Organic vs. Local: Food for Thought

The other day, as we walked to lunch, I and my colleagues, canvas publishers Tom and Matt, again started to discuss a topic that has been much on our minds of late: The argument about organic vs. local products—primarily foods.

It’s a question I’ve been asked a lot lately—not only because I am the editor of this sustainable lifestyle magazine but because of the fact that I am a professionally trained chef and veteran food writer—a fact that many of you may not know.

Given those two sides of my professional self most folks make the assumption that I must be ardently pro-local. After all, any seasoned chef worth his or her toque always aims to use seasonal ingredients in the kitchen. There are a lot of reasons for this: Cost is one because bountiful seasonal items are often cheaper than there cross-country shipped counterparts. Plus, locally produced food just tastes better because of the foreshortened time getting it from field to market.

But that doesn’t mean that I support local no matter what. As the canvas team’s ongoing discussions have revealed, this is a many-layered question. There are good and bad arguments on both sides of the organic vs. local debate and, for me, which you choose depends on a number of things.

I eat organically because I don’t want chemical pesticides or fertilizers in my food. On that score, a fresh ripe local tomato grown on a conventional farm may be alluring but I’ll probably stay away from it. I will however, ferret out the local organic farm and buy its seasonal items any day of the week. If that farm doesn’t exist, I’ll go and buy an organic tomato grown in Israel if I have to—in fact I did that just the other day at a small, organic farm stand near my home.
And that raises another reason for eating locally: supporting local farmers, producers and artisans. Well, my local farm stand—Ann Marie’s in Setauket does an interesting hybrid business. In the summer, she gets her organic produce from local farms. In the winter, she gets it elsewhere. Hers is a small, multi-generational family business. When I support her, I do support a local enterprise.

Then, there are those who feel that eating foods and using goods created within a small radius of your home is more healthful because you are more in tune with the habitat in which you live. Now, if the goal of this is to support a locale ecosystem appropriately then the argument is good.
However, if the goal is to support your own physiology appropriately, then the argument may not be. Avocados don’t grow here—so don’t eat them. But what if you are genetically programmed to eat avocados for optimum health? My ancestors, for example, come from lands where rice is part of our staple diet. We are genetically conditioned to eat rice, if you will.
Rice does not grow on Long Island.

What does that mean for me if I choose to only eat what’s locally produced? If you believe the science that says you will be healthier if you eat according to your evolutionary directives, then I’m out of luck eating locally grown potatoes.

The discussion can go on and, as such, is too large a one to be had here, but I hope you will read more on this topic at this link to my food column at Dragonfire, the award-winning, online magazine of Drexel University.

After you read it, I’d love to hear your comments on the topic back here at canvas—and remember to look for our new food section, including my Chef’s blog and a reader Q&A starting next month.