It has been suggested that Local food network be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)

Marylebone Farmers' market

Local food (also regional food or food patriotism) is a principle of sustainability relying on consumption of food products that are locally grown. It is part of the concept of local purchasing, a preference to buy locally produced goods and services. Those who eat local food sometimes call themselves "localvores" or "locavores". Image File history File links Please see the file description page for further information. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into local food. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2560x1920, 3098 KB) Description: Marylebone Farmers Market, London September 2005 Photographer: User:Justinc File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): London farmers markets Metadata This file contains additional... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2560x1920, 3098 KB) Description: Marylebone Farmers Market, London September 2005 Photographer: User:Justinc File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): London farmers markets Metadata This file contains additional... Marylebone (sometimes written St. ... Roadside farmers market in Bridgehampton, New York Dutch bell peppers at a farmers market in Montpelier, Vermont A farmers market near the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet. ... Sustainability is an attempt to provide the best outcomes for the human and natural environments both now and into the indefinite future. ... Local purchasing is a preference to buy locally produced goods and services. ...

The concept is often related to the slogan Think globally, act locally, common in green politics. Pioneering and influential work in the area of local economies was done by noted economist E. F. Schumacher. Those supporting development of a local food economy consider that since food is needed by everyone, everywhere, every day, a small change in the way it is produced and marketed will have a great effect on health, the ecosystem and preservation of cultural diversity. They say shopping decisions favoring local food consumption directly affect the well-being of people, improve local economies and may be ecologically more sustainable. Green politics or Green ideology is the ideology of the Green Parties, mainly informed by environmentalism, ecology and sustainable economics and aimed at developing a sustainable society. ... Ernst Friedrich Fritz Schumacher (16 August 1911 – 4 September 1977) was an internationally influential economic thinker with a professional background as a statistician and economist in Britain. ... Wikibooks has more about this subject: Marketing Look up marketing in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... An ecosystem, a contraction of ecological and system, refers to the collection of biotic and abiotic components and processes that comprise and govern the behavior of some defined subset of the biosphere. ... Cultural diversity is the variety of human societies or cultures in a specific region, or in the world as a whole. ... Shopping is the purchase of goods and services from retailers. ... The well-being or quality of life of a population is an important concern in economics and political science. ... Ernst Haeckel coined the term oekologie in 1866. ...

In general, local food is in opposition to the ideas of global free trade. Critics argue that by convincing consumers in developed nations not to buy food produced in the third world, the local food movement damages the economy of third world nations, which often rely heavily on food exports and cash crops. Free trade is an economic concept referring to the selling of products between countries without tariffs or other trade barriers. ... This article is about consumers in economics. ... A developed country is a country that is technologically advanced and that enjoys a relatively high standard of living. ... For the Jamaican reggae band, see Third World (band). ... One of the most influential doctrines in history is that all humans are divided into groups called nations. ... In agriculture, a cash crop is a crop which is grown for money. ...

Critics also say that local food tends to be more expensive to the consumer than food bought without regard to provenance and could never provide the variety currently available (such as having summer vegetables available in winter, or having kinds of food available which can not be locally produced due to soil, climate or labor conditions). This article is about consumers in economics. ... Provenance is the origin or source from which anything comes. ... Summer is a season that is astronomically defined as beginning around June 21, and ending around September 23 in the Northern Hemisphere. ... Vegetables on a market Vegetable is a nutritional and culinary term denoting any part of a plant that is commonly consumed by humans as food, but is not regarded as a culinary fruit, nut, herb, spice, or grain. ... Winter is one of the four seasons of temperate zones. ... SOiL is a five-piece hard rock music group from Chicago, Illinois. ...

