Local Food

Related Links

• Eat Here: Reclaiming Homegrown Pleasures in a Global Supermarket
• Online Feature: Food

Worldwatch Live Online Discussion

Brian Halweil: Senior Researcher

December 15, 2004 - 3:00pm EDT

Discover why eating local food is one of the most significant choices you can make for the health of the planet and yourself.

Submit your questions now and join Worldwatch Senior Researcher and Eat Here author Brian Halweil on December 15th to discuss the surging local food movement, rediscovering homegrown pleasures, and changing the way we eat.

Steve Conklin, Worldwatch Institute: Welcome to Worldwatch Live. Joining us today to talk about local food is Eat Here author and Worldwatch Senior Researcher, Brian Halweil. Welcome, Brian!

Brian Halweil: Thanks, Steve. Due to some technical difficulties with my internet connection, I'm not able to answer any of our guest's questions at this time. My connection should be back up within the hour. At that point I'll respond to all of the questions our guests have submitted. Thanks for joining us!

Western australia: How many holes in a crumpet?

Brian Halweil: Your guess is as good as mine. But I'm told by crumpet connoisseurs that the more holes the better to absorb large quantities of butter.

Washington: As part of our growth management compliance efforts, Pierce County has zoned lands with prime agricultural soils such that development of the land is greatly restricted. What can we do to help our local farmers remain/become economicaly viable so we can maintain a local food system and so the farmers don't suffer undue economic loss from development restriction?

Brian Halweil: This is a challenge that farmers and citizens face in any area with high and soaring real estate values--such as the east end of Long Island (where I live), the area surrounding San Francisco, or most other metropolitan areas. In these areas, as you know, buying farmland outright to preserve it is often prohibitively expensive. And when farmers sell their development rights, they might find themselves in a pinch several years down the road. I think that such conservation easements could be designed to be a bit more flexible, so that if a farm family can make a case that selling off a small bit of their land can help them save the entire farm well into the future, they might be allowed to make the sale even if they have already sold their development rights. Communities looking for more housing and more affordable housing should not look to farmland as the area to build on. There are often greater opportunities to restore existing housing and design denser developments that encourage less sprawl. Finally, if farmers are struggling to such an extent that they are considering selling off land, it is up to neighboring citizens and businesses to let those farmers know how valuable they are to the community by buying up as much of their product for homes, school cafeterias, hospital cafeterias, etc. or by helping them make their operation more profitable, by diversifying the crop mix, processing their crop into a more valuable product, etc. The goal would be to get closer to a point where politicians, neighbors, and all citizens consider farmland so valuable that they would try many things before building on it.

Colorado Springs, CO: A key piece of information that I have used in arguing for local food is that foods loose nutrition as they are stored and that they are less nutritious when picked pre-ripe, do you have any scientific research to substantiate that claim? If so what is it and where can I find it?

Brian Halweil: Although there is much anecdotal evidence that foods begin to lose nutritional value, not to mention flavor, the moment they are harvested, there has actually been little research in this area, according to nutritionists I have interviewed. And this sort of research isn't easy. Nutritional value is affected by so many variables--crop variety, soil, temperature, damage during harvest, etc.--that it's not easy to link nutrient levels to freshness.

Cabery, Illinois: Hello Brian, I understand that growing food organically and having it sold locally is the ideal for many reasons. However, is it profitable for the farmer? I see many very hard working and idealistic farmers at farmers markets working what appears to me as painfully long weeks and I am wondering if they are making enough money to live sustainably. Are they making enough to make it worth their while over the long run? Will their children want to farm that way? Will they be able to pay for their childrenís college educations? Can they afford health insurance? Does your new book cover the economics from the perspective of the farmer?

