Comments on: Lemongrass, Galangal, and Turmeric — not so local flavors

By: Jess

Jess — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 16:22:00 +0000

This might be a good one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1846270103?ie=UTF8&tag=httpwwwgoodco-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1846270103&SubscriptionId=1MGPYB6YW3HWK55XCGG2

By: Jess

Jess — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 14:56:00 +0000

That’s a good question… I’ve seen this issue addressed on blogs, I’ve heard folks like Michael Pollan address it in their speeches, and I know a few organizations that work on this issue explicitly (e.g. People’s Grocery in W. Oakland) but I haven’t heard of any books specifically on this topic.

I think there are two main parts of social justice and the food movement — 1) the exclusion of many families from the trend towards “organic” or “local” because of the high price 2) ignoring social justice as an issue within the food system (people focus on nutrition, environment, but often forget labor)

I’ll keep my eye out and let you know if I see any books on this.

By: Jen Murakami

Jen Murakami — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 07:27:00 +0000

(Random brain fart as I sit here not wanting to write my paper) Any suggestions for summer reading regarding the social justice take on “eating local,” the “slow food movement,” and the like? Some people say it all sounds great in theory but that poor people of color have more pressing things to worry about (the demographics of people who attend things like Slow Food Nation speak volumes). What’s your take?

By: Jess

Jess — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 00:53:00 +0000

Yes. I like this idea... it simplifies things by focusing on the measurable environmental impacts.

I still wonder though -- this metric wouldn't account for other harder-to-measure, possibly valuable, things (social, emotional, maybe even spiritual?). For example, eating locally keeps more money local; farms who sell to people close by neighbors might treat workers better. Really, none of these are reasons to stop eating Galangal, but it still bugs me.

And then there's some other ethical issue to pick at... that if we choose to measure a meal by its environmental impact, to what degree does an individual's responsibility extend? I guess it's a personal choice that has to be determined by belief + ability...

Hm.

By: vt

vt — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 15:20:00 +0000

i think you can probably make a strong case for spices and for infrequently-used ingredients. possibly a good commensurable metric for the environmental impact of a meal is the carbon/pesticide footprint of all ingredients, weighted by each ingredient’s ratio of mass in transported form. to me, it makes almost no sense to ship prepared, undehydrated foods across continents and oceans, but dry or concentrated foods have a much stronger value proposition. the weighted footprint would take that kind of thing into account.