LIVING LOCALLY: Fighting Pollyanna

Speaker's Corner, Hyde Park

I have built a Soap Box.

Don't worry I'm baking Violet & Lemon Eclairs for tea this afternoon and we're making more Lemon Curd to keep George and Nonhlanka happy, but I've written a manifesto of sorts here.

One has to stand for something, after all.

I cannot stop the tide of Syrian refugees or save starving polar bears on melted ice caps, but I can make choices about how we eat and where we shop. I'm about to talk about something I don't yet know a huge amount about, but which I see impacting our daily lives in the Natal Midland's and beyond.

I'm expecting quite a few of you to roll your eyes and some snorting from Farmer Husbands behind their 'Farmer's Weeklies', but what the hell, here goes:

"In the last several decades, the economics of the food system have changed dramatically as larger, more intensive farming methods have grown, particularly in meat, eggs and dairy production. Supporters of large-scale farming point to its ability to produce cheap food necessary to meet growing population requirements but detractors highlight the hidden costs including declining rural economies and environmental and public health consequences.

Of course scales of economy is critical and farmer's need to make a profit and grow their businesses, but it seems to me that things are increasingly getting a bit out of wack. 

As farmer's increasingly get pulled into the global market, they experience both the upsides and downsides of this. Milk in the UK, for example, is currently cheaper than bottled water, as a result of dropping demand from China, climate change, a trade embargo by Russia and a price war between supermarkets. Whilst the UK Government views this as a 'blip' the reality is many dairy farmers will go out of business and stop farming, never to return. The local impact of this is obvious.

Agricultural economics has become hugely complicated and the answers are clearly not going to be solely found at Farmer's Markets or in a Mason jar. That would be woefully naive. 

Rather, in my view, it is about fair practice and fair prices. It is about strengthening local economies,  protecting the producer and consumer and recognising that 'big is not always better'. 

Living Locally is a loosely defined movement which encourages consumers to buy from local businesses, eat local food and support their local services, skills and communities.

Why is it so important to keep money in the local economy and what difference does it make? 

1. Local businesses use local skills, often traditional ones, which are embedded in the local culture and which could be lost if left unsupported. Local skills and traditions tell a story about that place, define their strengths as a community, provide employment and use local materials. 
2. A vibrant local economy creates a diverse and rich landscape where innovation is encouraged and communities take civic pride in their environment and well-being of the community. This in turn can attract tourism as visitors like to have authentic experiences as well as sample and purchase goods that they do not find in their own hometowns. 
3. Cities and towns have learnt that by focusing on what uniquely defines them as places and offering authentic local products is a catalyst for both future growth and keeping the local economy vibrant.

Apart from the direct economic benefits, Living Locally is also gentler on the environment. As work, shopping and services are closer to home, carbon emissions are reduced, it is cheaper to commute and significant time (and stress) are saved, which some of us would argue are  the scarcest resources of all! 

Food also does not have to travel such great distances and therefore not only tastes better but is more eco-friendly. In the US it is estimated that supermarket goods travel an average of 2400 km's from farm to table, which has both a significant impact on the environment and the quality of the consumed product. It is more 'eco-friendly' for example to buy wine in New York City from France than it is from California. Bit mad, really.

How do we define what ‘local’ is?  

“Local food” refers to food produced near the consumer, but there is no universal definition and so the general rule of the “100 hundred miles (160 km's) from home” tends to be accepted and applied. A bit arbitrary it could be argued. At what point ‘local’ becomes ‘regional’ is blurry, but the general principle is to have production as direct and as close to consumers as possible, if the maximum benefits to the local economy are to be achieved.

Isn't Living Locally just a middle class affectation?

In an article entitled “Has the locally made movement gone too far?” Saveur magazine argues that not everything has to be re-invented locally and not everything made locally is necessarily better. Saveur uses the cheese Parmigiano Reggiano as an example of why we should focus on what is traditional to our own areas and not just make everything locally.

Since the Local Food movement has taken off across the world, local producers have worked hard to re-create ‘imported’ cheeses, resulting in 1 in 4 small cheese producers in Emilia-Romagna where the cheese is made, going out of business since 2007. Talk about self defeating.  

Saveur argue that local production should be about maximising the unique characteristics of their own ‘terroir’ (which Wikipedia defines as “the special characteristics [which] geography, geology and climate of a certain place, interacting with plant genetics, express in agricultural products) and not trying to imitate other products which another local community somewhere else makes better. 

Balance in all things is key. Always.

Isn't this all a little bit like 'farting against thunder'?

Ultimately we do live in a globalised world driven by market forces which will continue to dominate. 

Living Locally, even in small ways,  is something that we can all do to help shift the balance of economic forces towards local development,  which has direct local job creation benefits and a cleaner environment.  

One communities approach will not and should not be the same as another. What will work in the Kwazulu Natal countryside, will not necessarily work in Midwest America or the South of France. 

Living Locally is about identifying what is best in your own place. It is the sum of the myriad of small practices and habits which change our local economies.

How we choose to shop, where we choose to work and how we are involved in our local communities’ welfare,will determine the future of our local environments and their future sustainability". 

Herewith end The Sermon.

Next Sunday we will be speaking about Artisan Producers

Feel free to share or differ or shout back.

Moo.