However, proponents indicate that the lower price of commodified food (which is sometimes called cheap food) is often due to a variety of governmental subsidies, including direct ones such as price supports, direct payments or tax breaks, and indirect ones such as subsidies for trucking via road infrastructure investment, and often does not take into account the true cost of the product. They further indicate that buying local food does not necessarily mean giving up all food coming from distant ecoregions, but rather favoring local foods when available. Commodity is a term with distinct meanings in both business and in Marxian political economy. ... In economics, a subsidy is generally a monetary grant given by a government to lower the price faced by producers or consumers of a good, generally because it is considered to be in the public interest. ... A tax exemption is an exemption to the tax law of a state or nation in which part of the taxes that would normally be collected from an individual or an organization are instead forgone. ... Full cost accounting (FCA) generally refers to the process of collecting and presenting information (costs as well as advantages) for each proposed alternative when a decision is necessary. ... An ecoregion, sometimes called a bioregion, is a relatively large area of land or water that contains a geographically distinct assemblage of natural communities. ...

What defines local or regional?

The definition of "local" or "regional" is flexible and may be disputed, or modified by industry lobby groups. Some see "local" as being a very small area (typically, the size of a city and its surroundings), others suggest the ecoregion size, while others refer to the borders of their nation or state. The city of Chicago, as seen from the sky The main square of the Catalan city of Sabadell during a popular celebration. ... A state is a set of institutions that possess the authority to make the rules that govern the people in one or more societies, having internal and external sovereignty over a definite territory. ...

Some proponents of "local food" consider that the term "local" has little to do with distance or with the size of a "local" area. For example, some see the American state of Texas as being "local", although it is much larger than some European countries. In this case, transporting a food product across Texas could involve a longer distance than that between northern and southern European countries. It is also argued that national borders should not be used to define what is local. For example, a cheese produced in Alsace is likely to be more "local" to German people in Frankfurt, than to French people in Marseille. Official language(s) English (de facto) See also languages of Texas Capital Austin Largest city Houston Area  Ranked 2nd  - Total 268,581 sq mi (695,622 km²)  - Width 773 miles (1,244 km)  - Length 790 miles (1,270 km)  - % water 2. ... This article is 150 kilobytes or more in size. ... Cheese is a solid food made from the milk of cows, goats, sheep, and other mammals. ... (New région flag) (Region logo) Location Administration Capital Strasbourg Regional President Adrien Zeller (UMP) (since 1996) Departments Bas-Rhin Haut-Rhin Arrondissements 13 Cantons 75 Communes 903 Statistics Land area1 8,280 km² Population (Ranked 14th)  - January 1, 2006 est. ... For other uses, see Frankfurt (disambiguation). ... City flag Coat of arms Motto: By her great deeds, the city of Massilia shines Location Coordinates Time Zone CET (GMT +1) Administration Country France Region Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur Department Bouches-du-Rhône (13) Subdivisions 16 arrondissements (in 8 secteurs) Intercommunality Urban Community of Marseille Provence...

The concept of "local" is also seen in terms of ecology, where food production is considered from the perspective of a basic ecological unit defined by its climate, soil, watershed, species and local agrisystems, a unit also called an ecoregion. Ernst Haeckel coined the term oekologie in 1866. ... A drainage basin is the area within the drainage basin divide (yellow outline), and drains the surface runoff and river discharge (blue lines) of a contiguous area. ... In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biodiversity. ... An ecoregion, sometimes called a bioregion, is a relatively large area of land or water that contains a geographically distinct assemblage of natural communities. ...

Where local food is determined by the distance it has travelled, the wholesale distribution system can confuse the calculations. Fresh food that is grown very near to where it will be purchased, may still travel hundreds of miles through the system before arriving back at a local store. This is seen as a labelling issue by local food advocates, who suggest that, at least in the case of fresh food, consumers should be able to see exactly how far each food item has travelled.

In the international wine industry, much "bulk wine" is shipped to other regions or continents, to be blended with wine from other locales. It may even be marketed rather misleadingly as a product of the bottling country. This is in direct opposition to both the concept of "local food" and the concept of terroir. Terroir was originally a French term in wine and coffee appreciation used to denote the special characteristics of geography that bestowed individuality upon the food product. ...

