Be Careful of Local and Organic Labels
By: Anthony Adragna
Published: April 11, 2011

Over the past couple of years, the movement to eat mainly local foods has grown. Many consumers now look to purchase items from local farms for a variety of reasons. Some prefer local foods because they allow for support of the local economy and local farmers. Others, go local because of environmental reasons. Purchasing food that has to travel a shorter distance doesn't require as much carbon dioxide to enter the atmosphere.
The reasons for going local are laudable and important. However, the trend has also turned into a major moneymaker. Grocery stores, restaurants and other eating locations will often attach the label in hopes of attracting supporters of the movement. It works. Let me offer a word of caution based on personal experience.
A couple of days ago I was eating a meal at a local Seattle quick-service restaurant. I looked at the sign on the board advertising the food choices and was pleased to see a list of several local farms. I was pleased. This also suggested to me that the meat would probably come from farms with excellent standards for livestock treatment. I suspected they would not use corn in feeding the cows, pigs and chickens.
Unfortunately, I was wrong. I took down the names of the farms and conducted some research later. Turns out the farms are local, but still use corn in feeding their animals.
This doesn't make the farms bad, but it does mean that the labels can be misleading. In this case, the term local is accurate, but doesn't tell the customer anything about how the animals are treated. You cannot simply assume that businesses who buy locally will also buy from farms that only feed their animals grass or raise organic meats. Again, it depends on what you're looking for in your food products.
The local label can be misleading in many cases as well. Local farmers markets sometimes only contain products from less than 100 miles away. In other cases, local refers to products that come from hundreds of miles away. Sometimes it pertains to foods that arrive in stores after three days of travel. In short, there is no standard for what "local" actually means.
The lesson is that the words "local" and "organic" have become extremely economically valuable. They are used often times loosely and there is no clear definition as to what the terms mean. If you want to eat a diet based on local and organic products, it may require some additional research to determine whether every label actually meets your personal definition.
What does the word local mean to you?
Photo by Mike Gogulski