Hacker News Reader

Comment by akamaka | Hacker News Reader

As good as the author's logic is, he's trying to refute a point that locavores haven't even really been emphasising.

See for yourself: http://www.locavores.com/how/why.php

Energy conservation is only one of 12 reasons to buy locally, and saving transportation costs is only a minor subpoint. The main energy conservation argument is to not buy from farms relying heavily on fossil fuels.

View on HN

The reason locovores no longer make "food miles" a central justification is that it has been thoroughly debunked. Go back a few years and you will see "food miles" being used all over the place in the eat local arguments.

It also depends where you live. I was blown away how much food miles were emphasized as a mark of sustainability on packaging and advertising in the UK two years ago.

The uk is a crowded island and anything we can do to reduce the number of lorries (trucks) on our roads would be good. An example is, why do potatoes from Cornwall get sold in Yorkshire and vice versa since both areas could be self-sufficient in potatoes? Why are we wasting fuel, vehicles, truck drivers time (and their whole lives really) shifting potatoes around depending on the market price? A more extreme example is that New Zealand apples and lamb are sold in the UK, both of which are readily available from this country, not only at different times of year. I've even seen "Organic" New Zealand apples in Sainsburys. Well they might be organically grown but certainly not organically produced overall if they're shipped halfway around the globe. Another bugbear I have is, here in the East Midlands we have freight planes landing and taking off at night. Some people aren't getting a decent night's sleep so that others can get Mange Tout and sugar snap peas from Ghana or wherever. So in summary if you want the planet to be a nicer less stressful place with less lorries and planes, try to buy local!

Huh - they don't list the sole reason I do it.

The author's logic actually offers the fallacy of a false dichotomy. If you're so inclined there's no reason one couldn't eat locally, and shift food content.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com