Food Miles - Do They Matter?

This is an interesting article on a complicated topic that encompasses issues dealing with global warming, economic development, and energy consumption. Just last week we intentionally didn't purchase wine from Europe in favor of wine produced in California.

One point the article is makes is that greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the transport of food is small in the U.S. (1%) relative to all greenhouse emissions in the country.

In addition, the article argues that local food production does not always result in less greenhouse gas emissions, i.e. Kenyan roses grown in the sun and flown to the UK produce less greenhouse emissions than roses grown in the Netherlands in hothouses.

What the article does not address are the health benefits derived from consuming locally grown organic foods; foods that do not need preservatives or other additives necessary to transport them thousands of miles and still be "fresh" when they arrive at the grocery store.

The bottom line from the Reason magazine article...

In order to reduce your food miles, the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service makes these recommendations: Eat foods that are in season; eat minimally processed, packaged, and marketed food; use public transportation when grocery shopping; can and dry fruits and vegetables yourself; and plant a garden and grow as much of your own food as possible.

For me, food miles still matter.