Brian Halweil: Yes, my book does cover the economics from the perspective of the farmer. And my main conclusion is that the farther food travels the less money stays in the farmer's pocket. In many cases I have written about, farmers that scale down and stop selling generic commodities wholesale and instead start selling higher-value products direct will become much more profitable. (And I also point to research showing that organic farming is more profitable for the farmer, even without higher prices for their crops.) Nonetheless, as you have noted, that doesn't mean selling at a farmers market or through a CSA is easy work. Scale plays into this as well. Farmers might be getting a good price for their produce and might be keeping the majority of what a consumer spends by selling direct, but if they are only selling a few thousand pounds of produce, they might not have much money at the end of the day. Keep in mind that many of the largest farms in the United States would not be profitable if not for massive federal subsidies. Small, organic farmers enjoy none of these sorts of support. If farmers are making a profit and able to get health insurance and provide for their families, this will be the most enticing argument for their children to take over the farm.

Bhubaneswar, Orissa.: In these days of crowded cities and apartment living, what would be the easy-to-grow foods at homes? Is it possible to sustain oneself exclusively on such home-grown foods or would it just be a supplement?

Brian Halweil: The disclaimer I always have to give about the book is that I am not talking about 100% self-sufficiency. That is a great ideal, but it is not necessarily natural or wise and people have been trading foods for a very long time. I am talking about eliminating that food shipping that is completely unnecessary and highly wasteful--sending fresh tomatoes and salad mix around the planet in refrigerated cargo jets, or importing and exporting large quantities of the same commodity. I am suggesting that communities that strive to be as food self-sufficient as possible will realize all sorts of economic, ecological, and social benefits.

That having been said, homegrown foods can play a major role in feeding a family or community, assuming people have the land to raise food. And I think we would be surprised how little land is often needed. Even in densely populated cities, there are all sorts of vacate spaces, opportunities for porch gardens or rooftop gardens. For instance, urban gardens now provide 90 percent of the fresh fruits and veggies consumed in Havana, Cuba, a city of more than 2 million. Across East Asia, many megacities produce a large share of their own vegetables. Densely populated cities like New York or Bombay may have to reach farther afield for their food than a small city or village, but the logistical nightmares associated with moving large quantities of food into congested cities argues for cities doing what they can to feed themselves. You might also want to check out the work of Ecology Action, www.ecologyaction.org, for some research on the minimum amount of area needed to feed people with biointensive gardening.

Sackville, New Brunswick: Canada is currently examining making organic certification mandatory, like the United State's NOP. In Atlantic Canada, 1/3 of certified organic farmers earn under $5000 and 80% sell to local markets. Can you discuss what potential impact a mandatory organic program may have on the small, local producer?

Brian Halweil: As you may know, in the US, farmers earning under $5000 are exempt from being certified to call themselves organic. However, after the federal standards went into effect a couple of years ago, many long-time organic farmers (including those selling more than $5000 of product each year) decided not to get certified. They felt the fees were too high, the paperwork too arduous, and the standards not as stringent or logical as they had been under state/private regulation. Smaller farmers selling into local markets may not need to be certified, because they can speak directly to their customers, answer any questions, and build up some face-to-face trust--one of the major advantages of eating local. Mandatory certification has been most important for larger organic farmers and food companies that ship their food long distances and sell in supermarkets. Many people feel that creating federal standards was a necessary evil to increase the market for organic foods, which has ultimately led to more land being farmed organically.

Tuscaloosa, Ala.: (Submitted by an editor at a trucking magazine.) Many truck drivers make their living carrying meat and produce cross-country in refrigerated trucks. Is the local-food movement a threat to their livelihoods? How can these truckers be enlisted in the local-foods movement? And can these truckers take practical steps to minimize the drawbacks of long-distance food transport?

Brian Halweil: Good question, and thanks for your interest. I think that as more people eat local, there will be less of a need for cross-country hauling, just as there will be less of a need for giant agribusiness companies. But there will still be a need for truck drivers to move food over shorter distances by working with farmers, ranchers, and food makers in their region. One of the biggest economic opportunities I see is for food shipping and distribution companies focused on local or regional offerings. That is, imagine the work of Sysco, but with a regional focus. Theoretically, the same trucks and truck drivers that are currently moving food from coast to coast can take advantage of this growing demand for moving food within regions.

