Carnivore, herbivore ... and locavore?
by Kari Weis, posted Sept. 15, 2009
Many people have heard about the meat-eating carnivore and the veggie-munching herbivore, but there’s a new eating style evolving — the locavore. Chosen as the 2007 Oxford Dictionary Word of the Year, locavores are a group of Americans making an effort to eat foods grown locally or within a 100-mile radius of their homes.
The concept of the local foods movement is to purchase food produced, grown or raised as close to your home as possible, said the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service. Enthusiasts, or locavores, believe buying locally is beneficial for the customer, the grower, the economy and the community in general.
“There is no question that there is a strong trend to local foods,” said Kenneth Schneeberger, assistant dean and professor of agricultural economics. “As one who has shopped at the Columbia Farmers Market for a dozen years, I have had the pleasure of seeing it grow from a few vendors and maybe 500 patrons to 50-60 vendors on a Saturday with 5,000 or more shoppers.”
Benefits for the consumer are that the produce is fresher and tastes better, according to Lane McConnell, marketing and local foods program manager for the Missouri Department of Agriculture. The apples, peaches, tomatoes and watermelon have been allowed to ripen naturally, which gives them a deeper flavor, she said. Also, by acquiring food locally, a person can eat what is available according to the season. There are many methods of preserving a bountiful harvest including canning, freezing and dehydrating for future use.
“We were entranced with industrialized agriculture and thinking about how we could get out of farming as a society,” said Mary Hendrickson, associate professor of rural sociology. “Now we are seeing a reversal. People want to cook with whole foods, not with processed foods.”
According to National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service, produce in the U.S. travels an average of 1,300 miles from farm to consumer. Whereas, when visiting a local farmers’ market, the food bought was most likely picked within 24 hours and on average traveled 45 miles.
Farmers’ markets also enable farmers to keep in excess of 80 cents of each dollar spent by the consumer, and strengthening Missouri’s small farms in the process, said McConnell. Enthusiasts believe purchasing from a local grower eliminates middleman costs and keeps small farms in business.
Sales of locally grown foods measured as direct, farm-to-customer sales have increased more than 70 percent in the last ten years, McConnell said. This money, in turn, will be exchanged for other goods stimulating the local economy.
“It’s good for the local economy, you can ask questions directly to the producer about the way he or she produced the food and why, so you know exactly what is on your food,” Hendrickson said.
Hendrickson also believes Columbia has been a very inviting community for the local foods movement. Restaurants including Sycamore, Main Squeeze, Murry’s, and the Broadway Diner have been known to use local produce. The Hy-Vee, Schnuck’s, and Root Cellar are all grocery stores across the city that are searching out local products.
All of this, in addition to Columbia and Boone counties’ growing farmer’s markets, are ways that students and community members can find local produce and join the ranks of locavores.
“It is a lot of fun to hang out at farmers’ markets and other places where you can buy local foods,” Hendrickson said. “And it’s good for your health because buying food directly from farmers at the peak of ripeness means it tastes fabulous and people eat more fruits and vegetables!”
