At the New York Times Freakonomics blog, Stephen J. Dubner asks: Do We Really Need a Few Billion Locavores? It's a good question, and a persistent one. When you start to think about economies of scale you do begin to wonder whether all that work, and possibly freezer space if you're going that route, makes sense. Nevertheless, I think he's wrong, and on top of that the example he uses (making homemade sherbet) is a poor one. Read through the comments to find many insightful counterarguments. One I find particularly convincing is that it's easier to practice sustainable agriculture on a small, local scale, and since that's better for the environment and our health those benefits should have more weight.
In terms of home gardening, when we lived in the midwest I actually stopped keeping a vegetable garden because there was such a fantastic amount and variety of fresh local produce available at our markets that I felt it didn't pay for me to expend the labor raising my own food. It made more sense to spend money at the market and help support people who were farming professionally, trying to make a living (or supplement their income) at it.
I've changed my tune now for several reasons, including:
- since I'm a work-at-home-mom I have more time to spend in the garden on a daily basis, and it provides a good educational activity for my child;
- the market season here is much shorter, and I can't always find the items I want;
- I can garden year-round, when the market isn't open;
- I enjoy gardening as a hobby and get a lot of satisfaction from it;
- although market produce is very fresh, it's even better to be able to walk out to my yard and harvest something when I need it;
- it does offset the cost of groceries, although when you balance that against the cost of seeds/plants and other expenses I don't really grow enough to save a ton of money.
What's your perspective on the cost of buying local/growing your own?
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