The 100-Mile Diet.

[Ipip1]

So I've been hearing about this "100-Mile Diet" thing. It advocates that we should all eat food grown locally to help "save the environment", because our food travels hundreds or even thousands of miles before being consumed.

To me, this seems slightly impractical. Do we in British Columbia even produce enough food to feed the province? Wouldn't the mass expansion of agriculture or other food industries such as fishing in the region required to feed our population mean the wholesale destruction of forests, the rapid depletion of ocean stocks etc.? Certainly isn't "environmentally friendly" if this is the case.

When our population hits seven million in the in twenty-five years, how will we possibly be able to feed ourselves using "local" food?

While it's good to buy local (I buy my meat from local farms at the butcher), it just really seems kind of pie-in-the-sky to me. Doesn't seem as if such a plan would survive contact with reality if we were all to adopt it.

So, what do you think?

It also seems like it would be difficult to sustain large urban centres such as metro Vancouver, since it will apparently have a population of 3.5-4m in the near future. Is it possible to support a population of four or five million like that?

 

[Tonington]

The 100 mile diet isn't strictly environmentalism. If you drive around through the rural parts of NS, you may see signs with messages like: "SOS, save our farms". The buy local movement is really a movement that's not strictly environmentalism. It's also about preserving a culture and way of life. Very few people know the people who raise their food, which isn't always how things were. Family farming is hard...and it gets harder all the time.

Certainly the environmental aspect plays a key part, because you wouldn't have customers if the demand wasn't there, and a growing market trend everywhere is conscientious shopping. In this case it may have some benefits for the environment, as you say if a region needs to bulldoze forest to create agricultural land, it's defeating that purpose, and it wouldn't be economically viable.

To help support local farmers and artisans, to have positive impacts on communities, it doesn't require all of Greater Vancouver to adopt the buy local, not to mention that some families just can't spend the extra on that kind of "premium". Some families do well just to include fresh fruits and vegetables in their diets.

 

[Cliffy]

(apologies to Spade) If we reclaimed all the agricultural land that has been turned into golfcourses, we may well be able to feed ourselves. If people turned their nice manicured laws into gardens, they would not have to import so much food. Besides, we are far too dependent on imported foods. Most of it is crap, even the so called organic stuff from California, barely resembling the original. Much of our agricultural land is going to waste because big agri-business is cranking out sub-standard foods so cheaply. Time to grow our own. The nutritional value is twice that of agri-biz foods and tastes a lot better.

 

[Bcool]

Hi Ipip1 :smile: Welcome to CC. Another Van Islander too - we're taking over people!

Dang! Nearly choked on my yoghurt (ok, there's one good locally produced food right there Cliffy ), I took "the 100 mile diet" to mean one had to run/toddle for a 100 miles once a week or something! Whew!

Makes sense Tenpenny, "Some families do well just to include fresh fruits and vegetables in their diets." Good points about family farms too - I sure hate to see multi-corps like Cargill taking them over.

Well, there's "terracing" the clear cut unseeded mountainsides MacBlo & Weyerhouser just left abandoned. Would be dual purpose, restore & keep the topsoil from running off & silting up the rivers - so the fish would like it too. China is doing a lot of very large roof plantings on apartment & office buildings for city growers. Their designs would work well in Vancouver & most communities in BC, the buildings need to be on sloping ground - they look really cool, long undulating roof tops packed with veggies & grains. Helps lower heating & cooling costs too. Folks who have gardens could be encouraged to grow the miniaturized versions of many fruit trees - they produce amazing amounts of fruit, get established in just a few years, easier to harvest and far more trees per garden. Berry bushes: blueberry bushes have the most gorgeous colours year round, thornless blackberries, all sorts... Let alone root cops. Mittleider boxes!! Gosh, they'd be perfect. Have to see if I can find our ancient book on how to make them & check the web. Not sure I've spelt it right, will ask the 'expert' when he wakes up. Many things can be done without destroying the environment IMO. Golf courses have to go of course, good idea Cliffy! (Now Spade will come looking for you. )

We do a lot of local produce buying here and people put stands at the ends of their driveways here with garden produce & flowers from their gardens, some even sell home-made jams, honey, baked goods. It can be quite yummy driving around here depending on the season.

