Closer Look at Local Foods and Recycling

Headmistress, in the comments in the latest post regarding environmentalism, asks for our thoughts regarding April's Reader's Digest article on easy ways to go green.

One portion to which Headmistress refers mentions how buying locally grown foods might not be as good for the environment as one might think. Here is what Reader's Digest says about that:

If you want to support local farmers and love fresh food, fine, but don't assume you're helping the planet. Foods from farther away may be grown and shipped so much more efficiently (and cheaply) that they produce fewer greenhouse gases. "There are lots of good reasons to eat local," says David Victor, director of the Program on Energy and Sustainable Development at Stanford University. "But energy savings don't top the list, because local production often requires more trips than mechanized food production."

I would've liked to have seen some numbers, being the science minded person that I am, but this is Reader's Digest, not Popular Science ;)

This revelation is fine with me.

We hardly ever consider buying local foods because of environmental reasons. Why do we grow vegetables in our garden? Because it's fun, rewarding, and convenient.

When we buy local foods, our chief factors include freshness, taste, and price. Supporting the local farmers is also a secondary factor. We hardly ever consider buying local foods because of environmental reasons. Why do we grow vegetables in our garden? Among other things, because it's fun, rewarding, and convenient, although not without its share of disappointments from time to time (goodbye Chinese Giant bell peppers). It's a hobby that provides us with exercise and healthy food. It also gives us reason to re-use vegetable scraps, yard waste, and cardboard as compost.

Something that I've not seen mentioned in articles about local food is the distance that you yourself drive to get these local goods. There is a popular grocery store in the Atlanta area. This store carries lots of organic and/or locally grown produce. This store also has a big parking lot, and lots of cars fill up that parking lot. I'm not one to be too concerned about carbon emissions, but I wonder how much gas the patrons could have saved if they just went to the grocery store closest to them? We, for instance, have a Publix within walking distance, and a Kroger within 5 minutes driving distance. It would take us about 20-25 minutes (without traffic delays) to get to this other grocery store. Luckily for us, we also have at least one big produce stand within a 10 minutes drive.

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The article also mentions how certain items might not be worth recycling:

While it can make economic sense to recycle aluminum and paper, towns frequently lose money recycling glass and plastics because they're expensive to collect and aren't worth much. Go ahead and recycle plastic if it gives you pleasure -- you can feel virtuous about the energy savings. But there are easier and cheaper ways to reduce greenhouse emissions.

This is something I've wondered about before. How much more energy does it take to recycle? How much pollution does a recycling plant belch out? Is recycling cost-effective? Maybe we aren't really being as resource-friendly as we thought, since we hardly ever drink soda, and thus hardly ever have aluminum to recycle. Most of our recycling items are paper and plastics. Wikipedia's article on recycling has both advocacy and criticism, as I would expect from an encyclopedic article.

(It is interesting to note that John Tierney, who wrote this Reader's Digest article, also wrote a New York Times article that is cited in the Wikipedia entry above. His 1996 NYT article is titled "Recycling is Garbage." I'm assuming it's the same John Tierney, although I could be wrong.)

I don't know who to trust on this issue. At least with other controversial issues such as canine raw diets, I directly observe the results and evidence that it is beneficial and healthful. With recycling, I think it's hard for an average citizen to observe beneficial or harmful results. I think we'll stick with recycling, although maybe it's government elementary school brainwashing that's controlling me ;)

Again, my chief reasons for recycling do not include "helping the environment." I'd say my chief reason is conserving resources, which I hope it actually does. I hate to see things wasted, which means I halfway freak out whenever we go out to eat. Have you seen how much food people waste??