What's Wrong with Supporting Local?

When this NY Times article "The Downside of Eating Too Locally" popped up in my news feed I was curious.  After all what could possibly be wrong with eating locally?  The truth is there is nothing wrong with eating locally, and people who pledge to eat within 100 miles of their home are doing a wonderful thing for their home economy and for the global environment. The fact that some people won't purchase organic lentils from the mid-west is not the true problem for those farmers in the mid-west. The problem is that more of their neighbors are not buying truly local. 

I personally don't like labels, "challenges" or pledges. I do my best to purchase local. If I have the choice when purchasing local I purchase local that has been grown ethically and using sustainable methods, this may or not be "organic". If the next option is conventional local I might purchase it. Just because it is local doesn't make it better. If there is a non-local sustainable option then that might just be what I purchase. I had thought about trying a year long challenge of eating just local (I read a blog on that premise and they had a great year eating local), but I realized quite simply I like foods that do not grow in my neck of the woods. I love bananas, avocados and pomegranates to name just a few. 

I try not to label myself, because I have learned if you do label yourself people love to point out to you when you have left the path of righteousness that naturally goes along with that label. For a long time I worked really hard to purchase organic goods, and then I expanded to trying to purchase local organic goods. I learned over time that the organic label is 1) not what it used to be (thank the big business lobbyists) and 2) for small farmers (who are ultimately who I want to support) it is cost prohibitive to get the organic stamp of approval. Many small farms have moved away from the word "organic" because it has become so abused and diluted by big business who simply want the label to be able to charge more. Many small farmers are touting their sustainable and ethical practices. 

To know what your farmer does you have to be willing to talk to them, and the few farmers who have been offended at my asking questions about their farming practices have not gotten my business. The majority of farmers (conventional and other) are happy to chat about their farming practices. This is the reason I am not a supporter of government involvement in labeling GMOs.  

First, I don't believe that we need the government to step in and legislate this for us. We as a people are quite capable of asking questions and learning where and how our food came about. Those growers that would lie to the common man about the GMO status of their food will also lie to the US Government and pay the insignificant fine if they get caught. 

Second, people seem to have forgotten what the term GMO means. Genetically Modified Organism. This includes tree grafting and cross pollination. This is how food as become what it is today, and is not a bad thing. Now the genetic manipulation of organisms at the cellular level in a lab with constituents that may or may not be toxic to my person is a whole different story. I do love heirloom foods and I do not have a problem with plant grafting. 

For me the best way to know if my food is a GMO that I am OK with or if it is potentially toxic is to know my grower/farmer. Even better to grow my own. That is on my list for 2015. With the help of Lu, we plan to finally get our gardens in this year and start growing our own.