And look at the massive salmon run we had! As long as they're sensible about it and don't overfish again, that could become permanent. Oh yes, carp pools - fresh fish in pretty ponds. Just have to ensure there's no way they get loose.

Bunnies & squirrels (the big grey & black native squirrels - not the Douglas squirrels) make good eating. Our NA big squirrels got sneaked into the UK some years back by some idiot. They've almost wiped out the native Red squirrels that were around when I was a kid - so pretty. The UK is fighting back, squirrel is now on restaurant menus & in butcher shops - people say its delicious.

Oh yes, I think we're an innovative species when drastic measures are called for.

 

[karrie]

I think others have covered it nicely. It's not just about environment, it's about planning in local sustainability.

That petroleum we all go on about all the time, regardless of polution, it's going to start running out eventually. And when it does, our habit of trucking stuff for convenience sake, that we could grow in our yards, on our roof tops, is going to come to a grinding halt. It's simple preparedness to start now with being more aware of where our food supply is coming from, so that future generations aren't left stunned and starving, with no clue left as to how to feed themselves.

Bunnies & squirrels (the big grey & black native squirrels - not the Douglas squirrels) make good eating. Our NA big squirrels got sneaked into the UK some years back by some idiot. They've almost wiped out the native Red squirrels that were around when I was a kid - so pretty. The UK is fighting back, squirrel is now on restaurant menus & in butcher shops - people say its delicious.

Oh yes, I think we're an innovative species when drastic measures are called for.

it never ceases to surprise me here in Edmonton how people complain about the jackrabbits, which end up splattered all over the road ways, but no one thinks to trap them and use them for the soup kitchens, etc.

 

[taxslave]

So if one lives on the North Island or mid coast they would eat? Salal and devils club? yummy OK we would get salmon, grizzly, deer that eat salal and prawns.
It's a nice idea but our diets would be rather restricted especially with fresh veggies having such a short season in Canada and mostly only grow in the south.

 

[bill barilko]

So if one lives on the North Island or mid coast they would eat? Salal and devils club? yummy OK we would get salmon, grizzly, deer that eat salal and prawns.
It's a nice idea but our diets would be rather restricted especially with fresh veggies having such a short season in Canada and mostly only grow in the south.

Speaking directly to the area you mention in Days of Yore people grew/harvested what they could and preserved the bounty-whether it was canned veggies or root cellars or smoked/dried fish.

Of course few white people lived on the North Island then and few live there now but they can grow root crops and some leaf veggies.

I know you think you're being a smart assed internet sage/curmudgeon but the simple fact is that the locavore movement is light years ahead of you.

 

[Tonington]

Here's a neat link for Vancouver Island, at least Southern. It shows you what's in season. You can get local fruits and vegetables year round, though not for all fruits and vegetables.
Farm Fresh Products in Season

 

[taxslave]

Speaking directly to the area you mention in Days of Yore people grew/harvested what they could and preserved the bounty-whether it was canned veggies or root cellars or smoked/dried fish.

Of course few white people lived on the North Island then and few live there now but they can grow root crops and some leaf veggies.

I know you think you're being a smart assed internet sage/curmudgeon but the simple fact is that the locavore movement is light years ahead of you.

Sorry little dude but I lived there for a lot of years and tried to raise a garden. Should not those that live outside your city have the same access to variety of fresh food as you do. Or is that reserved for you city yuppies?

 

[Bcool]

Here's a neat link for Vancouver Island, at least Southern. It shows you what's in season. You can get local fruits and vegetables year round, though not for all fruits and vegetables.
Farm Fresh Products in Season

Thanks for this! Added to my Bookmarks already. :smile:

 

[damngrumpy]

