Most Americans could be sustained on local foods alone—except in NY and LA
When food advocates talk about “eating local,” the usual response is that it’s just not possible. Urban centers can’t support their own populations, the conventional wisdom goes, and so “locavorism” could never go mainstream.
But a new study from University of California Davis upends that thinking, finding that up to 90% of the US population could be fed a standard American diet consisting only of food grown and raised within 100 miles. Local food systems can have a number of positive impacts, including cutting the greenhouse gas emissions from transporting food long distances—especially when the foods are refrigerated or frozen—and supporting local economies and increasing food security.
The researchers at UC Davis considered a number of factors in designing their computer models and making their calculations, including what counts as local and the kinds of diets people actually eat. The authors recognized that in a locally sourced scenario, none of their diet models would exactly reflect the way people eat today, but they were designed to provide equivalent calories from all the food groups—grains, vegetables, fruit, meat, eggs, and dairy—as they are currently eaten.
The researchers pointed out that switching to an overwhelmingly local diet would require significant changes to storage systems, crop types, and other infrastructure, as well as shifts in preferences and prices.
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http://qz.com/420086/most-americans-could-be-sustained-on-local-foods-alone-except-in-ny-and-la/
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