Let's be honest. Every philosophy has its pros and cons. In no way do I advocate only living local. It's so much bigger than that! Living local is not a stand-alone philosophy. But it indicates an attitude shift... a change in how we look at our consumption, its interaction with our local and bigger environment, and its contribution to -or taking from- humanity as a whole. Here are a few of the pros and cons associated with local consumption that we must keep in mind when we look at the big picture:
Pros of Living Local
-Knowing the source, being able to ask questions and understanding how products come to be
-Encouraging community benefits such as improved small business and small farm economies and higher local employment rates
-Being able to obtain fresher goods
-Shipping less = less petroleum use, less money going toward inspections and importation regulation, less energy to store and transport cold goods like meats and dairy
-Promoting community interaction
-Retaining local community tradition by encouraging a sense of vibrant and unique local identity
-Resulting, food-wise, in what many consider healthier goods harvested more closely at the peak of ripeness
-Often enable the supporting of free-range or pasture-grazing farming methods, decreasing the need for large factory farms= less concentrated waste and typically more humane animal environments
-Often encouraging better working conditions for those creating goods
-Small scale growers and businesses tend to be more environmentally friendly (Environment and Society: A Critical Introduction (Critical Introductions to Geography) by Paul Robbins, John Hintz, and Sarah A. Moore, 2010.)
Cons of Supporting Local
-Despite using less fossil fuels, “dietary shift can be a more effective means of lowering an average household’s food-related climate footprint than ‘buying local.’” (Christopher L. Weber and H. Scott Matthews, “Food-Miles and the Relative Climate Impacts of Food Choices in the United States ” Environ. Sci. Technol., 42, no.10 (2008): 3508.)
-Locally and sustainably grown produce and livestock, though most often chemically treated less (produce) and treated vastly more humanely (livestock), create more greenhouse gases than food made efficiently in factory farms. (Raloff, Janet. "AAAS: Climate-friendly Dining ... Meats | Environment | Science News."AAAS: Climate-friendly Dining ... Meats | Environment | Science News. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2013.)
-Less efficient locavorism can lead to a need for more farmland, resulting in increased deforestation.
-As consumers we have become globalized and an entire switch back to local is virtually impossible to expect... kiwi, olives, and pomegranates for example are not local, or even national, products.
-Buying local can lead to worse conditions for poor farmers in developing countries because it removes potential buyers from their market.
- Though it is false, people often think living local implies that money going to foreign countries is worse than money staying in the consumers' own country. In reality these are not judgments of a living local philosophy.
