How Local is Local?

By Abby Majerus, Director of the Snowy Mountain FADC

It’s hard to walk through a grocery store or skim a restaurant’s menu without seeing the phrase “local food” or “buy local”. But how local is local?

A quick google search might tell you that local food means that it was raised within 100 miles of where you are purchasing it. Since there does not seem to be a standard definition of local food, this opens up the area it can mean whatever you want it to be.

It’s easy to reason how the eggs, steak and bread you eat regularly here in Central Montana are locally sourced, but what about the bright red strawberries in the produce section, in the middle of January. The strawberries were most likely not sourced within 100 miles and based on our growing conditions here in Montana, we may never be able to eat local strawberries. That’s one of the limiting factors of using only a set number of miles to determine local-ness.

When it comes to choosing food, I encourage you to consider food miles, sourcing directly from the producer and the ecology necessary to produce the product. Food miles are the distance the food travels, from where it is grown or raised all the way to your plate. These miles include the distance from the farm to a potential processing facility, then perhaps to a grocery store and eventually to your home. Local processing facilities that turn raw products into value added products and goods offered at farmer’s markets or through food hub’s often cut down on these miles.

Additionally, direct marketing or sourcing products from a local producer offers a direct connection to the producer and knowledge of where and how the food product was raised. Depending on the season or the crop, not all conditions are going to prove ideal for growing everything. Some foods are simply going to have to travel farther to get to your table. However, technology is helping to make simulated conditions to support ventures such as aquaculture, hydroponics and indoor, controlled growing facilities.

No matter how you decide to define local when it comes to your food, any focus on learning more about your food – how it was raised, how far it has traveled and how best to prepare it – is beneficial for producers and consumers alike. The next time you are strolling the grocery isles or picking your next dinner out, take a minute to consider the path your food took – from field to fork.

If you are interested in learning more about your local FADC or are in need of business or technical assistance, please contact Abby Majerus, Director of the Snowy Mountain FADC, at 406-535-2591 or email at [email protected]