Local Food Is Sustainable Food? The Evidence Says Otherwise.

American Council on Science and Health ^ | 05/27/21 | Cameron English

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

I agree. I go local to avoid the corporates, when it comes to buying some veggies and meats.

[Organic Panic]

Our local “farmer’s market” just uses the same suppliers that the grocery stores use.

But I’m going to corner the market with my Montana grown bananas.

[marktwain]

What is missing from this equation is the use of pesticides and chemistry to increase yield, which people shopping at farmers’ markets tend to value.

If we remove artificial fertilizers and pesticides from the food chain, the human population of the earth will be reduced by at least 50%.

[ConservativeDude]

i was going to say just that. these efficiencies of big ag are done in ways that some people would rather pay a premium to avoid.

i’m agnostic about which method is ultimately “better for the environment”

but I don’t think it’s “obvious” that Big Ag is the best answer in that regard

that said, i’m not opposed to Big Ag....or other big aggregate solutions. big aggregate solutions are an advancement. the next advancement involves being able to opt out of those big advancements, ie, home schooling, etc.

[ConservativeDude]

Our local “farmer’s market” just uses the same suppliers that the grocery stores use.”

is that true???

I’m going to just design a label and bottle with a picture of the Alps on it, and start filling them with the garden hose and charging ten bucks a pop, if that’s the case!

[1Old Pro]

I’m going to just design a label and bottle with a picture of the Alps on it, and start filling them with the garden hose and charging ten bucks a pop, if that’s the case!

Many others are already doing that :)

[familyop]

Here’s how it works.

I found a history of potato crops in a part of our Midwest. It described in detail, the efforts and successes of overcoming pests and blights. The potatoes consequently did well and were plentiful for nearby big city populations, although they were a bit smaller than what we see from the northwest.

Enter big operations in states like Idaho and big potatoes. Production since then has been much more centralized. Don’t believe them, folks. More centralization gives us a more fragile agriculture system.

And the answer to the small potato problem? Soil in the Midwest needs to be more alkaline or lower in acid. The pH needs to be a little higher. Voila. Big potatoes. Don’t forget to rotate potatoes into other crop areas. It’s not good to repeatedly plant potatoes in soil that potatoes (and a few select other crops) grew in the previous year.

Labor problems? Teach your children well, and you’ll have good seasonal workers. Let them stay with their fathers. They won’t commit crimes or sins for you, as third world slaves do. But they’ll work.

There were good apple crops in the Midwest, too.

[antidemoncrat]

“’Local food’ cannot simply be equated with ‘sustainable food’; in most cases, it neither can ensure food security nor does it necessarily have a lower carbon footprint.”

I thought all those footprints were from my neighbor’s dogs walking through my garden and now I found out the vegetables I’m growing were the culprits leaving all the carbon footprints.

[Pollard]

Well the author is talking about farmer’s markets around the cities where you can buy artisan cheeses etc. Our little farmer’s markets in rural MO have the basics. Red slicing maters, maybe paste tomatoes, green beans, potatoes, cucumbers etc and for a little cheaper than the grocery store, else, these cheap people out here wouldn’t buy them. Eggs too. Everyone’s got “farm fresh” eggs. Doesn’t matter of the birds are locked up in a coup with commercial feed. they’re “farm fresh” eggs. Most of the gardeners here use all sorts of white powdered chemicals on their garden too.

[familyop]

"If we remove artificial fertilizers and pesticides from the food chain, the human population of the earth will be reduced by at least 50%."

Agreed. I see production of some items as being overly geographically centralized in our country, but high volume production of fertilizers and pesticides is necessary.

[qwerty1234]

>>If we remove artificial fertilizers and pesticides from the food chain, the human population of the earth will be reduced by at least 50%.

Did you just make up that statistic? or do you have a credible link that backs that claim up?

[phormer phrog phlyer]

I agree, gardening from an economic status is mostly a negative. The reason we still do it, is the flavors can not be matched from store bought, gardening is cheap therapy, we enjoy canning.

We live in a poor place for a garden and the critters like what we produce. So, we plant onions and potatoes in the garden and other things in buckets near the house.

[BlackAdderess]

We listened to the globalists on manufacturing and where has that gotten us? Flooded with crap that breaks and unable to find much of anything made in America. The American farmers feed the world, they are the best, so now here come the globalists again with their nonsense, and you know where its going to get us if we are stupid enough to listen to them. We have to draw the line somewhere, I say its here.

There is no reason why people can’t eat well and affordably if they forgo all the prepackaged stuff and opt instead to cook real food.

[Pining_4_TX]

Cooking real food, as you put it, is just fine and dandy, but there is no way the entire population of the US can survive on only locally grown food. Not everybody has a backyard garden or access to local farmers, nor can they afford to pay more for food than they already are.

[oldvirginian]

You had better have 2 acres of fertile grass for each horse or cow grazed. A weaned calf or foal will consume 1/3 of it’s weight in grass each day. Less than 2 acres and you will have to supplement their graze with hay or grain. An expensive proposition.

[BlackAdderess]

They can afford to buy American. I buy American, I cook, and this year I am buying in-season and preserving because things are getting strange with supply-chain uncertainty and hacks. Buying in-season has long been recognized as a good way to cut the family food bill.

Buy a pepper in season and they are $.99 each or maybe even $.49. Buy out of season and you are looking at prices more like $1.49-$2.99.

I go to farmers markets where I can, but not the fancy ones that tend to have fresh baked goods and specialty fare. My farm stand purchases tend to consist of things like bushels of fruit and veggie seconds because I can then can them affordably.

[Scrambler Bob]

utter garbage, and udder garbage.

[marktwain]

>>If we remove artificial fertilizers and pesticides from the food chain, the human population of the earth will be reduced by at least 50%.

Did you just make up that statistic? or do you have a credible link that backs that claim up?

It is a pretty well known datum. Many would say the drop in human population would be much more.

Here is a link and explanation from 2015. The number is undoubtedly higher now.

The red line represents the size of the global population which would therefore be supported without the use of nitrogenous fertilizers. This is shown simply as the actual population minus the number of people reliant on them for food production. Without this innovation, global population may have been reduced to only 3.5 to 4 billion people.

[marktwain]

Less than 2 acres and you will have to supplement their graze with hay or grain. An expensive proposition.

That is for very fertile ground.

Most grazing land is not as good as that!

[BlackAdderess]

I do live in an urban food desert, but just a few steps over the city line are grocery stores and Walmart super-centers. There are also farms in the county that have stands during the growing season. I do have a garden.