Quinlan Terry

Mrs. Z-man
AP Literature
16 October

Terry 1

The Lowdown On Local Foods

The term Local Foods could be applied to the crops of the first humans all the
way up to the early 20th century crops, which saw them greatly replaced by foods that
were processed and altered to meet the public demand. However, now that some chefs
have become celebrities, the profession of cooking has re-entered the public eye.
People have begun to analyse the choices they make with their food and where it
comes from. With this mentality came the resurgence of local foods, replacing the foods
that have been produced to be simple and convenient. Local foods have recently been
embraced by communities across the country and farmers have opened up shop to
supply them. Local foods are replacing processed foods, and this shift back to whole,
locals foods is showing positive benefits for the economy and for the overall health and
wellness communities.
To understand the benefits of local foods, one must acknowledge imported foods
as well. Imported foods are any food that has been brought in from over three hundred
miles away, where anything less than that is considered regional or local (What Do
We Mean. McFadden). Local foods are also grown only in season, meaning: if it is not
strawberry season, local farms will not grow strawberries; instead focusing on foods
which are in season (What Do We Mean. McFadden). Many imported foods are canned

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Mrs. Z-man
AP Literature
16 October

Terry 2

goods and packaged produce; they have been saturated with preservatives to keep
them edible for long amounts of time. First introduced with the advent of the
Supermarket in 1924, these foods were much more convenient and caught on very
quickly (Food for Thought. Reed). In no time at all, these imported foods became the
norm, and farmers were pushed to the sideline. In 1935 there were seven million
farmers in America, but now, as a result of the popularity of the processed foods, there
are only two million (This Land. Walsh). This statistic seems to be changing, however,
with the rise of local foods as communities are encouraging members to establish farms
(What we Know. Lamie et al). With this concept in mind, maybe local foods may make a
comeback.
Simply put, local foods can be more expensive than imported foods. More work
goes into producing local foods. Farmers must individually survey their crops, this takes
time and many people (This Land. Walsh). Local farms also package the produce on
site, requiring packaging and machinery (This Land. Walsh). According to Joel Salatin,
the Thanksgiving turkeys that he sells are almost 3 times more expensive than the
national average (This Land. Walsh). This rule does not apply to all local foods,
however, there are some foods which do not require as much work to produce. White
rice for example is produced in a similar fashion to the produced counterparts and do
not require the subjection to a long process (The Benefits. Griffin). In the end, the local
white rice is simpler and costs less (The Benefits. Griffin). We spend 10% of our
income on food and some 16% on healthcare, he believes that if we can make a return

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Mrs. Z-man
AP Literature
16 October

Terry 3

to our old ways, that number could be reversed (This Land. Walsh). Despite the
increased cost, people have been willing to pay more for their food in the effort for better
quality food.
Local foods have been almost universally accepted as higher quality and better
tasting than their produced counterparts. Proponents of local foods argue that the
farmers achieve better taste from their foods by avoiding the methods used by
producers of mass-market foods to get their product out quickly. Joel Salatin, for
example, does not use any fertilizer on his farm, instead allowing his cattle to feed on
natural unfertilized grass (This Land. Walsh). Cattle is not the only thing that tastes
better local: Asparagus shipped from Peru to the UK sees much of the sugars contained
turn into starch thus making the flavor much less rich (Local Taste. Fleming). In contrast,
the Asparagus grown locally reaches the consumer in under twenty-four hours which
keeps the sugars intact and, therefore, the flavor as well (Local Taste. Fleming).
Asparagus is not the only food that tastes better; Martin Harrell (a supplier to both
supermarkets and farmers markets) says that the food that goes directly from the
ground to the shelf tastes better than the produce which is packaged and sent a
distance (Does Farmer's Market. Bardo & Warwicker). Though the majority of the
consumers of local food are proponents, there are also those who argue that they are
not as flavourful as people say they are.
Taste is a very abstract concept. There are no defining things that we can use to
describe it other than what somethings tastes the closest to, therefore, some scientists

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Mrs. Z-man
AP Literature
16 October