Local food is often equated with organic food

Local food is, by definition, food locally grown. Many local food proponents tend to equate it with food produced by local independent farmers, while equating non-local food with food produced and transformed by large agribusiness. They may support resisting globalization of food by pressing for policy changes and choosing to buy local food. They may also follow the practice of the boycott or buycott. Traditional Eastern European Farmer Woman. ... In agriculture, agribusiness is a generic term that refers to the various businesses involved in the food production chain, including farming, seed, agrichemicals, farm machinery, wholesaling, processing, distribution, and retail sales. ... The Microsoft building in Bangalore, the information technology capital of India A KFC franchise in Kuwait. ... Look up Boycott in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A buycott is the opposite of a boycott; that is, an active campaign to buy the products or services of a particular company or country. ...

Local food is also often interpreted as being organic, or produced by farmers who adopt sustainable and humane practices, while non-local food is often seen as a result of corporate management policies, heavy subsidies, poor animal welfare, lack of care for the environment, and poor working conditions. This limited interpretation is likely due to the fact that the organic movement is largely responsible for renewed public interest in local and regional markets. Those subscribing to this interpretation often insist on buying food directly from local family farms, through direct channels such as farmers' markets, food cooperatives and community-supported agriculture plans. Organic cultivation of mixed vegetables in Capay, California. ... Corporate redirects here. ... The term management characterizes the process of and/or the personnel leading and directing all or part of an organization (often a business) through the deployment and manipulation of resources (human, capital, natural, intellectual or intangible). ... Look up policy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Animal welfare is the viewpoint that animals, especially those under human care, should not suffer unnecessarily, including where the animals are used for food, work, companionship, or research. ... Organic movement broadly refers to the organizations and individuals involved worldwide in the promotion of sustainable agriculture and organic farming, and a general opposition to agribusiness. ... The family farm is a farm owned and operated by a family. ... Roadside farmers market in Bridgehampton, New York Dutch bell peppers at a farmers market in Montpelier, Vermont A farmers market near the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet. ... For cooperative as used in biochemistry, see cooperative binding. ... Community-supported agriculture (CSA) is a relatively new socio-economic model of food production, sales and distribution aimed at both increasing the quality of food and the quality of care given the land, plants and animals – while substantially reducing potential food losses and financial risks for the producers. ...

For many, local food is interpreted as unprocessed food, to be transformed by the consumer or local shop rather than by the food industry. As such, local food (as opposed to global food) reduces or eliminates the costs of transport, processing, packaging, and advertising. Food preservation is the process of treating and handling food in such a way as to stop or greatly slow down spoilage to prevent foodborne illness while maintaining nutritional value, texture and flavor. ... Commercialism redirects here. ...

As large corporations and supermarket distribution increasingly dominate the organic food market, the concept of local food, and sometimes 'sustainable food', is increasingly being used by independent farmers, food activists, and aware consumers to refine the definition of organic food and organic agriculture. By this measure, food that is certified organic but not grown locally is viewed as possibly "less organic" or not of the same overall quality or benefit, as locally grown organic products. Some consumers see the general advantages of "organic" as also invested in "locally grown", therefore local food not grown "organically" may trump generically "organic" in purchase decisions. Also, because local food tends to be fresh (or minimally processed, such as cheese and milk), as opposed to processed food, the bias against processed food is often at least implicit in the local food argument. The marketing phrase, fresh, local, organic, summarizes these arguments. Exterior of a typical British supermarket (a Tesco Extra) Exterior of typical North American supermarket (a Safeway) This Flagship Randalls store in Houston, Texas is an example of an upscale supermarket. ... An organically-grown apple. ... Sustainability is an attempt to provide the best outcomes for the human and natural environments both now and into the indefinite future. ... Organic certification is a certification process for producers of organic food and other organic agricultural products. ... Food preservation is the process of treating and handling food in such a way as to stop or greatly slow down spoilage to prevent foodborne illness while maintaining nutritional value, texture and flavor. ...

