Where I'm from, locally grown generally is organic. There's a very strong community mindset here (or there, it's half an hour away and I don't shop there anymore) so I would generally go locally grown. I like the idea of supporting local businesses and jobs, and helping get the regions name out there. The fact that it's also usually organic is a bonus, because I think if I didn't care about the community I'd choose the organic for health/environmental reasons.
Local. Surrounded by farmers here. I know them in varying capacity. One of the major factories supports the local school and kinder. I "see" where my money is going.
Yes, it is tough at times, I would prefer some of them would look at more organic farming practices, but then my "food miles" are quite low when purchasing local, so offsets some of that.
Local. The way I see it, if I can choose only one, then the more I support local business, the easier and more cost effective it will be for them to institute organic practices. No idea if that is actually logical or simply wishful thinking though! LOL
I would go local, preferring freshness, cost & ease of acquisition over organic. It's reasonably difficult to get organic produce where I live & if I was relying on that we would be eating such a limited diet that it would be counterproductive, nutrient wise. At least if its fresh & nice everyone eats it. I'm talking fruit & veg.
It would have to be a case by case basis. What is the local practise, is it at least largely ethical, what pollutants are we talking? And how much further is the organic travelling, what's its footprint? Are we talking east coast to west coast, overseas? Are the locals receptive to change, planning it in the future at all or strongly against going organic? I don't know if I could support someone with no view to change...
I don't buy organic because I prefer local for a few reasons. The labelling of organic these days is pretty liberal. And if purchasing from a supermarket organic (which is pretty much my only option) it can still be (not always and depending on the produce) stored for longer periods before being available and that's not including transport time.
Ultimately I'd prefer to grow my own too. But in the meantime I will always support local over organic. Especially when dealing with major chains.
Like LS said, I would then hope that the extra $ earned by the farmer could be put to instituting better practices.
I also believe in the economies of scale and think that although having little organic farms dotting the countryside is lovely, it's not always environmentally "best practice".
are we not better off having one farm of 100 acres, with 1 house, 1 road 1 lot of farm machinery etc and leaving the rest of the country side undeveloped than having 20 farms of 10 acres, miles of road, extra houses, cars, building a shop, putting in a petrol station etc.
The more I think about it the more I believe that the future health of our land, infrastructure and economy, especially being such a vast country, is dependant on us becoming more high density living minded.
I think it is a sounder model, keep people and nature separated. That way you can much more effectively maintain both.
Sorry, gone totally OT, and a bit ranty
Organic.
Because of the bees.
Bees are dying all over the world. It's terrifying. Without bees we will simply lose a half our fruit and vege varieties. We can possibly grow the same weight of food but variety is also important.
Organic farming helps the bees. Whilst not all non-organic farming is responsible for bee die-off there are certainly chemicals in use that are.
And Monsanto - Monsanto chemicals and GM crops are increasingly part of the non-organic landscape.
Does it have to be real or can it be preferred?
I don't buy organic for the reasons exactly that you've listed.
However, there is nothing (no word of a lie) local here. Even the tonnes of beef actually grown here gets shipped to Indo. Every. last. beast.
My understanding Monsato in Australia was only grain? Not something I'm going to buy locally anyway. And I thought the bees dying was to do with how canola was treated. And again not something I buy locally.
And just out of curiosity for those that do buy organic now, what certification do you trust? Do you even bother with certification? Or do you just assume that if they say its organic... It is?
I work the same way as Teeki. SA has a great selection of locally grown organic produce so I generally choose that.
If it comes down to the crunch though I go locally. Growing up in a fruit growing and farming area I know how important it is to keep agriculture going. I know a lot of the growers names when I see them in the shop and I will choose them over organic produce from say far north qld where there is no personal connection. (Sorry to anyone in far north qld )
That being said I pretty much 99% of the time refuse to buy fresh produce from overseas. I get so mad when I see calafornian oranges in the shop! Our poor growers are throwing them out because they don't get sales
On your question of buying organic, I quite often go to the markets where there is an organic and sustainability stall. They have a coloring system where you know the level of organic it is(ie. fully organic, minimal spray, sustainable farming). They also list the farm/grower and location so I know where and what I'm buying.
Organic is a tough one. I suppose I go by brand in some cases, sometimes I am just trusting.
Some products are pretty much organic, they just have not paid for the accrediation or through some minor thing cannot get the accreditation. That can be the joy of buying local, you can find out about what their practices are
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Organic Vs Local
I think I'd still go local though. Supporting the local community is important to me, especially when it's small.
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