Timeblog.net

If It’s Fresh and Local, Is It Always Greener? - New York Times

The distance that food travels from farm to plate is certainly important, he says, but so is how food is packaged, how it is grown, how it is processed and how it is transported to market.

I like it when articles try to show the complexity of a problem rather than trying to give some rule of thumb that’s nice but not instructive. This article tackles something that maybe seems straightforward: Is it better for the environmental to buy local food?
Overall, it’s a mess. The system of deciding what to eat is based on at least three major topics, a) what is healthy for you, b) what is environmentally the best choice, but of course also c) what tastes best. While some of these are coupled, like organic fruit tasting better, evaluating all components on a day to day basis is nearly impossible. To this end, I liek the idea of increased labeling. At least, if you can read what’s in your food and where it came from, you have at least a smaller chance of making some good choices…