Impacts of local food systems

Transport distance (see also food miles)

A goal of a local food system might be to minimize food transport distance, known as food miles. A consumer report published in 2003 by The Guardian newspaper in the UK found that a selection of 20 fresh food items purchased from British supermarkets had travelled an average of 5,000 miles each[1]; in North America, an average fresh food transport distance of 1,000-1,500 miles is often cited. Transport costs must consider weight as well as distance. If food is processed, it may lose weight compared with unprocessed food. To the extent it is processed nearer production, less weight is transported a longer distance. If it is processed by the consumer, more weight may be transported, though the trip from production to processing can be avoided. The amount of fossil fuel consumed and CO₂ emissions released in the atmosphere of more local, unprocessed food compared with less local, processed food are thus ambiguous. This issue is addressed by the field of regional science. Food miles is an expression for the concept that the mileage of food before it reaches the consumer (or the plate) is a potential indicator for the environmental impact of the food and its components. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Guardian is a British newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. ... World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ... In the physical sciences, weight is a measurement of the gravitational force acting on an object. ... Distance is a numerical description of how far apart things lie. ... In the physical sciences, weight is a measurement of the gravitational force acting on an object. ... Coal rail cars in Ashtabula, Ohio Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons, primarily coal, fuel oil or natural gas, formed from the remains of dead plants and animals. ... Regional science is a field of the social sciences concerned with analytical approaches to problems that are specifically urban, rural, or regional. ...

Food quality

Another effect could be an increase in food quality and taste. Locally grown fresh food can be consumed almost immediately after harvest, so it may be sold fresher and usually riper (e.g. picked at peak maturity, as it would be from a home garden). Also, the need for chemical preservatives and irradiation to artificially extend shelf-life can be reduced or eliminated. Food quality is the quality characteristics of food that is acceptable to consumers. ... Taste is one of the traditional five senses and refers to the ability to detect of flavor of foodstuffs and other substances (e. ... Crops have been harvested by hand throughout most of human history. ... A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the display, cultivation, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. ... The Radura logo, used to show a food has been treated with radiation Food irradiation is the process of exposing food to ionizing radiation in order to disinfect, sanitize, sterilize, preserve food or to provide insect disinfestation. ... This pack of diced pork says display until 7 May and use by 8 May Shelf life is that length of time that food, drink, medicine and other perishable items are given before they are considered unsuitable for sale or consumption. ...

One food quality argument holds that better nutrition results when people eat food grown in the ecoregion in which they live. The general theory is that regional conditions affect the composition of plants and animals, and eating local provides an optimized nutritional fit. Scientifically, this has neither been proven nor disproven. The word theory has a number of distinct meanings in different fields of knowledge, depending on their methodologies and the context of discussion. ...

Agrisystems and sustainable farming

A major potential effect of local food systems is to encourage multiple cropping, i.e. growing multiple species and a wide variety of crops at the same time and same place, as opposed to the prevalent commercial practice of large-scale, single-crop monoculture. In agriculture, multiple cropping is the practice of growing two or more crops simultaneously or successively during a single growing season. ... Monoculture describes systems that have very low diversity. ...

