An interesting study published recently by a group from the University of California shows just how complex unraveling both the meaning and the logistics of local can be. We are blessed with a good growing climate here in Jefferson County, but not as much as Santa Barbara County in California.
Santa Barbara County ranks in the top 1% nationwide for production of fruits and vegetables, so one might think it would make a good case study of how localizing food production and consumption would reduce "food-miles" and thus both save energy and reduce greenhouse emissions. Unfortunately that is not what they found out. Instead the researchers discovered that more than 99% of the produce grown in the county was exported and more than 95% of the food consumed there was imported -- sometimes locally produced food was consumed locally, but only after being shipped out to a central warehouse in the Bar Area, and then shipped back in.
Clearly, there are structural issues at work here, and they will need to be resolved if we are to maximize the balance of food production and consumption on a local or regional basis. The question is where we can restructure the food system consciously, or have it done "to" us by rising energy costs.
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