Locavores multiplying

Locavore was selected as the New Oxford American Dictionary’s Word of the Year for 2007. It refers to people who go to great lengths to source locally grown and manufactured food. The trend has expanded to include locally grown ingredients for baking and cooking as well as searching out seasonally available foodstuffs that can be bought fresh and prepared without the need for extra preservatives.

There is renewed interest in farmers markets. The Shelburne County Women’s Fishnet is investigating the establishment of a Sable River market. A recently formed group, the tri-county local food system (www.tricountylocalfoodsystem.com) held an all day forum last month in which half of the 100 participants volunteered to assist afterwards in whatever way they could to establish a local food network.

Fresh produce abounds in the Annapolis Valley and there are many outlets where a wide variety of locally grown seasonal vegetables and fruits can be purchased.

Locavores also shun supermarket offerings as an environmentally friendly measure, since shipping food over long distances often requires more fuel for transportation.

I’m supportive of the locavore movement to a certain extent however I won’t be avoiding supermarkets. I love my chocolate, and cocoa bean plants aren’t going to be grown around here for many years. You won’t see any pineapple groves, mango trees or even coffeeplants for that matter.

The development of regional food distribution networks, more local food in grocery stores, more U-picks, and the promotion of innovative preparation techniques for local produce are all desirable goals.

However should imports be nixed, the act of excluding them could backfire on the other end. More than half of Nova Scotia's exports consist of products of the forest and the sea. Exports of food products are largely in the form of fish, bakery, and dairy products, fruits and fruit preparations, fish meal, and feed.

The benefits of trade must be examined from both sides. Nova Scotia is the world’s largest producer of blueberries. It’s a good thing the countries we export to don’t just eat locally grown fruit.

It’s interesting to note that the word locavore was coined two years ago by a group of four women in San Francisco who proposed that local residents should try to eat only food grown or produced within a 100-mile radius. The locavores.com website informs followers that in the greater bioregion of the Bay Area, one can eat like royalty, every day of the year, on locally grown and produced food.

A California climate would undoubtedly provide a vastly superior variety of foods to choose from within a 100-mile limit compared to other regions.