fresh flavor. I always knew, although they were not grown organically, the produce was safe since I knew where it came from. I knew the farmer who spent hours laboring over the patch, and the produce did not spend a week traveling across the country and sitting on the shelves at Hannaford’s.

I used to think that only purchasing foods with the USDA organic stamp of approval was enough. However, a part of me is realizing perhaps a more pressing issue concerning the source of my food— one that would even further aid in building sustainable communities.

In response to the increasing number of E.Coli (short for Escherichia coli) outbreaks in spinach across the United States, people have begun to question where their food comes from. Those who choose to buy organic foods (which are grown without the aid of potentially dangerous pesticides and herbicides) are not necessarily risk-free from other types of contaminants. It may not even provide “environmentally-friendly” incentives if the food comes from a source thousands of miles away.

There are several problems associated with foods that must travel long distances, such as the spinach that travels thousands of miles from California to Vermont. Most produce in the U.S. is picked four to seven days before being placed on supermarket shelves, and is shipped for an average of 1500 miles before being sold. And this only takes into account U.S. grown products. Those distances are substantially longer when we take into consideration produce imported from Mexico, Asia, Canada, South America, and even further places.

One major problem is that shipping food is antithetical to energy efficiency. By traveling such a far distance, it contributes to the ever increasing problem of global warming. We are able to enjoy this luxury now because of America’s extremely low oil prices (especially compared to prices found in Europe, Australia and other parts of the world). Once our oil resource has been used up, prices will rise, and so will the cost of food. Some estimates have already declared that we have reached peak oil, however the supply continues to rise.

Secondly, a health factor is involved. Long-distance travel requires more packaging, refrigeration and handling as it is passed from person to person. This may result in higher chances of contamination. When you buy from a local farmer, the food is fresher since it has not spent days in the truck or lying on the food shelf losing its nutrients. Preservatives are used in some foods to help them last longer, even though these could also be harmful.

The outbreak of E-Coli in spinach is a good example of where industrial-grown food as gone wrong. A single industrial farm managed to sicken people in 26 states when the E-coli outbreak in spinach occurred in 2006. If you buy only from local farmers, it would be much easier to track down the source of the problem.

With meat production, the risk of contamination is even greater. E-coli exists as several hundred strains (most of which are non-threatening to humans). E-coli is ubiquitous in humans and cows and it can be passed between individuals via feces, which is why washing your hands is so important. Unfortunately, cows don’t have the same luxury to do the same.

In addition, the conditions that most cows are exposed to in major meat-packing plants are appalling. They live in extremely cramped conditions, ankle-deep in the feces of several hundreds of cows where cross-contamination is likely to occur. In addition bacteria could be splashed up into the udders and contaminate milk, may end up in fertilizers and can contaminate meat during the slaughtering process. Again, by eating from a local source, tracking down the problem would be easier and could prevent further outbreak.

Another benefit of buying local involves economic benefit. Rather than buying produce from a supermarket, where most of the money leaves the community and enters the hands of suppliers, marketers and packagers, if you bought at a farmer’s market, you would be keeping that money within your community. Why not just purchase a fresh head of romaine from your local farmer?

According to the USDA, the U.S. has lost more than five million farms since 1935. In order to help preserve the existing farms in America, buying local would help support those farms and help reduce the loss of land due to urban sprawl.

Organic foods should still remain a high priority. They are free from pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics or hormone,; all which can negatively affect our health. However, this new movement of "eating local" has become an increasingly marketed concept that supports local farmers and the community, further protects consumers from bacteria and helps reduce carbon emissions related to transportation. Not only that, but your apples will taste that much sweeter too.