Thinking about my blog post yesterday and the USDA analysis showing the growth of direct-to-consumer food marketing, brought my thoughts back to the problem of the 'local' and local food economies in particular.
To re-instate viable local food economies that have been 'hollowed out' for several decades now, will take monumental policy, business, consumer and world-view shifts. The good news is that there is a new and growing momentum towards this.
This momentum stems from the broad and philosophic perception that local food economies (LFEs) are seen as part of a process that 're-links' food producers to food consumers through 'short food supply chains' or, as they are also referred to, 'alternative food networks'.
But, and unfortunately, there is no one simple definition for a local food economy and in practice there are many types of LFE activities. Witness recently how Big Food such as Frito-Lay, Unilever's Hellmann's brand and the giant grocery retailers are now hijacking the 'local' as part of their marketing mix.
Recent academic literature on LFEs (which in itself has become a growth industry over the past decade) has been ravaged by contradictory interpretations: some researchers argue LFEs represent authentic Alternative Food Networks while others state that LFEs in its characteristics are no different from 'conventional' (that is 'industrial') food value chains. Another literature suggests that LFEs are somehow a 'hybrid' food system which 'dips in and out' of both industrial and alternative food systems. There is evidence that all these positions might be correct.
In addition the size of the 'thought-gap' between what an authentic LFE might be and the current industrial food system can be easily discerned by reading the work of such commentators as Wendell Berry. His 'local' message developed over the decades rings scarily real these days in a world of growing food insecurity and the destruction of the natural resources all our food relies upon. His plea to rediscover the complexity of 'local adaptation' for farms, farming and food seems more necessary than ever.
But how to do this - the fundamentals these days appear as very challenging. For example, the work of the American Farmland Trust (AFT), which is the United States' leading advocate for farm and ranch land conservation, shows how the infrastructure and farmland capacity to support LFEs is under continuing threat. For example, the AFT points out that most of the food Americans eat is grown on farmland in the nation's most metropolitan counties: the very farmland they point out that is most threatened by urban development and the conversion to non-farm uses.
A study from the AFT published last summer investigated whether a city such as San Francisco - located in the nation's most agriculturally productive state - could feed itself with local food. The study findings were very mixed and the research found it was currently impossible to determine precisely how much locally-grown food is consumed in the City of San Francisco or how much of what is consumed is produced on local farms and ranches (this study defined the 'local' as within a 100 mile radius).
Among the challenges this AFT study found was the need to encourage the traceability of the origin of locally-grown food; educating consumers about eating foods in-season; providing capital, expertise, and infrastructure to enable growers to transition to producing food for local markets; and access to healthy, local food for low-income consumers.
It is my view that rebuilding robust LFEs will be essential for our food future. But the 'local' in and of itself is not necessarily the solution alone. By this I mean when people talk about 'local' they are often making a number of other assumptions as well. For example, just because something is local it does not mean that it is environmentally sustainable or socially responsible - perhaps the 'local' can also learn a lot from Fairtrade practices also discussed yesterday.
Local businesses do not always respect human rights, pay 'living wages' or provide good working conditions (the local can be a site of inequality as in any other economic arena). Consumers will still demand quality, convenience and customer service. Consumer 'trust' in the local is a precious thing and local food producers will need to value this across a range of issues.
So 'local food' carries a lot of other values in addition to the site of production and consumption. Policy and commerce has to see the local as part of addressing wider economic, social and environmental issues. It also needs to be framed as the complex, innovative and forward-thinking concept it can be and not as it is sometimes portrayed as reactionary and defensive (especially in the face of globalization).
But the growing momentum is a unique chance to reassess our economic, social and environmental 'values' and set in motion a visionary food policy agenda that includes rediscovering the purpose of farms and farmers, the meaning of environmental stewardship and human health at the heart of food supply.
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