With a higher demand for a variety of agricultural products, farmers are more likely to diversify their production, thereby making it easier to farm in a sustainable way. For example, winter intercropping (e.g. coverage of leguminous crops during winter) and crop rotation may reduce pest pressure, and also the use of pesticides. Also, in an animal/crop multiculture system, the on-farm byproducts like manure and crop residues may be used to replace chemical fertilizers, while on-farm produced silage and leguminous crops may feed the cattle instead of imported soya. Manure and residues being considered as by-products rather than waste, will have reduced effects on the environment, and reduction in soya import is likely to be economically interesting for the farmer, as well as more secure (because of a decrease of market dependence on outside inputs). Sustainability is an attempt to provide the best outcomes for the human and natural environments both now and into the indefinite future. ... Intercropping is the farming practice of growing two or more crops in the same field at the same time. ... Varieties of soybean seeds, a popular legume Pea pods The term legume has two closely related meanings in botany, a situation encountered with many botanical common names of useful plants, whereby an applied name can refer to either the plant itself, or to the edible fruit (or useful part). ... Satellite image of circular crop fields in Haskell County, Kansas in late June 2001. ... Larval form of some beetle is damaging specimen of Sceliphron destillatorius in entomogical collection. ... A cropduster spreading pesticide. ... Animal manure is often a mixture of animals feces and bedding straw, as in this example from a stable. ... There are two types of agricultural crop residues. ... Spreading manure, an organic fertilizer Fertilizers (British English fertilisers) are compounds given to plants to promote growth; they are usually applied either via the soil, for uptake by plant roots, or by foliar feeding, for uptake through leaves. ... Silage (hay) somewhere in Allschwil or Schönenbuch, near Basel, Switzerland. ... Binomial name Bos taurus Linnaeus, 1758 Cattle (often called cows in vernacular and contemporary usage, or kye as the Scots plural of cou) are domesticated ungulates, a member of the subfamily Bovinae of the family Bovidae. ... Binomial name Glycine max (L.) Merr. ... Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Waste Waste inside a wheelie bin Waste, rubbish, trash, garbage, or junk is unwanted or undesired material. ...

In a polycultural agrisystem, there is usually a more efficient use of human capital (labour) as each crop has a different cycle of culture, hence different time of intensive care, minimization of risk (lesser effect of extreme weather as one crop can compensate for another), reduction of insect and disease incidence (diseases are usually crop specific), maximization of results with low levels of technology (intensive monoculture cropping often involves very high-technology material and sometimes the use of genetically modified seeds). Multiculture also seeks to preserve indigenous biodiversity. Human capital is a way of defining and categorizing the skills and abilities as used in employment and as they otherwise contribute to the economy. ... Trends in natural disasters, Pascal Peduzzi, UNEP/GRID-Arendal Extreme weather includes weather phenomena that are at the extremes of historical patterns, especially severe or unseasonal weather. ... Orders See taxonomy Insects (Class Insecta) are a major group of arthropods and the most diverse group of animals on the Earth, with over a million described species — more than all other animal groups combined [1]. Insects may be found in nearly all environments on the planet, although only a... It has been suggested that Refractory disease be merged into this article or section. ... By the mid 20th century humans had achieved a mastery of technology sufficient to leave the surface of the Earth for the first time and explore space. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Rainforests are among the most biodiverse ecosystems on earth Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variation of taxonomic life forms within a given ecosystem, biome or for the entire Earth. ...

These farming approaches happen to be the essence of the sustainable organic farming approach, although local farming is at present predominantly not, and is not required to be, strictly "organic" from a certification standpoint.

Local economies

Local food production could strengthen local economies by protecting small farms, local jobs, and local shops, thereby increasing food security. One example of an effort in this direction is community-supported agriculture (CSA), where consumers purchase advance shares in a local farmer's annual production, and pick up their shares, usually weekly, from communal distribution points. In effect, CSA members become active participants in local farming, by providing up-front cash to finance seasonal expenses, sharing in the risks and rewards of the growing conditions, and taking part in the distribution system. Some CSA set-ups require members to contribute a certain amount of labor, in a form of cooperative venture. Food security is a term used in development and humanitarian aid. ... Cash usually refers to money in the form of liquid currency, such as banknotes or coins. ... Finance studies and addresses the ways in which individuals, businesses, and organizations raise, allocate, and use monetary resources over time, taking into account the risks entailed in their projects. ... For cooperative as used in biochemistry, see cooperative binding. ...

The popular resurgence of farmers markets in many parts of the world, including Europe and North America, contributes to local economies. They are traditional in many societies, bringing together local food and craft producers for the convenience of local consumers. Today, some urban farmers markets are large-scale enterprises, attracting tens of thousands on a market day, and vendors are not always "local". However, the majority of markets are still built around local farmers. A farmers market near the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Applied art. ...

