Summary Of Limits Of The Locavore

Locavores are a community of concerned consumers who stick to a diet consisting entirely or mostly of foods grown or produced within a 100-mile radius of their homes. The movement proclaims having honorable intentions by adhering to more ethical standards than that of many factory farms. Many eat locally under the belief that it’s better for the environment and more healthy and safe than mass-produced foods, claiming that local farms don’t mistreat crops, animals, and workers like many factory farms do; however, research shows that local farms are just as capable as generating green house gas emissions, using pesticides on crops, harming animals, and abusing workers. In fact, it is often easier for local farms to operate unethically than factory
Similar to the way some locavores pride themselves on upholding safe standards for growing produce, they boast favorable conditions for workers. They believe that because they the farms they are receiving food from are small, farmhands would inherently have more rights and a say in their work than those of which work in corporate farms. This claim, however, is not an accurate account of what really happens in some local farms. Writer L.V. Anderson addresses the mistreatment of workers in her book review entitled “Limits of the Locavore,” where she reviews author Margaret Gray’s book, “Labor and the Locavore: The Making of a Comprehensive Food Ethic,” and Gray’s views on workers rights within a locavore system. She believes that the locavore movement emphasizes “our society’s tendency to idealize local food allows small farmers to pay workers substandard wages, house them in shoddy labor camps, and quash their ability to unionize to demand better working conditions.” (Anderson, 2014). Our trusting nature in what appears to be an honest system makes it possible for local farmers to treat workers like mindless pawns. Anderson also includes that farmers strongly discourage Latin workers to assimilate into American culture, out of fear it will make them for expecting of normal American privileges (Anderson, 2014). The best thing citizens can do is ask questions directly or do online research in order to ensure workers are being treated ethically. Likewise, proper research must be done to know that livestock is being treated fairly as well. In his article where he discusses issues arising from the humane aspects of the locavore movement, Vasile Stanescu, accomplished writer, explains a horrific account of one sheep herder’s routine for handling sheep. In the process, “she uses herd dogs, does not allow her sheep to lie down comfortably during transport, does not