[FLPERMACULTURE] Eat-Local Backlash

[Jeff Schreiber]

But what about those grains, Joel? They throw a wrench
into the whole eat local debate. No urban area,
regardless of how many urban gardens it has, will ever
have the space to grow enough local grains to meet its
needs. What to do?

>From what I can tell from the literature,
permaculturalists have attempted to wrestle with this
specific problem for awhile now. Some, such as Mark
Shepherd of Wisconsin, have developed large, complex
agroforestry systems of fruit and nut trees designed
to  be an attractive replacement to the rural "corn
and bean" farms of today. Others, like Dave Jacke,
have focused more on small, suburban plots.

Guess I'm wondering if anyone has any other take on
this issue, as the "either/or" way I'm thinking about
it seems too simplistic. Urban parkways of wheat
fields? Nutritional substitutions for grains? Take
down "civilization" to destroy the rural-urban
dichotomy, as Derrick Jensen would have it? 

Best,
Jeff 


--- Joel and Sarah Gagnon
<Joel.and.Sarah.Gagnon at lightlink.com> wrote:

> Interesting stuff, Simon, both your move toward
> eating more locally and the 
> commentary thereon. We grow most of what we eat,
> with the exception of a 
> few staples that either require more land or more
> work (or both). Grains we 
> buy in bulk, but as you note, they may not be very
> local. Greenstar sources 
> its organic rolled oats, for example, from
> Saskatchewan. Our flour (King 
> Arthur) is milled in Vermont, but who knows where in
> America the grain came 
> from? You won't find domestic olive oil. We use
> little enough of it that we 
> don't mind buying it in large containers
> infrequently. One could substitute 
> canola since the health benefits are at least
> similar. While we use about 
> 30 pounds of local honey a year, we also use 10-15
> pounds of sugar because 
> there are places where a more neutral sweetener are
> wanted (jam).
> 
> It seems to me, that as energy prices rise, the
> market cues will change to 
> favor local products. It was the march in the other
> direction, driven by 
> cheap fuel, that destroyed local production and
> distribution. It will take 
> time and effort to reestablish local and regional
> distribution, but if 
> there is one thing that can be said about most
> Americans, it is that we 
> respond to economic cues.
> 
> Joel
> 
> At 08:12 AM 8/23/07 -0400, you wrote:
> >And for a local Eat-Local Backlash, see:
> >
>
>http://livingindryden.org/2007/08/local_eating_generates_a_bit_o.html
> >
> >I addressed the NY Times and a Boston critique of
> local eating earlier,
> >at the end of:
> >
>
>http://livingindryden.org/2007/08/starting_eating_local.html
> >
> >Food-miles are a great way to explain to people
> what's wrong with our
> >food system, but they're a diagnostic tool, not a
> solution calculator.
> >Applying a little thought - not hard to do - can
> push most of these
> >complaints aside.
> >
> >Thanks,
> >Simon St.Laurent
> >http://livingindryden.org/eating_locally/
> >_______________________________________________
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