More on Local Food
There’s nothing wrong with people voluntarily eating produce that was harvested nearby. However, the locavore movement’s claims need to be refuted when its activists lobby for taxpayer support — whether in the form of subsidies or purchasing mandates. This essay in Forbes by Elisabeth Eaves shows why we shouldn’t buy into the locavore argument. I love this part:
Most of the values the locavore movement claims to embrace–healthier food, environmentalism, good treatment of labor–actually have little to do with whether or not a producer is located in one’s own ZIP code. So why not just tackle the issues themselves, rather than using localism as a proxy?
And the next question is also relevant to the more general debate between free trade and protectionism:
Why this parochialism that only seeks prosperity for those in my immediate midst?
