Local Feasts

Throughout the year, but especially in these harvest months, I see what fresh ingredients are available at the Union Square farmers' market in New York City, and plan dinner accordingly. After shopping here for over a decade, I know the faces and the families -- all small, regional farmers -- that have grown my food. As a constant reminder of the uniform, seasonless products of industrial agriculture, McDonald's sits just across the street. The juxtaposition of these two food sources clearly and chillingly illustrates how far some food has traveled from the farm.

In the supermarket, a profusion of 30,000 items may be stocked on the shelves at any one time. Our foods are pre-cooked, pre-sliced and pre-measured. We are enticed to heat up a pre-made dinner or just eat "fast." With a new McDonald's opening up every four days in the U.S., fast food is indeed very fast.

Corporate agribusinesses manufacture and market over 95% of America's food, which now travels an average 1,400 miles from field to plate. For corporate food purchasers, "local" means whatever is purchased (via computer), shipped (via air) and trucked to its final destination within 24 hours. Even produce from California can be marked "local" in a New England supermarket if it meets this requirement.

Meanwhile, the number of farmers subsisting on farming as their chief occupation fell from over 1.2 million in 1978 to about 962,000 in 1997. Purchasing truly local produce at the farmers' market aids in maintaining open, productive land by supporting farmers who have upheld the family farm tradition. Avoidance of marketing middlemen helps farmers -- and their communities -- get more of each food dollar. According to Russell Libby, executive director of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, Maine residents could keep an extra $100 million in local economies and guarantee a future for hundreds of Maine farms if each household committed only $10 per week to buying directly from the state's farmers.

When I buy local, my selection varies with season and weather, and includes ecological land stewardship practices such as organic and bio-intensive pest management. Choosing a varietal apple or peach supports the farmers who are helping to maintain genetic diversity. Our local fruit also reminds me and my family of where we live and why, as well as the magnificent taste difference between fruits or vegetables fresh from harvest and those taken from a refrigerated container.

Are my shopping habits realistic in an urban setting? Definitely. If food doesn't matter, what does? I am part of a growing consumer movement which starts with that most basic of human activities -- the gathering, preparation and celebration of food. By buying from local growers, our families are participating in a happy meal, not a "Happy Meal."