On your second question, I suppose the best thing truckers can do is make sure they are driving the most fuel-efficient vehicles possible. But even if trucks could convert to zero emissions there would still be certain disadvantages to the local economy and community and to food quality of moving the food long distances.

Arlington, Mass: Does your book cover eating weeds and other kinds of foraging? If not, it should. It's a really good way to "eat locally" and connect to the place where you live, through your taste buds. I lead about 30 public foraging programs a year throughout New England, enabling people to nibble on their local landscape (see http://users.rcn.com/eatwild/sched.htm). I have also written a book on this topic that came out earlier this year. Its title is "Wild PLants I Have Known...and Eaten", and it was published by the Essex County Greenbelt Association, the regional land trust for Northeast Mass. Greenbelt allows people to responsibly harvest wild edibles on its land holdings, a very generous gesture to foragers, so in turn I have turned over my entire share of the proceeds from the sale of this book to them so they can buy more land with it and create more foraging opportunities. FYI, more info about the book is posted at http://users.rcn.com/eatwild/press_release.htm.

Brian Halweil: Thanks for your question and sharing this info.
I don't discuss wild foods or foraging in much detail, although in addition to a large kitchen garden that provides all the fruits and vegetables my wife and I need from about April to November, I do enjoy foraging for wild plants, mushrooms, and shellfish on Long Island.
There are a few places in the book where I mention the nutritional importance of wild plants and animal foods, including in Chapter 5 (Making Food Deserts Bloom), and I also talk about the loss of our ability to identify wild plants as related to the loss of foraging, gardening, and cooking skills that have made everyone more dependent on store-bought food.

viet nam - sai gon city: Now I live in Viet nam where the key economics is agriculture.I want to eat my local food a lot,but most of the farmers always use the chemical for getting some trees and fruit better so that they can have them sooner in the harvet.Can I eat them?And Are they good for me? Help me,please!

Brian Halweil: This is a difficult question. One of the advantages of eating local is it allows you to speak with the farmers (or someone connected to the farmer) and find out exactly how the food was grown, and perhaps have some control over that food by trying to convince the farmer to go organic or stop injecting their livestock with hormones.
Some people are very sensitive to all agricultural chemicals used on their food. Others don't seem to mind. These chemicals probably won't kill you tomorrow, but there is good evidence that over a lifetime they can make you very sick. I would encourage you to seek our farmers in your area that raise food organically and to encourage the other farmers to try to reduce their chemical use.

You might also check out the work of the Pesticide Action Network in Asia.

Tampa Florida: While this his movement is "wide spread" but not very large according to the listing on this website of participants in Local Food. You say ìFarmers markets arenít enough to secure ëlocalí a viable space in the food market.î How can a person become involved in "local food" in a state that does not have participants in this type of program? Other than shopping entirely in farmer's markets, which are few and far between in the cities and not easily reached by some.

Brian Halweil: First, for people in the United States, you can check out www.localharvest.org, a great website with info on farmers in your area that will sell directly to you, as well as farmers markets, CSAs, and restaurants, supermarkets, and other food businesses that buy local. Of course, shopping at a farmers market will never be as convenient as shopping at a supermarket. But supermarkets can't compete on freshness, aesthetics, or benefits to the community. You might ask the manager of your local supermarket whether they buy local and encourage them to do more. You may be surprised about how much they are already doing, particularly in a agricultural state like Florida. You might do the same at your favorite restaurants or anywhere else you buy food. If businesses get enough requests, they will consider changing their practices.

San Francisco, CA: I have been looking for a resource that provides support for the health benefits of eating in season and locally. For example, our bodies need antioxidants in Summer and therefore should eat tomatoes in season. In the winter, we need vitamin C and should eat citrus which is in season. Is there a book or series of studies on that topic? Thanks.

Brian Halweil: See the previous question from Colorado Springs.
I think there is good anecdotal and traditional evidence that eating seasonally has all sorts of health advantages, but I have found very little scientific or published research on the topic. For me, one of the clearest arguments for eating what is in season is that it will likely be freshest and most delicious. And you'll probably save some money on it as well.

