Monday, February 11, 2013

Local Food, Growing Cities: Philadelphia


Local Food, Growing Cities: Philadelphia


     The rapid growth of the economy over the last century has changed the structure of the food system. Processing and distribution centers have replaced local food networks, making eating locally a challenge for people living in urban areas. Environmental problems such as deforestation, ground and water pollution, biodiversity loss, and depleted croplands can all be attributed to this shift in food production. Social problems such as diseases related to diet have also become more prominent in developed countries. Returning to localized food systems is believed to be a solution.


     Local can have varying definitions. A 100 mile radius around a point (the “100 mile diet”) is a common measure; the USDA uses a 400 mile radius, and many states simply use their own boundaries. The Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program at the University of California defines a local food system as “a collaborative effort to build more locally based, self-reliant food economies - one in which sustainable food production, processing, distribution and consumption is integrated to enhance the economic, environmental, and social health of a particular place.”

     The distribution of food in Philadelphia is not quite regular, as it is neither continuous nor round. 84% of the food comes from within Pennsylvania, while 42% of the farms are from only two counties. On average, food in PA travels 61 miles. To combat this high mileage, the local food movement mainly targets middle and high-income areas; urban and community gardening projects are filling in the gaps for low-income areas. GIS was used to determine which places (results show approximately 7600 acres) in the inner city would be suitable for gardens. These results suggest that, using conservative figures, over 9.9 million pounds of food could be grown truly locally for PA in a year.



Kremer, Peleg, and Tracey DeLiberty. "Local Food Practices and Growing Potential: Mapping the Case of Philadelphia." Aplied Geography 31 (2011): 1252-261. Web.

7 comments:

  1. It is interesting that a 200 mile radius would count as 'local.' I've heard this before, but that is almost the distance from my home in Houston to Southwestern, which is hardly close by. Of course, it is all relative and certainly less food miles than much of the food bought at a local HEB, but still is interesting to see mapped out.

    I am sure you know this, but the Environmental Studies Capstone last year analyzed what the motivations for visiting a farmer's market, as well as a price comparison between the different markets in the area. But, it would be interesting to see how the prices were affected by food miles. Would it be cheaper with less food miles (less gasoline)? Or greater food miles, where it would be cheaper to produce?

    http://southwestern.edu/departments/environmental/capstone/index.php

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    1. While that would be an interesting study, it still operates under the assumption that cheaper only means a smaller explicit cost to the consumer. Cheaper, in this sense, is not always better, which is something that many of us forget in our consumer driven society.

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  2. In my opinion local means coming from the place where one lives. If one is an Austinite then when they eat local it should be expected that they are eating food that has been grown in Austin.

    I find it extremely upsetting that in today's society in the United States, Americans are being fed food that isn't local and has been genetically modified and processed due to it being much cheaper to provide and access. What makes this upsetting is that unhealthy food is being given to Americans because it is cheaper and "healthy" food is not as accessible due to higher costs. I believe that the government should apply more regulations to the food industry in hope to increase Americans' health and life span.

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    1. I agree with your definition of local, and it is a shame that more people and industry do not. I'm not sure that more government regulation is necessarily the answer though. Food sovereignty has become an increasingly important issue in Native America, though many of these lessons can be applied to any community. This model for food production, growing plants that are native to the land and consuming them within the community, has positive implications for health, sustainable development, and climate change.

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    2. I agree with Jessica. My partner and I used to buy all of our produce from a local urban farm (it was about 10 blocks away from our house in central Austin). Unfortunately, after a particularly bad crop this summer, the farm had to close down. We're both putting ourselves through school right now, and even though we try and be conscious consumers, sometimes it just isn't feasible with our budget. I can't help but think if there was more governmental involvement with local food production, even if we're talking about city or state governments instead of federal, that more farms like that would be possible without the risk of bankruptcy. The problem now is that sustainable food production simply isn't economically sustainable.

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  3. The problem I always face when thinking about local and genetically modified, processed foods has never been whether or not I can reason out the costs or the benefits of having locally grown foods, but that no one wants to eat them. I grew up eating nothing that couldn't be made in a microwave, and my health as an adult has been affected by it--what am I even supposed to get at farmers markets? I do not have the consumers' knowledge to buy smart anyway. I think that if you educate people like me, then the demand will rise for these markets, and it will be easier to implement them.

    And the USDA is right about making the locally grown food 400 miles; that's short distance compared to the thousands our bananas and coffee have to travel!

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  4. I think Chelsea is right about the public becoming dependent on processed food and losing basic knowledge on the preparation of fresh foods. What our grandmothers and great grandmothers performed in the kitchen on a daily basis is becoming a lost art. Although I do believe the heighten prices have a major role as the money, advertising and general promotion of processed foods allows them to edge out healthier food as viable meal options for lower class families.

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