Dr. Murphy
English 104
June 11, 2014
Localvorism
If one is familiar with terms like "food miles," "eco-consciousness," and "sustainability" then one already knows where this paper is headed. If not, those terms are being used more often since the increasingly popular locavore movement. To understand the locavore movement one must know what a locavore is and its purpose, and the positive and negative aspects of localvorism.
The locavore movement began when San Francisco chef Jessica Prentice, along with some of her colleagues, coined the term at the 2005 World Environment Day. It was added to the Oxford American Dictionary as the 2007 Word of the Year. Locavore describes anyone who eats food that is grown locally. …show more content…
Small farms ' numbers have grown by 20 percent in the past six years to 1.2 million. This increase has caused Washington to re-allocate the Farm Bill. It increased the amount set aside for small, mostly organic farmers from $100 million to $2.3 billion. The increased money allows small farmers to get up to 75 percent of their organic certification costs reimbursed, and some of them can obtain crop insurance. There is also money for research into organic foods and to promote farmers ' markets (Gogoi 1). The reduction of food miles, how far food has traveled before one receives it, is probably the main reason why locavores exist.
The food miles reduction concept is that if one reduces the miles that food travels, it will reduce fossil fuel consumption by eliminating the need for it to travel. Meaning it would negate the damage that occurs when shipping food from one country to the next. However, in his article "Math Lessons for Locavores," Stephen Budiansky disagrees by …show more content…
It offers fresher fruits and vegetables when purchased from local farmers with less nutrients lost due to extended shipping times. Another benefit is when purchasing produce from local farmers the money stays within the community, boosting local economy. Additionally, by supporting small farms it allows them to grow and receive further support from the government. In contrast, studies have shown buying local is not always beneficial for the environment, based on environmental costs across the life cycle of the produce. Lastly, since the majority of Americans live hundreds or thousands of miles from major centers of food production it is impossible for most of the world to feed itself a diverse and healthy diet using only local food production. Even though something sounds logical, do some research to ensure the information presented is true and/or