I have always wondered about the sanity of growing produce in NM and shipping it to NY and then going to the grocery store and buying the same thing from Texas or Oregon or California.
I think local produce is a good idea. On the other hand
I guess your not old enough to know that you couldn't get produce out of season in the old days.
Ditto and ditto. Mind you, we grow hay, not produce for human consumption.
The thing that will drop the "naturally grown" or "organically grown" or whatever it might be called that year in it's tracks is that the American consumer has come to expect a level of consistency and visual appeal in their produce that simply cannot be replicated with "locally grown" produce without severely constricting supply and raising prices to levels that will have Congress "investigating" farmers for "price gouging" and other twaddle.
The American consumer is spoiled beyond belief where their food is concerned. They've had it so cheap and so good for so long they're utterly clueless as to what is involved in producing a crop and bringing it to market.
What this country deserves is a good, multi-year starving. Then brain-dead consumers will start to realize what is important and what isn't in their food.
You bring to mind something that I have wondered about for years ... how is it cheaper to mine ore in the northwest, send it by rail to the west coast, ship it to Japan for smelting, ship the steel back to the west coast, then send it by rail to Detriot so it can be used by the automakers. Why not ship directly to the relatively idle smelters that are in PA and AL, only a few hunderd miles from Detriot?
*sigh* Good point