WESTERN PERSPECTIVE: Organic Food Miles: Does Distance Negate Benefit?
by Rand Green
Very few people would argue with the desirability of buying locally grown produce in season. But there are those who object so strongly to transporting any foodstuff beyond a minimum arbitrary distance (most commonly 500 miles), mainly owing to the consumption of fossil fuels in transit, that for the sake of the environment, they urge people to eat nothing -- or next to nothing -- that has not been produced close to home.

The food-miles concept has been around for a while, particularly in Europe, but it has been getting a great deal of media attention recently in the United States. Most advocates of the so-called "locavore" lifestyle ("think global, eat local") are also proponents of organic produce -- and many of those, quite frankly, are small organic farmers feeling the competitive pinch from the trend toward globalization of the organic trade. Their contention is that transporting organically grown produce great distances is contrary to the core principles on which the organic movement was founded and negates the benefits of organics. Some would like to see organic standards redefined to limit the distance certified-organic products are permitted to travel. Surprisingly, more attention is generally given to the absolute distance an item has traveled, regardless of the efficiencies involved, than energy consumption per unit of produce. Could it be that pound for pound, hauling a grocery bag full of produce across town in a sedan creates a larger carbon footprint than transporting 10,000 pounds of produce across the country in a truck? "I don't know if all the studies have been done on that," remarked one organic industry executive. In the simplest terms, there are two main arguments in favor of organics put forward by the organic industry: Organic produce is healthier than conventionally grown produce, and organic farming methods are better for the environment than conventional farming methods. To this is now added a third postulate: locally grown is more environmentally friendly. But what if locally grown organic produce is not available? Is it better to eat conventionally grown local products or to buy organically grown fruits grown 1,000 miles away? And what about products that are not at all available locally, whether organic or otherwise? If a mother in Minneapolis wants to buy fresh tomatoes for her children in October, for example -- or bananas any time of year -- should she just be expected to do without? Should she be given a choice between organic tomatoes and conventional tomatoes both trucked in from California and between organic and conventional bananas from Central America? Or should she be offered only conventional products from those same distant points of origin? The Produce News asked several people who are in the business of distributing and marketing organic fruits and vegetables what they felt about the food-miles concept. "It is something we are highly concerned with," said Frank McCarthy, vice- president of marketing for Bridgeport, NJ-based Albert's Organics. "Albert's is owned by United Natural Foods [Inc.], and UNFI is a multi-billion-dollar organic and natural grocery distributor. There are two points that are relevant: the first is how much energy does it really take to get across from one place to another, and the cheapest and most efficient means of transport by far is ship. So it is probably less expensive to bring a load from Chile to Los Angeles by ship at today's diesel prices than to bring a load from Wenatchee to Los Angeles [by truck]." Therefore, each commodity needs to be considered individually, he said. "The second point is that Albert's is extremely active in recruiting local growers for that very reason. All over the country, we are aggressively searching out local organic growers. We are supporting them, helping them to get certified if they are not, and we are distributing East Coast produce to the East Coast, West Coast Produce to the West Coast, Colorado produce to Colorado and so forth." The third point, he said, is that "there are no tomatoes [grown] in New Jersey in February," so if someone living in New Jersey wants tomatoes in February, "you are going to have to get them out of Florida." While it is better to source locally when that is an option, he said, "No produce retailer wants to be out of tomatoes" just because tomatoes are out of season locally. Finally, Mr. McCarthy said, if a product is unavailable locally either organic or otherwise, if the choice is between organic product coming from some distance away and conventional product making the same trip, the organic is still the preferred option. "Our objective and our mission is to maximize the number of organic acres on the planet." "I think all of us who are involved in the organic industry are involved because of a core value that we have for long-term sustainability of environmental resources," said Tom Avinelis, chief executive officer of Sierra Heights Marketing in Porterville, CA. "All our goals and views toward environmental stewardship are important. It's not just the miles. We need to look at the total continuity of what we are doing" with regard to the environmental impact of food production and distribution. "Yet there is also understanding" that different regions within the United States can grow different types of crops at different times of the year, and people in the Pacific Northwest would certainly like "to be eating more than just potatoes" in the wintertime. "I am sure they would like to have oranges. Most of the country is just not going to be able to grow oranges. So in order to deliver to the customer the best food choices," sourcing decisions should be made with a measure of "common sense." Still, support for locally grown produce "should be a continued goal" throughout the United States "because unfortunately the small family farmer is becoming a thing of the past," Mr. Avinelis said. "The family farmer has been core to the value of the economy of this nation as it has grown," and small- to medium-sized organic farmers continue to be "core to this country." Steve LeFevre of Cris-P Produce Co. Inc. in Nogales, AZ, which is primarily in the business of marketing organically grown Mexican fruits and vegetables, said that even with the increasing involvement of large conventional farming operations in organic production, still "there isn't enough product to go around" to meet the ever-growing demand. "There are still a lot of times when we are short on product," and as major retailers continue to push their organic programs, availability will only continue to get tighter. "The larger conventional growers are getting involved because they are being pressured by the larger chains" to do so, he said. "My feeling is that if growers were to keep within that 500-mile radius, there would be a lot of places in the country that wouldn't have a lot of product." Cris-P brings in 75 to 80 loads of organic mangos a year from Mexico, for example. Six years ago, the volume was only about two loads a year. "It would seem that the marketplace for organic product is growing tremendously from coast to coast, so I don't know how you could put a 500-mile limit on it," he said. "I understand where the small organic growers are coming from," Mr. LeFevre continued. "I think the small farmers are trying to protect themselves, which I understand. But there is no way in the world we are going to create enough product unless some of the big boys do get involved." The organic industry "for many, many years has all been small growers." But "it is becoming a global marketplace," he said. "How else are you going to get more organic product to the people." "On a personal side, I probably lean more towards the idea of eating locally," said Rick Lejeune of Heath & Lejeune Inc. in Los Angeles. But "I have customers in New York and Florida and North Carolina and Chicago. ... As a realist," and as someone who has been in the business for 30 years, "I understand that in order for us Americans to eat the way we do, the ideal of eating within 500 miles of point of origin would radically upend and change our whole way of life." Being conscious of the concept of food miles "is really important," Mr. Lejeune said, "and the knowledge of what that entails needs to translate into a more realistic view of the economy of all these things." But "realistically, we are going to see only minor changes in the overall picture of the way food distribution works, because people want what they want." (For more on organic produce, see the Sept. 17 issue of The Produce News.)