Terry 4

argue that farmers market food does not necessarily taste better than their produced
counterparts. When asked, shoppers in the farmer's market could not give a concrete
answer as to how their food tasted and spoke in vagueries (Spiller. It Tastes Better
Because). Some argue that proponents of farmers markets and local foods say this
because what they get is not mainstream produce, because of this hipster or elitist
attitude, the food tastes better to them (Does Farmer's Market. Bardo & Warwicker).
Though some people have argument with the taste of the foods, there are some
aspects to them which are set in stone.
One big argument for a switch to local foods is that they are healthier for the
consumer as they do not contain many of the chemicals that processed foods do. Those
chemicals that are present in processed foods are usually in an effort to preserve them
in travel and prevent organisms from growing (What Kind Of Preservatives). The
presence of some preservatives in food has shown to increase the risk of many health
problems ranging from high blood pressure to cancer (Farm to Table. Culinary School).
Local food does not require these preservatives (as they go from farm almost directly to
the shelf), therefore, they are healthier (Farm to Table. Culinary School). Sparing foods
of the process used to preserve them in transport also preserves the beneficial nutrients
inside them (The Benefits. Griffin). An example of this is processed grains: "When whole
grains are refined, the bran and the coat of the grain are often removed" (The Benefits.
Griffin). After the refinement process, chemicals are typically added in. In this step, not
only are the preservatives added, also sugars, salts and trans-fats, each of which has

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Mrs. Z-man
AP Literature
16 October

Terry 5

been linked to weight gain. (The Benefits. Griffin). The healthy benefits of local foods
are a key reason for people to adopt them into their daily lives as now many
communities across the country have accepted and support local farms and foods.
Though local foods have shown positive results in the case of health, the
environmental effect of transport has remained constant. While having to transport the
food a shorter distance means less transmission of CO2, it also takes transportation by
train and replaces it with truck. (Farm to Table. Culinary School). Ton for ton, trains are
considerably more efficient at transporting food than trucks, the greenhouse gases
associated with transporting potatoes trucked in from 100 miles away is the same as
those associated with potatoes shipped in by rail from 1,000 miles away. (Farm to
Table. Culinary School). However, according to a study conducted by the Leopold
Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State: processed food travels 1500 miles
from farm to customer on average whereas locally sourced food travels 44.6 miles on
average (Is Local. DeWeerdt). Furthermore, these statistics render that conventionally
grown food transport emits 5 to 17 times more CO2 and uses 4 to 17 times more fuel
than locally transported produce (Is Local. DeWeerdt). To put the amount into
perspective: a study in Canada showed that replacing imported food with produce
grown only in the area of Waterloo, Ontario (Roughly 24.72 square miles of land) would
save transport-related emissions equivalent to nearly 50,000 metric tons of CO2, or the
equivalent of taking 16,191 cars off the road. (Is Local. DeWeerdt). These statistics

Quinlan Terry
Mrs. Z-man
AP Literature
16 October

Terry 6

seem impressive, however, most of the emissions associated with food come from the
production.
When broken down into chunks of emission, the portion which makes up the
largest percent of greenhouse gasses is the production and growing of the food. To be
exact: transportation accounts for eleven percent, final delivery accounts for four
percent, production of the food itself accounts for eighty three percent (How Green.
Cho). The reason for this is the techniques farmers use to yield a large crop as fast as
possible using methods like extensive plowing and irrigation techniques or pesticides in
the field (How Green. Cho). Use of extensive amounts of fertilizer on crops is what
really constitutes the majority of the greenhouse gas emissions, producing chemicals
that are over two hundred times more potent that CO2 (Is Local. DeWeerdt). Weighing
in how much of a difference the purchase of local foods to reduce the effects of ones
greenhouse emissions, the turnout is only a difference in about four to five percent in
total, and that is only if one buys solely local foods (How Green. Cho). Farmers that
produce local foods, however, are not tied to the use of large amounts of fertilizer.
Salatin in Swoope, Virginia runs a slaughterhouse which uses no fertilizer and raises
grass fed beef (This Land. Walsh). This process does not yield crops as quickly as
conventional methods, but it does cut down on emissions. This idea may have
contributed to the spread of farmers markets across America.
Farmers markets selling local foods have been a growing trend in the past few
years, and for a good reason, they promote the local economy. The Farmers Market

Quinlan Terry
Mrs. Z-man
AP Literature
16 October

Terry 7

Directory in 2010 showed there being just over six thousand one hundred farmers
markets across America, in 2013, the number was eight thousand one hundred (How
Green. Cho). Almost the entire chain associated with local foods has shown to have
benefitted a community from the farmers that grow, to those employed at the distributor
companies (What We Know. Hughes & Boys). The presence of local food systems (or
the chain associated with local food from growth to delivery) has shown to have a
positive effect on the economy within a community (What We Know. Hughes & Boys).
Not only that: the system keeps local money in the community, grows the sense of
community, and makes the area more attractive to developers and builders (What We
Know. Hughes & Boys). These benefits are the result of what numerous researches
have found to be increased economic activity in communities due to the presence of a
local farmers market or locally grown foods being distributed (What We Know. Hughes
& Boys). Though this trend has shown positive results across the country, it is a slow
growing one (What We Know. Hughes & Boys). This only makes sense as the concept
has only been reinvigorated in the last few years.
Local foods is really a rebranding on the method used before processed foods
were introduced. For thousands of years, all food consumed could have been
considered local, no food was imported from around the globe as there were no
techniques to preserve it for that long. Then the process of canning was invented by the
French, thus, food could be transported great distances without spoiling (Processed.
Everts). This technique became adopted across the globe and, with the introduction of a

