Comments on: 1500 Miles* on the Erie Canal? http://jcarrot.org/1500-miles-on-the-erie-canal Jews, Food, and Contemporary Issues Mon, 21 May 2012 04:07:24 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Rabbi Rachel Kahn-Troster http://jcarrot.org/1500-miles-on-the-erie-canal/comment-page-1#comment-11501 Rabbi Rachel Kahn-Troster Fri, 03 Oct 2008 15:26:51 +0000 http://jcarrot.org/1500-miles-on-the-erie-canal/#comment-11501 I think that even without a statistic, it is pretty easy to make people think about how far their food travels. How many of us live in factories or farms? Ask people to visualize all the components of their food, and where they might come from. Broccoli? Okay--grown in ground, transported to supermarket, driven home. Twinkie? Um.... I have also learned that even buying in a farmer's market doesn't always guarantee that the food miles are lower. In NYC, there are very strict rules about food being produced locally. I even heard one seller trying to rat out another by saying that even at her family farm in the South, there were no cucumbers growing that early in the spring, so how could a NYS farmer have them? But there are no such rules here in NJ, and that makes for some interesting changes at the Farmer's Market. A lot of the produce is sold by the Amish, who are trucking it in from Pennsylvania. And a number of the local farms are produce stores with some fields of their own, and they have stands. So they do sell some of their own produce in season, but they mix it up with things they import for their permanent locations. It's the only way to explain the presence of a mango in an NJ farmer's market! I think that even without a statistic, it is pretty easy to make people think about how far their food travels. How many of us live in factories or farms? Ask people to visualize all the components of their food, and where they might come from. Broccoli? Okay–grown in ground, transported to supermarket, driven home. Twinkie? Um….

I have also learned that even buying in a farmer’s market doesn’t always guarantee that the food miles are lower. In NYC, there are very strict rules about food being produced locally. I even heard one seller trying to rat out another by saying that even at her family farm in the South, there were no cucumbers growing that early in the spring, so how could a NYS farmer have them?

But there are no such rules here in NJ, and that makes for some interesting changes at the Farmer’s Market. A lot of the produce is sold by the Amish, who are trucking it in from Pennsylvania. And a number of the local farms are produce stores with some fields of their own, and they have stands. So they do sell some of their own produce in season, but they mix it up with things they import for their permanent locations. It’s the only way to explain the presence of a mango in an NJ farmer’s market!

]]> By: Ilana http://jcarrot.org/1500-miles-on-the-erie-canal/comment-page-1#comment-11480 Ilana Thu, 02 Oct 2008 23:18:06 +0000 http://jcarrot.org/1500-miles-on-the-erie-canal/#comment-11480 What if we give an example of the maximum? How far is your supermarket from Chile, Thailand or even (dare I say it) Israel? What if we give an example of the maximum? How far is your supermarket from Chile, Thailand or even (dare I say it) Israel?

]]> By: Jesse Bacon http://jcarrot.org/1500-miles-on-the-erie-canal/comment-page-1#comment-11478 Jesse Bacon Thu, 02 Oct 2008 22:33:24 +0000 http://jcarrot.org/1500-miles-on-the-erie-canal/#comment-11478 Oh and the article includes the canard that the New Zealand lamb used less carbon, which was sponsored by the New Zealand meat council, according to Pollan. But the larger point is to make sure our local farms that we are support are energy efficient. Oh and the article includes the canard that the New Zealand lamb used less carbon, which was sponsored by the New Zealand meat council, according to Pollan. But the larger point is to make sure our local farms that we are support are energy efficient.

]]> By: Jesse Bacon http://jcarrot.org/1500-miles-on-the-erie-canal/comment-page-1#comment-11477 Jesse Bacon Thu, 02 Oct 2008 22:31:28 +0000 http://jcarrot.org/1500-miles-on-the-erie-canal/#comment-11477 Hey folks, So the stat is actually UNDER representing average miles traveled? I think it's fine to use qualifiers such as AT LEAST or an average of, and bring up the individual cases that are even farther? I knew an activist who used the lowest verifable number for that which he was opposing, saying the lowest was bad enough! Then he didn't have to get into arguing that it was ACTUALLY only this or that. Hey folks,
So the stat is actually UNDER representing average miles traveled? I think it’s fine to use qualifiers such as AT LEAST or an average of, and bring up the individual cases that are even farther? I knew an activist who used the lowest verifable number for that which he was opposing, saying the lowest was bad enough! Then he didn’t have to get into arguing that it was ACTUALLY only this or that.

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