While grocery shopping, I have often struggled with the
decision to buy organic or buy local. Yes, the organic is better for farms’
environments, farm workers, and for consumers’ health (at least in the short
term). But if the organic food is
shipped in from Argentina,
what are the costs in terms of fossil fuel consumption and emissions of
pollutants and greenhouse gases? This
question on the origins of our food has implications not only at the grocery
store, but also in our work at the Foundation.
We cannot ignore food production when we are talking about communities’
futures, and there are lessons on sustainability that farms can teach those of
us working in the planning field. Having read Michael Pollan’s
The Botany of Desire, I was thrilled to see that he had a new book
that dealt exclusively with food and where food comes from.
The
Omnivore’s Dilemma addresses the question of what we, as omnivores, should
eat. Our dilemma is that, since we can
eat pretty much anything, how do we determine what is good to eat and what will
kill us? Pollan’s book discusses with
humor and detail the “natural history” of four sample meals as a means to
explore this question. Pollan also looks
at the omnivore’s dilemma by questioning the larger effects of our food choices on the
world around us.
I came away convinced that, while local organic food is the
best on all fronts, local food (organic or not) is in many ways superior to
imported organic food. His description
of an almost completely self-contained small farm that is supported by the
local economy is a glimpse of a model for community sustainability. In an era of globalization, the local farm
where consumers literally see where their food comes from, start to finish,
ensures best practices for raising and harvesting both crops and animals. The transparency of the process is vital for
the farm’s customers to feel as though they are getting food that they can feel
good about. Likewise, transparency in
the planning process leads to processes that citizens can feel good about. Providing community members with the
opportunity to know exactly where the community’s plan for the future is coming
from and offering them opportunities to contribute in a meaningful way is the best
way to get sustainable plans for the future.
While we will always need a few things from outside our
communities, farms that cater to local needs and are in sync with the local
environment should be considered our best resource—both for food and for
examples of sustainable systems and processes.
