Yes, we read Mark Bittman’s Bitten blog. He had this to say today on a topic obviously near and dear:
However you define “local,” the meaning to you certainly includes “from nearby” — however you define nearby.
It might include “fresh,” but — for example — “local” meat is often frozen, and local fruit may be preserved in the form of jam. It might include “seasonal.” But then again there is the issue of preservation.
My point is this: You define it how you want to. You want to exclude frozen food, fine; you want to exclude out-of-season food, no problem. It’s up to you. Because, for better or worse (and I suspect better), the USDA has not yet begun certifying “local” as it has “organic” (which most certainly does not mean local, as I discuss here.
You can read the full post (which has links to other bloggers sounding off on the topic, here.
This debate may be getting tiresome for some of us, but it seems important that we keep having it. As the movement to a more sustainable diet gains ground, the naysayers are only getting louder. And better funded. And they’re winning soap boxes… care of the New York Times, even.
Seriously — go look at that lunacy the Times published last weekend, from a “scientist” who argues free-range piggies are, effectively, less healthy than their imprisoned brethen. The “study” he quotes was funded by the National Pork Board. Oops!
Incidentally, this scientist is also authoring a book called “Just Food: How Locavores Are Endangering the Future of Food and How We Can Truly Eat Responsibly.”
Good eaters, stay tuned.