How ‘local’ does eating local need to be?

My recent jaunt through CNN’s Eatocracy introduced me to an interesting question posed by a young rancher with pedigree by the name of Ryan Goodman. The Arkansas native has a relevant Bachelor’s degree and is even pursuing a Master’s degree in beef cattle management at the University of Tennessee. His recent article with CNN begins to dig into the hot topic that local eating has become.

Congratulation to Jamie and Kara on the birth of their first child!

Surely, your local Whole Foods leverages the power of the idea of local food products. They even advertise the distance from the manufacturer to the store on ‘local’ items. Much of Goodman’s article, however, questions what local really means. Does it mean that you’re buying directly from the farmer? Is it food that’s produced 5 miles away? 500 miles away? In my experience, Whole Foods boosts about locals foods produced as close as 7 miles from the store, and as far as 200 miles away.

I don’t have a concrete answer for myself on this issue, but it is one worth thinking about. It’s unrealistic in the urban environment of Los Angeles, for example, to expect your beef to be produced just a handful of miles away because it’s just not possible. Blueberries, on the other hand, could be grown on nearly any scale anywhere. Should local beef and local blueberries be held to different standards?

What does local mean to you?

Logan Gelbrich

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Monday’s Workout:

Complete the following for time:
10, 9, 8… 1Overhead Squat (135/95)
1, 2, 3… 10 Turkish Getup (53/35)