Lessons from a Well Traveled Taco

When I was teaching Environmental Studies classes from 1996-2005, the standard was that the average distance traveled by a Food item on one's plate was 1500 miles.  Of course, location of the meal makes a difference and season does too.

In the most recent issue of Audubon Magazine, the mileage of a Taco's ingredients  before it reaches the Consumer in San Francisco is analyzed.  Whoa! Check it out.  http://www.audubonmagazine.org/fieldnotes/fieldnotes1107-food.htm.

I have not seen this particular analysis before. A meal is generally not composed of 1 Food; all those Foods on one's plate in Modern Society travelled a huge distance.  And we weren't even paying attention.

I would also be curious to know the "carbon footprint" of such a meal. That would include more than mileage as industrial agriculture is intimately bound into the petroleum industry.  

We 3 C's take comfort that most of the Food we eat comes from about 50-100 feet away.  And we used our own 2 feet to get it to the table. Richard just picked Green Beans, Onions, Carrots, and Potatoes for dinner.  And he just walked out to the Garden with a collander in hand, picked the produce and then walked from the Garden back to the House. I guess the collander was our trailer and Richard was the truck.

This Life Style which focuses on producing as much of our own Food as possible didn't happen all at once. We started out growing a few things on a small plot on a small lot in an urban setting. Over time, we formed relationships with Farmers through CSA's and Farmer's Markets. We then shifted toward growing more Food on a larger plot at the farmstead of a local organic farmer.  Now we have moved to this little Farm and we are growing a lot. What we grow is supplemented by local Farmers, especially for Meat.  And of course, we don't grow Vanilla, Chocolate, Oils, Vinegars, etc.

Eating what we produce tastes way better that way.  It's healthier for the Humans and for the Earth.  We produce less toward Global Warming, which is a huge issue for we 3 C's and for Humanity.  Plus, I think this practice binds us intimately to the Land that is sustaining us. She takes care of us and we take care of her.