Posted on 07/18/2008 7:24:43 AM PDT by Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus
Let's suppose that people do decide to "buy local" with the goal of saving the world and reducing their carbon footprint. This will increase the demand for locally grown foods, but it will also have an unintended and likely deleterious consequence; it will increase the demand for farm implements and labor.
Since the decision to buy locally is essentially the decision to forsake comparative advantage, every unit of agricultural output will be more resource intensive than it would be under specialization, division of labor, and trade.
In other words, each additional unit of output will require more resources than it would under trade. To take a concrete example, this means that the cultivation of spinach in Memphis will require more fertilizer, more rakes, more tillers, and more hoes than the cultivation of spinach in California. Producing these implements will (again) require resources, which will require specialization and trade. We could push the problem back a step and say that we should only use locally produced implements, but we can only regress so far before we run into an obvious problem of definition (how "local" is "local"?), resource constraints (different regions have different natural endowments), and widespread destruction (denuded forests and gouged lands as people assemble locally produced stone tools for cultivation).
"Buy local" is, at its logical limit, a prescription for poverty and starvation.
(Excerpt) Read more at mises.org ...
We consume local food when it’s available. We’ve bought a farm share, and enjoy fresh berries, veggies, herbs and flowers every Wednesday. The food is much fresher and tastes wonderful. Some of it is U-pick, so it’s really excellent. It takes more of my time, but I enjoy my visits to the farm, and for the freshness, it’s worth it. I also buy eggs on the farm, which are produced by the hens on site. We pick a lot of local berries which grow wild at the edges of fields. Blackberries are in, and while I’m a mess of scratches, we have home-made blackberry ice cream in the freezer. I love the fresh local produce available to us in the growing season. We also buy food at the grocery store, but we shop carefully to support US growers and avoid food from Mexico and Chine. I’m glad to have options.
We don’t ALL live in Fla or California which is another reason why this is stupid. As the author notes, you may opt for locally grwon stuff if it tastes better but I grew up in Wisconsin and do not think surviving in the winter on cabbage and potatoes and carrots beats buying delicious cherries and berries from Chile.
We buy local because it tastes better.
Here in Alaska we would be SOL during most of the year. I will stick with the system we have thank you.
“I refuse to buy anything from Mexico, instead I grow my own avocados”
I can’t get mine to grow here in NC.
I have a completely black thumb, so how mine keep growing is still beyond me. I’ve been known to kill silk plants from time to time. ;-)
Fair enough.
But if you read the article, the author does say that he often buys locally because of quality differences. The point is demanding that everyone buy locally creates economic disconnects that cause far greater harm to the environment than not—and that is what the food nazis are aiming for—legislation(in Europe) and boycotts here to enforce a policy based on large part on their misunderstanding of environmental science and economics.
Any kind of artificial control of the market place is disasterous and dangerous.
Interesting, thanks for the ping.
Pro-Med, sent out a notice that it is ok to eat tomatoes, the peppers are now under investigation, oddest disease outbreak that I know of.
“...the slogan spread like wildfire with a maximum of do-gooder appeal and a minimum of real benefit.”
True, to a point.
But some of us have been growing our own and bartering with local friends and family members for various “food” for decades.
I find that in the long run it makes tons more sense to eat “seasonally” which means eating what is growing “right now” somewhere in the USA and is bountiful and cheap. Grocers refer to those items as “Loss Leaders.” It gets you in the door, and they’re betting you’ll buy other stuff, too.
I’m lucky; I live in Wisconsin. I have my own laying hens for eggs and we hunt and fish, so there’s always venison and walleye, perch & crappie to eat. We had ‘Gator for supper last night, but that was purchased from a guy who imports it from LA. I have all the dairy, baked goods, local meat, morel mushrooms, cranberries, strawberries, apples, taters, garlic, onions and carrots a person could ever dream of. For cheap!
Below is a link to what’s “in season” and should be the cheapest thing at your grocer during the stated month, no matter where you live in the CONUS. That way, you know you’re always eating the freshest items available to you at the lowest price. (Unless you barter locally, of course.)
And don’t forget to shop the perimeter of your local grocery store. That’s where the staples are. You don’t need all that cr@p in the middle aisles. (Well, maybe a package of Twinkies or Ho-Hos from time to time. I’m human.) LOL! :)
http://frugalliving.about.com/od/foodsavings/tp/Cheapest_Produce.htm
If the transportation system ever suffers a dramatic setback for whatever reason, most folks are gonna become all too painfully aware of just how dependent they’ve made themselves upon the current “free market” model of shipping foodstuffs thousands of miles across the nation, when local supplies are available.
local tastes the best. I can’t even eat the strawberries anymore except locally in season.
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