“Locavore” is a commonly used term for a person who attempts to eat local grown food and was the 2007 Oxford dictionary word of the year.
Excerpt from my INT 301 paper on what is local food and why the term "Locavore" makes sense.
In order to define what makes a food source local, agreement on the range the products travel to reach its destination must be decided. The idea of what makes a food “local” is largely debated to be anywhere from 25 miles from home and up to a whole state or region away, such as the North West. Another common belief is that “local” could mean no farther away than a day’s car ride. “One of the more recent surveys (Pirog and Rasmussen, 2008) found that more than two-thirds of US respondents perceived that local food traveled 100 miles or less” (Giovannucci). Logically, it is not likely that a business can purchase all their needed supplies through 100 percent local sources.
Investing in a local food sustainability system is an important part to the building of natural, social, and financial capital. “Capital” is defined as “a stock of anything that has the capacity to generate a flow of benefits which are valued by humans” (Porritt). What makes up “Natural capital” are our resources which are renewable, such as trees and grains; those that are not include fossil fuels, as they are not renewable. ”Natural capital is the basis not only of production but of life iteself” (Porritt). Social capital includes our communities, businesses, networks, and relationships, to name a few.
References:
Coyle, Stephen. "Food Production/Agriculture." Sustainable and Resilient Communities. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons. 2011. 270.
Excerpt from my INT 301 paper on what is local food and why the term "Locavore" makes sense.
In order to define what makes a food source local, agreement on the range the products travel to reach its destination must be decided. The idea of what makes a food “local” is largely debated to be anywhere from 25 miles from home and up to a whole state or region away, such as the North West. Another common belief is that “local” could mean no farther away than a day’s car ride. “One of the more recent surveys (Pirog and Rasmussen, 2008) found that more than two-thirds of US respondents perceived that local food traveled 100 miles or less” (Giovannucci). Logically, it is not likely that a business can purchase all their needed supplies through 100 percent local sources.
Investing in a local food sustainability system is an important part to the building of natural, social, and financial capital. “Capital” is defined as “a stock of anything that has the capacity to generate a flow of benefits which are valued by humans” (Porritt). What makes up “Natural capital” are our resources which are renewable, such as trees and grains; those that are not include fossil fuels, as they are not renewable. ”Natural capital is the basis not only of production but of life iteself” (Porritt). Social capital includes our communities, businesses, networks, and relationships, to name a few.
References:
Coyle, Stephen. "Food Production/Agriculture." Sustainable and Resilient Communities. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons. 2011. 270.
Giovannucci, Daniele, Elizabeth Barham and Richard Pirog. "Defining and Marketing ‘‘Local’’ Foods: Geographical Indications for US Products." The Journal of World Intellectual Property 13.2 (2010): 94–120. Business Source Complete. Web. 28 Jan 2012.
Porritt, Jonathon. Capitalism As If The World Matters. London: Earthscan, 2007. Print