Does anyone else have any publications or contacts to suggest related to this question?

Altillac, France: Cannabis seed (hemp) has been widely recognized as the best available source of vegetable protein and the only common seed with three essential fatty acids. The EU subsides its cultivation. Why then, has the United Nations Food & Agriculture Organization failed to acknowledge the exceptional nutritional value of the Cannabis plant, as a "strategic food resource," as President Clinton did in 1994 (Executive Order 12919)? Thank you.

Brian Halweil: Good question. From the research I have done, wider cultivation of hemp could bring not only nutritional advantages, but also environmental benefits, by adding diversity to our crop rotations, adding organic matter to the soil (the plant has massive root and shoot production), and apparently it requires little fertilization or pesticide use. I can't speak for other nations, but in the United States, the debate about hemp has been wrapped up in the politics of marijuana (cannabis plants with a high THC level). The definition of marijuana as a dangerous drug has prevented farmers from growing hemp, even though they are different plants. As you probably know, there is a fierce debate in the United States right now betweeen states that have legalized medical marijuana and a federal policy against medical use. I'm not sure about the United Nations' failure to acknowledge the value of the cannabis plant. I suspect that there has been some pressure from member states, like the United States, which have an unfavorable opinion of the plant, despite statements from some enlightened politicians.

Nairobi, Kenya: Is it trie that when one eats local food will benefit with most of the God created ingredients and some which help to destroy diseases such as cancer

Brian Halweil: As I've noted above, I think that eating local will ensure that the food includes as much flavor and nutrients as possible. There is good anecdotal evidence that crops begin to lose flavor and some nutritional value after they are harvested. The most obvious signs of this are changes in color or wilting. (Personally, I know that sweet peas are never as sweet as in the minutes after harvest and that peas sitting in a bag in the refrigerator for even a few hours will be much less sweet.) Again, there is not much research on this topic, but some scientists who study antioxidants and other food compounds that help reduce diseases suspect that these compounds begin to degrade, if only slightly, the longer food is stored.

CA: I'm currently reading your book, "Eat Here", and have read numerous other publications advocating eating local and organic. I'm fully convinced of the importance of this. I am a gardener, educator, and graphic artist. What I would like is some quantifiable data to support local food/agriculture. I'd like this data in order to design a simple illustrative graphic as propaganda to help educate (and perhaps convince) my community. I'm convinced that a lot of the information about the benefits of local agriculture/food is presented too abstractly for most people to really understand the impact their purchasing has. I'd like to develop some graphic materials that would clarify and simplify the data.

Brian Halweil: My book has a few infographics which we hope convey the benefits of eating local without being abstract. Check out pages 30,31, and 109. I'd be interested in seeing whatever graphic you come up with and perhaps sharing some data for use in your graphic. You can write me at bhalweil@worldwatch.org.

Boston, MA: I'm hearing - directly and indirectly through the media - a lot of interest in local foods. Are there any statistics that would support an upward trend for local foods in supermarkets and restaurants?

Brian Halweil: I have lots of examples in my book of restaurants, supermarkets, institutional caterers and other large food businesses beginning to source more and more local ingredients. I also have an article I wrote for Organic Style magazine about the large number of major supermarket chains around the nation--from King Kullen and Wegmans in New York to Kmart in Michigan to New Seasons Market in Oregon--that have programs to buy more locally raised products. However, I can't offer any broad industry stats. (In the book, I give stats on the growth of farmers markets and CSAs in the US in the last decade.) What I can say is that all of the consumer research groups I have spoken with say that their surveys of American consumers indicate that the interest in "local" has become a mainstream trend and that even people who never shop at farmers markets are beginning to seek out local food.

Steve Conklin, Worldwatch Institute: Thanks for joining us today, Brian. Thanks as well to everyone who submitted questions.

Brian Halweil: Thanks everyone for your interst and submitting questions. Sorry for the late start due to some technical difficulties.

Eat well. Brian