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.
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.
ReplyDeleteI 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
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.
DeleteIn 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.
ReplyDeleteI 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.
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.
DeleteThe 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.
ReplyDeleteAnd 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!
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.
ReplyDelete