Purchasing From Local Farmers Can Be Beneficial to the Environment - Assignment Example

Purchasing From Local Farmers Can Be Beneficial to the Environment I. Introduction Food is one of the basic commodities. It is actually one of the bigger factors that affect the consumers’ budgets, along with home energy and transportation (Weber, Matthews, 2008). Since the food importation rate is increasing in the past years (Pirog and Benjamin, 2003), it is also logical to point out that the transportation costs for food also increase, making food more expensive and at the same time it costs the environment for CO2 emissions from the transport. It has been estimated that food travels 1800 miles on the average (Jackson, 2008) when it is being delivered from the farms to the market. These farms are usually located in other countries that grow certain kinds of food. This 1800 mile travel can give at least 800 kgs of CO2 emissions per travel (Webber and Matthews, 2008). II. Data If the food is sourced from a local farm, which is nearer to the market and it would not be imported, it would not contribute much to the CO2 emissions of the food, because less transportation would be involved. Because of this, local farmers can be a great help in providing a sustainable alternative when it comes to marketing farm produce, and at the same time, prove beneficial to the environment. As said before, most foods in the market these days are imported from different countries. According to an article by Andy Jerardo, almost 15% of foods in the markets of the United States are imported. This rate rises continually (Brooks, et al). This means that the imported food travel at least a thousand miles to get to the consumers’ tables. Because of that mileage, transportation takes a huge part in the marketing of foods. At the same time, the impact of transportation is big when it comes to computing a food’s carbon emissions. It is known that the carbon emission of food starts in farms, especially if livestock is the one being farmed. Since the CO2 emissions from beef and poultry are already big, adding CO2 emissions from the transportation needed from the farm to the market route is already a big factor when considering the impact of food in the environment. Therefore, if the farms are locally available, it is more logical for the people to buy there if they are actually conscious of their environment. This is because nearer farms mean low transportation costs and low carbon emissions. Low transportation costs and emissions mean cheaper food and less environmental stress. Local farming also ensures sustainable economy for farming. Since local farmers are, nearer, with figures playing within 100-150 miles from the food source to the table, the taxes that consumers pay when they buy the produce would ultimately go back to the consumers. Helping the local farms is also a good way to support the local economy since it helps in keeping the money within the market. It does not go out from the local territory, unlike in importation where the consumer pays the farmers from other countries from which the food is imported. Having a healthy local economy is good since it lessens our nation’s dependence to other countries, making the nation stronger. It has been said that the local markets from local farms contributes most taxes in the local economy, in the services section. This gives the community more power to serve the people, like giving education and hospital services. Speaking of community, these local farms bring in the spirit of community. They bring in the age old tradition of the farmer-grower relationship, and makes relationships in the community strong. You make friends and then you get insights on nature regarding the produce, as in the seasons, the types of soil, and the produce. This makes you grow! Another point to ponder is that local farming is also beneficial to the health of consumers, not only to the environment. It is logical: since the farms are near, the food is delivered fresh because the food does not spend days, even weeks, in a boat or truck to get transported from point A to point B. It is basically like picking foods right from your own backyard. The sellers also get a reduced packaging costs and storing time because these foods have a great turnover. Another point to be taken seriously is the sustainability of the local farm produce. As they are nearer, they also require the least amount of transportation, as mentioned before. Because of the least amount of transportation, then energy consumption would also be considerably less. This helps in conserving our resources as well. This way, local farms therefore would not only save the environment from harmful CO2 byproducts but also save energy (fossil fuels) because of the least amount of transportation used. Because of this, local farms also prevent climate change in a way, because it is cutting down the carbon dioxide emissions. Greenhouse effects can totally be attributed to industrial farming as they use up a lot of energy, and pesticides. Transportation costs and other logistic factors also add up to the ill effects of industrial farming. Having local farms are also a good way in preserving a region’s distinct culture. Since food is an extension of culture, it is inevitable for a local place not to have their own food that gives them their own unique identity. Importation with their foreign flavors, generally overtake the local culture when it comes to food. Having local farms prevent such things from happening by continually being in the consciousness of the local people. Also, local farms also protect open spaces. As the local farmers are keen on keeping their land, they protect the natural space like wetlands and marshes that make up the “character” of their land/farm. They become good stewards of the environment. They use minimal chemicals, use minimal energy and minimal packaging as well! This reduces the ill effects of farming and actually increases food production by 80%. Local farm products also preserve genetic biodiversity. As they are not genetically modified, then the natural gene selection takes place and this makes the biodiversity in nature intact. With this, you can be assured of the best product as time goes as natural selection (survival of the fittest) proves itself and then you get to have the best food. Along with that, local farming also ensures the protection of the environment and wildlife. As they are small, farms, the farmers need to take care of it very well. They usually tend their own piece of land and protect the natural resources like water and the like. The soil would also be managed as it is