Locavore

Locavore Movement Affecting the World The locavore movement has started to catch on throughout the world. Locavores everywhere are pushing for people to start eating food grown within a 100 mile radius of where they are located. They convince people to try it by telling them the food is fresher, healthier, and taste better when it is produced locally. However, there are other aspects and factors that must be considered before deciding whether or not the locavore movement would be a sensible switch. Problems that include nutritional value, local economy, and how the transportation can hurt the environment with greenhouse gases. The issue of the difference in nutritional value between locally grown produce and food that has been in transit is probably the most well known argument that locavores make in favor of their movement. Because produce starts to lose nutrition as soon as it is harvested, food that travels shorter distances is closer to maximum nutrition (Smith and MacKinnon). When the food travels over a long distance to a large supermarket the food will obviously lose more of its nutritional value than it would if the food was transported from a local farm. The time that it takes does not only affect the nutritional value, but the freshness and the taste of the food (Maiser). “This does not mean that eating local food is necessary in order to be healthy” said Marion Nestle, a professor and former chair of nutrition at New York University. “A person making smart choices from the global mega mart can easily meet all the body’s needs.” Additionally, “There will be nutritional differences, but they’ll be marginal [and]… people are not nutrient-deprived,” said Nestle (Smith and MacKinnon). Even though eating locally can make slight improvements nutritionally; it is not necessary. The locavore movement is affecting small businesses across the country. Local farmers markets are a big part of how the locavore movement is improving local economies. The

Cited: Web. 20 Jan. 2014 Roberts, Paul Mifflin Harcourt, 2008. Print. Smith, Alisa, and J of Eating Locally. New York: Harmony. 2007. Print