Another at present small but notable trend is local food as part of a barter system. In localized economies, where a variety of common goods and services are provided by individuals and businesses within the immediate community (as opposed to by outlets and branches of large corporations), a direct of exchange of values is quite feasible. Some CSA projects, for example, trade services or labor for food. Barter is a type of trade in which goods or services are exchanged for other goods and/or services; no money is involved in the transaction. ...

Particularly in the developed nations, the move away from local food to agribusiness over the last 100 years has had a profound socioeconomic effect, by redistributing populations into urban areas, and concentrating ownership of land and capital. In addition, the traditional farming skill set, which by necessity included a diverse range of knowledge and abilities required to manage a farm, has given way to new generations of specialists. When farming for local consumption was a cornerstone of local economies, the farmer was an integral, leading member of the community, a far different position from today. Support for local food is seen by some as a way to rediscover valuable community structures, values and perspectives. The city of San Francisco, an example of an urban area. ...

History of the local food movement

The local food movement in the European Union has been hindered by EU rules requiring things produced in the EU, including food, to be marked as products of the EU, rather than as products of any particular country. The instinct of customers to buy nationally produced food in the name of patriotism was deemed to be a barrier to free trade. This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. ... Free trade is an economic concept referring to the selling of products between countries without tariffs or other trade barriers. ...

Terra Madre is a network of food communities coordinated by the Slow Food organization. Meetings held in Turin in 2004 and 2005 attracted representatives from 150 countries. Terra Madre is a network of food communities, each committed to producing quality food in a responsible, sustainable way. ... The Slow Food movement was created to combat fast food and claims to preserve the cultural cuisine and the associated food plants and seeds, domestic animals, and farming within an ecoregion. ...

Another organization [FoodRoutes Network][2] has been working for a number of years in developing local chapters of its "Buy Fresh Buy Local" program. It helps consumers to become involved with the development and revitalization of their local food system. The organization was founded by the Kellogg Foundation to bring hope that there will always be healthy food available to all. Today there are over 40 chapters around the USA.

Criticism of the local food movement

Critics of the local food movement point out that transport is only one component of the total environmental impact of food production and consumption. In fact, any environmental assessment of food that consumers buy needs to take into account how the food has been produced and what energy is used in its production. For example, it is likely to be more environmentally friendly for tomatoes to be grown in Spain and transported to the UK than for the same tomatoes to be grown in greenhouses in the UK requiring electricity to light and heat them.

An extensive study Food Miles – Comparative Energy/Emissions Performance of New Zealand’s Agriculture Industry by Lincoln University of Christchurch New Zealand refutes claims about food miles by comparing total energy used in food production in Europe and New Zealand, taking into account energy used to ship the food to Europe for consumers.

"New Zealand has greater production efficiency in many food commodities compared to the UK. For example New Zealand agriculture tends to apply less fertilisers (which require large amounts of energy to produce and cause significant CO2 emissions) and animals are able to graze year round outside eating grass instead large quantities of brought-in feed such as concentrates. In the case of dairy and sheepmeat production NZ is by far more energy efficient even including the transport cost than the UK, twice as efficient in the case of dairy, and four times as efficient in case of sheepmeat. In the case of apples NZ is more energy efficient even though the energy embodied in capital items and other inputs data was not available for the UK."

Given the high level of subsidies required to support many food producers in the European Union, this is also seen as an indicator of the inefficient resource use from farming in Europe, compared to low or unsubsidised producers in Australia and New Zealand.

See also

• Slow Food

The Slow Food movement was created to combat fast food and claims to preserve the cultural cuisine and the associated food plants and seeds, domestic animals, and farming within an ecoregion. ...

External links

• Local Fair Trade Network
• Network of European Alimentary Culture
• f3 - making local and sustainable food happen
• Local Farmer Network
• Wiki For Good: Eat Local
• Cook Here and Now -- Local and seasonal cooking group