very important in planting! It is also generally safer to buy things at your local farmer because you have to buy personally from them. This means that you have their personal guarantee when you buy from them, and then that means that they have to have their best products at hand and it is generally safer for the consumer. All in all, having local farms is beneficial in terms of saving time, energy and freshness/quality of the product and at the same time proving to be beneficial economically, it is not a difficult decision to make. Of course, having local farms as suppliers is a myopic way to help the farmers, generally speaking (Tamarkin). This is based on the notion that buying food from the local farmers would help the farmers, albeit locally. True, this movement will save the local farmers’ livelihood but then again, the countries from where our nation imports are considerably quite poor. They are usually third world countries like Peru and India. The reason that they are exporting their produce even if they have shortages is for them to compete globally. They know that if they have cheap produce, then the world will buy from them, boosting their economy. This alleviates their poverty in a way. If we do not buy from them, their farmers would get poorer. Thus, importing their stuff would actually be a boon for them. This is good for their local economy. However, that is also untrue, since when we buy their own produce, they also have to import other commodities because they do not have enough food supply as well (hence, they are called Third World countries). This gives them more expenses. And then if we buy their own produce, they risk having a food shortage as well, because their food resource is being shipped elsewhere. However, local market prices are also more expensive, mainly because they are not as mass-produced as the imported ones are. They are difficult to grow as most of them do not have pesticides and fertilizers. The more difficult it is to grow, the more expensive it is. Because of this also, the local market produce are not as thorough as the mass-produced products because they do not have fertilizers and pesticides. They have irregular sizes and most probably have infestations. They are not as sophisticated technologically when it comes to agriculture. Not using the transport sector too much would also make a dent in the local economy. If there are no people using the transportation, then it would be a shame, really as they help in boosting the national economy when it comes to taxes and similar payments. Now, we have the pros and cons at hand, we can decide if local farming is actually beneficial or not. We know that it helps the economy. Whose economy? It depends on your perspective. This is probably the biggest issue in local farming See there are two sides: the local farmers and the global farmers. Usually, the global farmers are poorer when they are taken individually, as they are usually from third world countries and such. The local farmers in your area can be well-off, way better than the global farmers. The choice is in the consumers, who wants to help who. Of course, you might want to help the needy but really, one should also help one’s economy. Local farming actually contributes a lot more in order for the community to provide more services. The global farmers, though in need, should also learn how to farm locally so that they can also contribute to their economy. Although locally farmed products can be expensive, consider it as giving back to the community. The payment that you give to the farmer actually goes back to you in the form of services that the community gives. Local farming also protects the environment by protecting it. It is a sustainable practice and will actually help the people in the log run by making the environment more productive and secure. It provides protection to wildlife and open spaces as well as productivity. Food is important, as well as the environment. Without a good, healthy environment, there would be no good food as well. And as human beings we need good food. How we come up with sustainable ways of producing food to preserve the integrity of the environment is completely up to us. Whether we want to support the local farmers or not, it is up to us. However, seeing the pros and cons of importation and exportation should also bring us to have an informed decision. This is OUR local economy. These are OUR farmers. Supporting what’s ours is actually more environmentally efficient as well as economically efficient. It also helps in preserving culture by keeping a local identity alive. By having local farms around, the consumers actually contribute in keeping the environment free from CO2 emissions, as well as keeping the local economy alive. References: Brooks, Nora; Regmi, Anita; Jerardo, Alberto. “US Food Import Patterns”. United States Department of Agriculture. August 2009. Web. 29 July 2011. Bullock, Simon. The Economic Benefits of Farmer’s Markets. Friends of the Earth for the Planet for People. August 2009. Web. March 20, 2013. http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/briefings/farmers_markets.pdf Good Farming, Better Farming. The Environmental Agency, UK. December 2006. Web. March 20, 2013: http://a0768b4a8a31e106d8b0-50dc802554eb38a24458b98ff72d550b.r19.cf3.rackcdn.com/geho0406bkep-e-e.pdf Hickman, Leo. Are super farms good for the environment? The Guardian UK. 7 June 2012. Web. Retrieved 20 March 2013. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2012/jun/07/super-farms-environment-livestock-climate Is Local Agriculture Good for the Environment? HunterGattherLove.com 26 March 2011. Web. Retrieved: 20 March 2013. http://huntgatherlove.com/content/local-agriculture-good-environment Jerardo, Andy. What share of U.S. consumed food is imported? Amber Waves: The Economics of Food, Farming, Natural Resources and Rural America. February 2008. Web. 29 July 2011. Pirog, Rich and Benjamin, Andrew. Checking the food odometer: Comparing food miles for local versus conventional produce sales to Iowa institutions. Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture. 2003 July. Web. 29 July 2011. Tamarkin, David. The well-intentioned, politically progressive and completely ill-conceived localvore movement. TimeOut Chicago. 16 September 2008. Web. 29 July 2011. Weber, Christopher and Matthews, H. Scott. Food-Miles and the Relative Climate Impacts of Food Choices in the United States. Environmental Science and Technology. 2008. 42 (10), pp 3508–3513. Web. 29 July 2011. Why Buy Local? Buy Local PA. Web, 2008. Retrieved March 20, 2013. http://www.buylocalpa.org/why-buy-local Read More