Quinlan Terry
Mrs. Z-man
AP Literature
16 October

Terry 8

finer refrigeration technique, people were able to have food that was quick and easy to
prepare, even when it was not in season (Processed. Everts). The old methods were
quickly replaced with the more convenient. In the sixties during the hippie movement
and the increased focus on health in America, local foods saw a reintroduction (Farm
to Table. Culinary School). Ever since that decade, local foods have been growing in
strength, however, about ten years ago the locavore movement took off and
restaurants devoted to local foods were built to cater; In just a few years, the movement
has seen massive growth. (Farm to Table. Culinary School).
Processed foods are on their way out. With the recent focus on health and
superior taste, local foods have begun to replace their heavily saturated counterparts. If
local foods do continue to grow on this trend: being accepted into restaurants as the
sole ingredients, farmers markets opening rapidly across the country, and small farmers
being encouraged to open up to supply their local communities, the locavore trend is
sure to spread.

Works Cited

Quinlan Terry
Mrs. Z-man
AP Literature
16 October

Terry 9

Cho, Renee. "How Green Is Local Food?" State of the Planet How Green Is Local Food
Comments. Columbia University, 4 Sept. 2012. Web. 9 Oct. 2015.
<http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2012/09/04/how-green-is-local-food/>.
Dunning, Rebecca. "Research-Based Support and Extension Outreach for Local Food
Systems." Center For Environmental Farming Systems. NC State University, 1 Aug. 2013.
Web. 12 Oct. 2015.
"Local Food Demand Study." Seed Capital KY. Seed Capital KY, 23 Jan. 2015. Web. 12
Oct. 2015. <http://seedcapitalky.org/local-food-economy/local-food-demand-study/>.
Lamie, David, Rebecca Dunning, Eric Bendfeldt, Joanna Lelekacs, Margarita Velandia,
and Lee Meyer. "Local Food Systems in the South: A Call for a Collaborative Approach to
Assessment." AAEA, 2013. Web. 8 Oct. 2015.
McFadden, Dawn. "What Do We Mean by Local Foods?" Choices: The Magazine of Food,
Farm, and Resource Issues. AAEA, 2015. Web. 8 Oct. 2015.
Hughes, David, and Kathryn Boys. "What We Know and Dont Know About the Economic
Development Benefits of Local Food Systems."Choices: The Magazine of Food, Farm, and
Resource Issues. AAEA, 2015. Web. 8 Oct. 2015.
Walsh/Swoope, Bryan. "This Land Is Your Land." Time. Time Inc., 24 Oct. 2011. Web. 12 Oct.
2015.
Reed, Julia. "Food for Thought: The Farmer as Superstar." Newsweek. Newsweek, 2 Sept.
2010. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.

Barber, Dan. "What Farm-to-Table Got Wrong." The New York Times. The New York
Times, 17 May 2014. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.
"Farm to Table Movement - History & Benefits of the Cuisine - CulinarySchools.com."
CulinarySchools. 9 Sept. 2013. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.
Fleming, Amy. "Does Local, Seasonal Produce Really Taste Better?" The Guardian. Guardian
News, 22 Apr. 2014. Web. 30 Oct. 2015.
Bardo, Matt, and Michelle Warwicker. "Does Farmers' Market Food Taste Better? - BBC News."
BBC News. British Broadcasting Channel, 24 June 2014. Web. 30 Oct. 2015.

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Mrs. Z-man
AP Literature
16 October

Terry

Spiller, Keith. "It Tastes Better Because Consumer Understandings of UK Farmers Market
Food ." It Tastes Better Because ... Consumer Understandings of UK Farmers' Market Food.
Appetite, 7 Apr. 2012. Web. 31 Oct. 2015.

"Frequently Asked Questions." What Kind of Preservatives Are Harmful to Eat

Regularly? EUFIC, 1 Nov. 2011. Web. 31 Oct. 2015.
DeWeerdt, Sarah. "Is Local Food Better?" Is Local Food Better? Worldwatch Institute, 1
May 2013. Web. 1 Nov. 2015.
Everts, Sarah. "Processed: Food Science and the Modern Meal | Chemical Heritage
Foundation." Processed: Food Science and the Modern Meal. Chemical Heritage
Foundation, 2014. Web. 1 Nov. 2015.
Griffin, Morgan. "Healthy Whole Foods: Making Nutrient-Rich Choices for Your Diet."
WebMD. WebMD, 12 May 2009. Web. 3 Nov. 2015.