Why I am a Locavore: Part II

As you all remember from my first post in this series, the primary reason why I consider myself a locavore is nutrition. Local foods are simply bred more for their nutrients (and thus taste) than their industrialized counterparts. But there are also many other reasons why I have chosen this lifestyle. I'll try and limit this post to a single issue, with others to follow in the weeks to come.

What is my second biggest reason for choosing local food? Animal cruelty. It's a broad topic, so to narrow it down let's consider a single animal: The cow. The life of a typical industrial cow and that of a slow food cow are remarkably similar in their first six months of life: Both are born on wide-open prairies and raised on a nutritionally sound diet of their mothers' milk and, later, grass. At this point, though, they each take two very different paths. At six months, the industrial cow is shipped off to a feed lot, where for the next several months she is fed a diet of corn, grain and nondescript protein additives (from soy or, horrifyingly, ground up cattle/chickens). Ever wonder just why cattle so desperately need antibiotics today? This diet is the very reason. Since they never evolved to eat grain, it makes them extremely sick. They tend to develop a slimy layer of film across the liquid in their rumen (first stomach), which makes it hard to expel gas. Thus, they require a constant dose of antibiotics to stay "healthy" - if that word is even appropriate here. In extreme cases, the gas trapped in their rumens expands to such a degree that it is pushed up against their lungs and they literally suffocate.

A grass-finished cow, on the other hand, is eating exactly what she is supposed to eat where she is supposed to eat it. She lives longer, since it takes years for cattle to fully mature on grass. (Timeframe is one of the major reasons why cattle are fed corn - they are ready for slaughter several years ahead of their grass-fed brethren.) She is antibiotic and hormone free, since there is no need to protect against disease when cattle are naturally healthy. Furthermore, grass-fed cattle tend to contribute to large-scale poly-culture farms. The cattle come in and graze the grass; they leave behind cow patties, which fertilize the soil; the chickens come in afterwards and eat the larvae that grow in them, providing a natural curb on the insect population and a huge boost of protein to the chickens' diets; their eggshells are thus thicker and the yolks are a beautiful orange because of it. When the grass is ready again, the cattle come through once more and the cycle starts all over again. When they are finally ready to be eaten, their meat is significantly lower in bad fats since they spent years wandering around fields and eating healthy grass. It's also significantly higher in nutrients, like B vitamins.

Imagine that: What's good for the land is what's good for the animals, which is what's good for us. What more could we ask for?

'Mommy, what's a locavore?'

If only more children were asking that question - maybe then we wouldn't be seeing skyrocketing 'adult-onset' diabetes and obesity in our children today. Here's why:

First, a definition: A locavore (think 'omnivore') is a person that refuses to partake in the industrial agriculture system, prefering instead to gather in-season food from local producers - many times even directly from the farmers themselves. These locavores are not only supporting their local economy; they are also more efficiently supporting the nutritional requirements of their bodies. Think about it. The industrialized tomato is bred for durability, quantity and looks - we've lost the taste of tomato, receiving in return an unbruisable, odorless, and bland... bushel of what, exactly? It's also picked weeks before it's even ripe. Has it had the time to obtain all of the nutritional goodness it can from the soil? Unfortunately, no. You might as well eat sawdust.

Since local food is bred for taste, as well as allowed to ripen on the vine instead of in semis moving at 70 miles per hour, it is exponentially more nutritious than any fruit or vegetable you can buy in February from Argentina. By eating whole, local foods (which are whole because they are local), a person can enjoy amazingly delicious and nutritious food. Who needs soda when you can purchase ripe, succulent peaches from your farmer's market? Who wants to eat bland, 'fortified' bread when it can be made with little effort in your own kitchen, using whole grains and local honey? Who doesn't prefer a home-grilled, grass-fed hamburger to the slop that they serve at McDonald's? Surely America's children would be far healthier and happier if they (or their parents) stopped and thought about what they are putting in their mouths.

Thus begins a series I'll call "Why I am a Locavore." In it, I will attempt to break down the many reasons I have chosen to primarily eat within a 100 mile radius, and hopefully this information will convince you to do the same.

For more information on the nutritional content of our food, check out the 2007 report entitled "Still No Free Lunch," by Brian Halweil.