The Humble Gourmand

How do you define local?

In response to this post in The Guardian, Mark Bittman wrote that “local” is what YOU define it.

I, for one, am perfectly okay calling something “local” if it’s frozen or preserved in southern Pennsylvania (with me located in northern Virginia), but something “fresh” and shipped from southern California is not quite so local to me.

Here are some of the requirements for “local” in my world:

• Produced within 100 miles
• Sustainable practices (ethical wages for employees, limited pesticides, gardening that will not ruin the soil in 10 years) employed by the farm or producer
• Sold at a farmer’s market a plus

Do you have a definition of local? Is so, please share. Happy farmers’ market season, everyone!

1. Alison

   April 20 10:39 a.m. 1

   Mine are pretty similar, though I'm flexible on the 100 miles. I get most of my vegetables from a farm in Pennsylvania and the farmer sources from other farms farther afield to broaden his offerings. A 200-mile radius probably covers it. I guess that would fall under "regional" vs. local. In fact, let me see what he thinks about this question.

   My favorite truly local eating habits involve the custard and Mexican food made in Del Ray, my neck of the woods in Alexandria. I love walking down the street and having a butcher and cheese shop right there as well -- but they would mostly fall under the "regional" umbrella.

2. Alison

   April 21 12:38 p.m. 2

   An interesting concept to add to the discussion: a foodshed -- sort of like a watershed. (Credit for the notion must be given to Renee Catalcos, editor of Edible Chesapeake magazine.)

   Picture a Chesapeake Bay foodshed, encompassing the farms along the tributaries, rivers, and creeks that flow into the Bay.

   My farmer connection puts it thus: "The fact that you could get in an inner tube at the end of our chicken run and float all the way to Havre De Grace, MD, on the Bay [means] I've more or less embraced the idea that the Bay watershed defines local for me.

   "Of course, it would be great if 200 neighbors would just come to our farm, get what they need, and we could afford to live here, but that ain't gonna happen for awhile yet," he continued. "In the meantime I drive 3 hours to DC every Saturday, and still feel that we are local, as we're part of the same foodshed. Anyone could argue that, but it works for us."

3. M.J. Prest

   April 21 12:51 p.m. 3

   The local food movement is interesting and I support it, but honestly not because of any environmental reasoning. (Environmentally speaking, freight shipping thousands of containers of strawberries costs less per pint than trucking a hundred baskets 100 miles in the back of a Ford pick-up.)

   I just like buying my produce from the farmers' market because it's fresher. If it was picked that morning, it tastes better than if it was picked just before it was ripe, wrapped in plastic, and shipped 3,000 miles away or out of the country.

4. Tessa

   April 21 12:58 p.m. 4

   I experienced the ideal version of eating local when lived in a kibbutz in Israel for two months. Our lemons, avocados, and lychee fruit were grown on the kibbutz farmland, or in people's yards. You would invite someone over for dinner and their present to you would a bag of fruit from their own garden! There were fish farms and cow sheds too, providing all the fresh protein you'd want.
   

   A 30 minute walk down to the Arab village Kyrat Shmona was absolute delight. A market twice a week sold fresh fruit and veggies by local farmers. Bags upon bags of fresh figs, and eggplant, tomatos, you name it... $5!! Literally! It blew my mind how everyone could eat SO well for so cheap! I wish we could do the same here in America and don't understand why we can't.

   I think another part of eating local, is eating seasonally... as much as we all love tomatos and avocados year-round... they taste better and can be bought locally if you buy them in season. In the winter months, buy frozen or stick to root-like veggies!

5. Colleen

   April 21 2:36 p.m. 5

   I use a more lax 125-mile(ish) guideline - because that's how far my kid's favorite cheese guy travels to our market every weekend. I'm beginning to put more emphasis on sustainability though, and sadly some of our tastiest local foods (corn, peaches, crab) just aren't sustainable unless you seek out organic/IPM producers. Purdue and Smithfield could be considered local, and they're some of our biggest polluters.

   I'm also flexible on things that can't be grown in our region - not going to go without citrus, grains, etc. - just buy organic and US-grown as much as possible.

6. Suzanne

   April 21 4:39 p.m. 6

   Buying local to me means a few things. First, it means knowing that my food came from an area that is located within a day’s drive of where I live - within the region I live in. When it's picked and purchased while nutrients are at their maximum levels, flavor is also maximum. So since I love flavor and prefer nutrient dense food, I’d rather my food be the freshest possible so I grow a lot of my own during the summer. But, like most folks, I don't own a commercial green house, so I buy my produce when not growing it. Secondly, I frequent farmer’s markets in the summer (actually I manage one and work at another) to buy what I don't grow. They are the best source of local or regional produce because the farmer’s usually pick and sell within a very short timeframe. Cold storage is expensive and they would rather pick it and sell it immediately than store it and risk not being able to sell it for whatever reason. So, local farmers are in the business of delivering real freshness not marketed freshness. And like most folks, I know that the longer food is stored and kept, nutrient values fall and so does flavor with very few exceptions. Thirdly, when it comes to buying fruits and/or vegetables that are grown in regions outside of my own, I look to buy from the next nearest region first. On a broader scale, for instance, Clementines – I look for Florida grown first, then California, both part of my domestic region before looking globally. It’s simple enough and I sometimes chose not to buy the non-US sourced Clementines simply because I know how long they have been hanging around stateside if they are imported. But for some things, I just don't buy it unless it comes from the continental US - my domestic region. This includes grapes which are heavily pesticide laden when shipped across borders. I'll pass on those Chilean, sour, and flavorless grapes and serve my cheese platter without them, thank you & look for the Californian variety the next time I shop. So, when I don't or can't grow it myself, I buy at Farmer’s Markets and use my regional buying approach in an effort to maximize freshness, nutrient value, and flavor! Toss with an understanding of how cattle, chickens, dairy cows, and fish are raised/caught, and it appears even clearer that buying local is good!

