Organic vs Local

There's a lot of talk about "eating local" and I want to clarify where this falls, and address some of the issues with the word "organic". If you've read my All About Organic Part 1: Why you should care , chances are you care about more than your personal health, and therefore I strongly urge you to consider WHERE your food comes from. Shipping food from far away not only usurps loads of unrenewable resources, but also requires pickers to pluck produce from the ground sooner, often before ripe, to make the long journey, which very often is a week or more. The more time that food spends off the stem or out of the ground, the more it's losing the vital energy that we desire to ingest. But more importantly, if we're eating foods from far away, we're not supporting our local economy, and we're probably not eating foods that are locally in-season. And everyone knows (or should know) that being in synch with our natural surroundings is one of the best ways to stay healthy; and one of the easiest ways to be in synch with our surroundings is to eat the food growing around us as it's popping out of the ground.

To add complexity to the issue many would argue the word "organic" has been co-opted by the USDA - when we see that label on food that means the producer has gone to the expensive and exhaustive ends to meet the certification process to be able to slap this word on their produce or meat. What THIS means is that some, often small, producers aren't using pesticides, or are using very little ("minimially treated"), or are pasture-raising their animals and not feeding them hormones or antibiotics - essentially following organic processes - but have not gone to the trouble to get certified by the government because the cost of doing so is prohibitive.

The Farmer's Market is your best friend

NOW how are are supposed to decide? The answer is simple: by asking questions. And the easiest place to do that is at the farmer's market, where you know you're supporting local economy, and getting seasonal food that just came out of the ground. You can ask them if they use pesticides, hormones, or antibiotics, and many will be happy to let you know their thoughts and practices. I've personally found it very interesting to engage with the people who produce the food we eat, and to learn a little about what life is like for them; what their concerns are and what pressures they're under. Almost always, I find, they have a strong desire to produce the best product with very little toxic intervention. This conversation makes my strawberries just a little bit sweeter when I savor them later at home.

Navigating the Aisles

Ok - dandy - but most of the time you have to shop at the grocery store, you say? The grocery store is a little different because we can't get immediate answers to our questions. In this setting, I lean a bit more toward the organic decision than local, but where it's come from is still a very important factor. Here's some advice on handling some example food choices:

Organic kiwis from New Zealand, or the conventional (non-organic) kiwis from California?
In this case, since I'm in New York, I would go for the organic, because both have to travel quite far to get to me - neither are "local".

New York State Organic Blueberries for $4.95/pint, or Maine conventional blueberries for $2.00/pint?
This is where your commitment to values is truly tested. If I can, i'll taste one... that product better be good for the extra cost... I don't encourage anyone to be a martyr for these issues; we should feel we are getting a product worth paying for. If good and I have the money, I'll go with local organic. But if the cost is just too much, or the taste unsatisfactory, buy the conventional, give 'em a good wash, and consider where else you can make organic preferences with the money you saved.

Organic Strawberries from California, or small-farm produced Pennsylvania conventional strawberries?
This is a tough one. My preference would be for the local strawberries - PA is pretty local to New York City - most of our produce comes from NY, NJ, PA, CT, MA, VT and I consider all of these local (within ~500 miles). But this is where I use my senses. Do the strawberries have good color and vitality? Are they fragrant? I'm not interested in size... in fact, smaller is often tastier as it could mean the fruit grew slower and therefore is more concentrated in flavor. I will go with the local strawberries if they look fresh and vital - they were probably picked more recently; and I'd give them a good wash. Ultimately, quality will and should, in my opinion, determine this decision. Both Organic and Local are very valuable issues worth supporting, but in a free market, these producers need to make quality products worth our dollars, and it's this way we can bring the mainstream on board and get us all voting with our wallets for the most sustainable solution.

Join me next week for All About Organic Part 3: Organic Meat