And if that phrase caught your eye, you might also know where the beef is.
Seriously though, let’s talk for just a moment about where our food comes from. I know, I know-the grocery store. Before that though? Where did it come from? How far away?
They say, on average, our food travels 1,500 miles to get to our plates. Of course that depends on what you’re eating and where you live.
This means that no matter what you’re cooking or how, the first ingredient in your food is gas. It’s the most expensive and the worst for you (or at least it’s up there with the sodium and high fructose corn syrup) and, like most things in our food that will eventually kill us; it’s hidden.
I, for one, believe in knowing what’s in my food and if there’s a dose of petroleum in every hothouse tomato, I don’t want it. See, I’m a consumer and I call the shots. That’s how this whole system works.
So- the distance your food travels is called food-miles and the money you spend on it is called food-dollars. Want the system to change? Spend the majority of your food-dollars on stuff that’s traveled the least food-miles! I’m sure someone can come up with a chart of inverse proportions that explains this to the true geeks out there but for the masses it’s simple: Don’t Buy Shit From Far Away!
A great book to read on this subject is Animal, Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. She’s got a great way of pointing out how local might just be closer than you think.
To this end Cara and I have been trying to grow and barter a lot of our food but we’re realistic. Neither of us has visions of a victory garden with corn and wheat stretching to the sunset (or back fence, whichever comes first) so we buy our produce at the local farm stand. And at the grocery store we read labels! The closer the better. Of course this doesn’t cover everything- every once in a while a girl needs a pineapple or some French cheese (in Cara’s case, Brown Sauce) and there’s nothing wrong with that! Cooking, eating, hell, Living is about balance.
One last thought: Did you know the distance from New York City to Key West, Florida is about 1500 miles? Mapquest call that a 24 hour straight shot drive. I’d like to think of myself as a little more resilient than a tomato but after a drive like that I doubt either of us would be so fresh. Just sayin.
…Wonder how they do that… 😉
More on that later.
Kim Goes Green 