7. rebecca

   April 21 7:31 p.m. 7

   Quality is key for me. I live in New Zealand and am blessed with the best farmer's market I've ever been to. It is every Saturday - year round. The sellers, butchers, fisherman and even a dairy sell directly to the public and they're from the area.

   The second most important is price so I have to admit I don't miss the expensive produce at the farmer's markets in DC. Sorry guys!

   The only catch in New Zealand is you have to get up as early as 6:30 to get the good stuff!

8. Mel

   April 22 5:36 p.m. 8

   Wow, we got a very diverse group of locavores here!

   @Alison- what your farmer friend said about the watershed really got me thinking that just because it is local doesn't mean it is sustainable (in reference to the fact plenty of seafood in this area is very local, but also borderline endangered.)

   @MJ- have you considered the other things that go into the berries on the frieghter v. the berries on the pickup. Processing? Packaging? At my local farm markets, there is substantially less plastic that at the grocery store.

   @Tessa- So jealous that you got to live in a place where avocados where grown in your front yard.

   @Colleen- in what ways are you looking for more sustainability in your food?
   

   @Suzanne- Those are some awesome guidelines for everyone to follow.

   @Rebecca- I beg to differ. Produce in DC can be cheap, you just need to go near the close of the market, re: tip 2 in Farmer's Market 101 (http://humblegourmand.com/features/farmers-markets-101/)

9. tiffany

   April 22 7:11 p.m. 9

   After a full year of seeking out and eating a primarily local diet (definitely not a complete locavore), I have to say that I have mixed feelings about the entire local issue. For me, it comes down to three major things:

   1. I want to know where my food is coming from.
   2. I want to know that my food is being grown/ raised in a sustainable way (minimal impact on the environment, AND when it comes to how animals are raised- are they being raised in a way that they are allowed to be healthy and are they being treated with respect?)
   3. I want my food to taste fresh and be of the best quality.

   For much of my criteria the "local" umbrella fits the definition. I can talk to farmers at the farmers markets to learn exactly where it was grown (#1) and how it was grown/ raised (#2), and if it's local it's less likely to be picked prematurely and it doesn't spend as much time being transported, meaning it tastes better.

   But, as Colleen so wisely points out, local doesn't always mean sustainable. A large company or agribusiness, such as Smithfield, may fall into your 100 mile radius, but that doesn't mean they meet all of the above outlined criteria.
   

   What it really comes down to for me, and the local foods issue, is transparency.

   I think the most important thing about local is that it gives you the opportunity to have a face-to-face relationship with the people producing your food. That relationship allows for a transparency which is not available when buying food from larger operations. So really, what's important to me is small and sustainable (with a bigger emphasis on the sustainable part), which often means-- local.

10. Alison

    April 23 2:10 p.m. 10

    amen to that!

11. Bill Bartmann

    September 1 9:41 p.m. 11

    This site rocks!

12. Tnelson

    September 25 1:57 a.m. 12

    Hey, I read a lot of blogs on a daily basis and for the most part, people lack substance but, I just wanted to make a quick comment to say GREAT blog!.....I"ll be checking in on a regularly now....Keep up the good work! :)

13. PatShelby

    October 7 4:29 p.m. 13

    Hey, I found your blog while searching on Google your post looks very interesting for me. I will add a backlink and bookmark your site. Keep up the good work! :)

14. gagaunreleased

    December 30 12:48 a.m. 14

    An Original recording of a Lady GaGa Track was Unwrapped this afternoon with no traces of where it was found. Some say that it was leaked from GaGa's Record Label's headquarters.

    More info at http://ladygagaunreleased.blogspot.com

    Free Download of the single at http://tinyurl.com/gagaunreleased

15. WP Themes

    January 18 3:05 a.m. 15

    Nice dispatch and this post helped me alot in my college assignement. Gratefulness you for your information.

16. WP Themes

    February 13 2:50 p.m. 16

    Nice brief and this mail helped me alot in my college assignement. Thank you for your information.

17. WP Themes

    March 13 5:48 p.m. 17

    Amiable fill someone in on and this post helped me alot in my college assignement. Say thank you you on your information.

Post yours

You're not logged in. Would you like to register or log in?.