Local or Organic?

I received an e-mail from a reader this week, asking a question about my version of the "Locavore Pledge" in my Food Manifesto. The reader, who runs small Autumn Grove Farm, in Virginia, asked:

I understand buying locally to support local farmers (we are farmers) and to help reduce the carbon footprint, but if you don't know the farming practices of the local farmer, wouldn't organic be better?  Should I just assume it is meant to buy local if you can trust their farming practices?

What a great question! I think that formulas like the Locavore Pledge are meant to help simplify complex decisions that we, as conscious consumers, have to make every time we go to the grocery store.

Autumn Grove Farm

If not local, organic. 

If not organic, family farm.

Absolutely, it is always best to research the source of your food, and investigate their practices. I was shocked to find that the certified organic milk that I was buying did not live up to my own ideal of what the label should stand for. After doing the research on what brands of organic milk are available in my area, I know have a short list that I fall back on. 

Autumn Grove's pasture raised cows

But, it gets even more complicated when you try to weigh the practices of one farm against another and then consider the environmental impact of shipping. World Watch magazine points out that, "It is better...for Swedes to buy Spanish tomatoes than Swedish tomatoes, because the Spanish tomatoes were grown in open fields while the local ones were grown in fossil-fuel-heated greenhouses." 

photo courtesy of Farm Curious

But, I am overwhelmed by the idea that I would have to research every grocery item I buy, and then try to calculate an unknown number of variables to make the right choice every time! This is where ideas like the Locavore Pledge and the Dirty Dozen (a list of most pesticide laden produce) really come in handy.

My brother, a very smart young environmental economist, says that these ideas act as a "Proxy" for what we really want. In other words, even though buying local or buying organic won't always have the exact environmental, health and community impact that we want it to, it can be fairly good at standing in for detailed investigation of each and every potential supplier.

Photo courtesy of Adam Stevens Photography

Back to the issue of local vrs. organic, I conducted a small poll amongst my food-obsessed twitter friends. The almost unanimous response was LOCAL first. So, why local first?

1. Most of our local choices support small farmers.
2. My brother says so. Just kidding. What he really says is "many small farms, just because of their size, do not participate in many of the practices that degrade our environment and health."
3. Plenty of responsible, ethical, small farms don't go to the expense of becoming certified organic.
4. Buying reduces the amount of fossil fuels burned in transportation. 
5. The Elanor at the Ethicurian says, "I buy from a variety of local farms when at all possible because if I don't, I will probably be eating from a stream of food that has passed through the hands of a tiny number of massive companies. And if those companies' hands have salmonella all over them, well -- look out, world."

To answer the question of the reader who e-mailed me, I would say that it is always best to know the practices of the producers of our food. Without research, we can not assume that the practices of a mega-agriculture, certified organic, producer is better than the small local farmer across the hill, and vice versa.

Autumn Grove chickens running free as a bird!

While it is not perfect, in absence of detailed research and personal relationships with producers, I buy local (and in season!) first, and organic second.

What do you think? How do you make thoughtful food choices in a world where few of us know the people who produce our food?

local and in season, Adalyn Farm's peas