From The NYT: "Math Lessons for Locavores"

It takes about a tablespoon of diesel fuel to move one pound of freight 3,000 miles by rail; that works out to about 100 calories of energy. [...] A single 10-mile round trip by car to the grocery store or the farmers’ market will easily eat up about 14,000 calories of fossil fuel energy.

Comments

[Kitty Cunningham]

It still has to get from the rail yard to the store. That's not an accurate depiction of fuel used.

AND eating locally means you're eating what's in season, not just what can be forced to produce 12 months out of the year. Locally grown tomatoes are picked when they are ripe, not shipped green and allowed to ripen off the vine. The difference in flavor is dramatic.

[Joe Eater]

No argument from me on the flavor issue, especially since most grocery store produce is bred for merchantability, not flavor.

I think the point the writer is trying to make is that a simple "distance=bad" calculation is not so simple, especially if one is also saying "local='green'". I imagine the savings come in in the fact that you're moving tons) or maybe hundredweights) of produce at the time rather than ounces. Or maybe the person is just wrong.

On a slightly different note: One of the few things that actually bothers me about the locavore trend is it seems to assume cost isn't an issue. If you're poor, you buy what you can: a cheap tomato from Kroger tastes better than one you can't afford from the farmer's market.

[Kitty Cunningham]

Yeah, but buying a tomato plant is never a bad thing and they ARE cheap. But that's a whole different issue.

I think it's a question of priorities. I will pay the occasional "petroleum tax" in order to have a fresh pineapple. I skip strawberries out of season because I'm not willing to eat what they do to them to ship them to me. (I used to know a trucker and he put me right off 'em.)

I have started gardening a little because I think it's silly to have this bigass yard of lawn, that requires mowing (hello more petroleum tax), and pay for stuff that thrives in our climate. I'm NOT a great gardener, but I'm learning. You can't get more local than picking blackberries off the wild bramble in my back yard and I can guarantee they're organic.

Have you seen the film "Fresh"? It's the upside to Food, Inc. There's a guy in ....Milwaukee, iirc, who is teaching people with low incomes how to grow fresh vegetables for themselves in limited space.

[Joe Eater]

Kitty -- nope. For reference: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1637620/

[Kitty Cunningham]

It's hard to see it because for now it's all private showings. My son and I saw it at a chuck on MLK Blvd in Chapel Hill about a year ago. (The one that advertises that God's still listening.) A friend has a copy, though. I'm thinking of showing it in my living room when I can get my hands on it.

[Keith]

Kitty, here is Will Allen's project: http://growingpower.org
He spoke at NCSU last year for the ag dept. He's a true American hero. I've had the good fortune of being able to talk with him a few times.