Buying Organic Isn't Always Sustainable

If you live in Iowa, the average carrot must travel 1,600 miles to reach your plate. According to research by IBM’s Smarter Planet Campaign, if you eat carrots, you’re a polluter. The truth is if you eat anything from your local grocery store, even the organic section, it has traveled a long distance. Only 1 to 2 percent of all food consumed in the U.S. is locally grown.

Food issues such as quality, cost and healthiness all stem from the distance food must travel to reach our tables. As demonstrated by a 2009 Food and Drug Administration (FDA) study, most food retailers are unable to identify a product’s origin. In a typical food supply chain, the perishable goods are passed between six hands including storage facilities, processing plants, transportation and retail establishments. Considering that every year there are 76 million cases of foodborne illnesses in the U.S., tractability is important. The impact of multi-faceted supply chains on costs is obvious, especially when fuel is expensive. The direct, environmental impact is unknown but presumably significant. Since jet set foods must keep for long periods of time, they are more likely to contain preservatives that contribute to expanding wastelines.

Researchers at MIT propose local foodsheds as a way to combat obesity. Dr. Tenley Albright, director of MIT’s Collaborative Initiatives program, says that about 90 percent American food is processed. Albright is leading the initiative to create an Integrated Regional Foodshed system that strategically places foodsheds near high-demand areas. There are existing local options: farmers. They make up 2 percent of the U.S. labor force. Local Harvest is a website that connects people to local farms where they can purchase produce and meat. And many farms offer co-ops where customers “invest” and are provided with groceries for an entire season.