Actually as someone involved in the Agricultural Industry, I believe it would
be difficult for all of us to engage in the one hundred mile diet. a thousand
mile diet yes. Western Canada can produce much more than it does in the
form of diversified food items. the school system has a school snack
program that is second to none. It demonstrates just how diversified our
production is. Students get a snack that is good quality and nutritious and
at the same time, they are told how the food is produced and where its
produced. The attention is drawn to the Agricultural Land Reserve and
just how important the legislation is in the future. We are going to face some
incredible food shortages as world competition for food resourses increases.
China is buying huge tracts of land in South America, and with a rising
middle class in China and India, they are consuming almost everything they
grow, something quite unexpected only a decade ago.
We need to ensure we save both the farmland and the farmer if we are to
maintain control of feeding our nation. I would prefer to see farmers receive
their income from the marketplace. I would also like to see the food being
imported be subject to the same food safety rules, and labour laws, and other
impediments of competition in this country. As a farmer I don't want
subsidies, but I do want an equal playing field to bring some sanity to the current
food supply in this country. A nation that cannot feed itself is a nation that
cannot be the master of its own house. It leaves us vulnerable to influence
from other nations. Remember, world trade only extends to everyone as long
as there is lots of food and water, if that equation changes all bets are off.

 

[taxslave]

Actually as someone involved in the Agricultural Industry, I believe it would
be difficult for all of us to engage in the one hundred mile diet. a thousand
mile diet yes. Western Canada can produce much more than it does in the
form of diversified food items. the school system has a school snack
program that is second to none. It demonstrates just how diversified our
production is. Students get a snack that is good quality and nutritious and
at the same time, they are told how the food is produced and where its
produced. The attention is drawn to the Agricultural Land Reserve and
just how important the legislation is in the future. We are going to face some
incredible food shortages as world competition for food resourses increases.
China is buying huge tracts of land in South America, and with a rising
middle class in China and India, they are consuming almost everything they
grow, something quite unexpected only a decade ago.
We need to ensure we save both the farmland and the farmer if we are to
maintain control of feeding our nation. I would prefer to see farmers receive
their income from the marketplace. I would also like to see the food being
imported be subject to the same food safety rules, and labour laws, and other
impediments of competition in this country. As a farmer I don't want
subsidies, but I do want an equal playing field to bring some sanity to the current
food supply in this country. A nation that cannot feed itself is a nation that
cannot be the master of its own house. It leaves us vulnerable to influence
from other nations. Remember, world trade only extends to everyone as long
as there is lots of food and water, if that equation changes all bets are off.

Well said. Even 1000 mile would both deprive me of some foods I like and presumably the growers of revenue. Oranges being a prime example. The other problem we have is the short growing season where everything fresh comes at once for a short time. We only eat fresh veggies so even 1000 mile would put us veggieless for months.

 

[YukonJack]

A few questions for the delusional idiots proposing this nonsense:

Have you considered the change of seasons?
Do you have the slightest inkling of geography?
Are you prepared to sacrifice the health of your family for worthless political points?
Have you any use for modern transportation?
Are you opposed to be a human being? You know, unlike an animal, go out of your domain?
What is your benefit from this?

Just a few questions, for those who have the guts for an honest answer. More on demand.

 

[taxslave]

A few questions for the delusional idiots proposing this nonsense:

Have you considered the change of seasons?
Do you have the slightest inkling of geography?
Are you prepared to sacrifice the health of your family for worthless political points?
Have you any use for modern transportation?
Are you opposed to be a human being? You know, unlike an animal, go out of your domain?
What is your benefit from this?

Just a few questions, for those who have the guts for an honest answer. More on demand.

Jack the main proponent of the 100 mile diet seem to be rich YUPies in Vancouver and Victoria that only use their SUV for a ski weekend getaway. REality is not in their domain.

 

[Tonington]

Jack the main proponent of the 100 mile diet seem to be rich YUPies in Vancouver and Victoria that only use their SUV for a ski weekend getaway. REality is not in their domain.

You're mistaken. The 100 mile diet is one small part of a much larger movement. Google "locavore".

Supporting local agriculture and other food producers is unrealistic?

Perhaps someone needs to actually get out from behind their computer screen and meet some of these people before they start pontificating wildly. Just a suggestion. There are many thriving farm markets across the country, and they wouldn't exist without customers.

 

[JLM]

So I've been hearing about this "100-Mile Diet" thing. It advocates that we should all eat food grown locally to help "save the environment", because our food travels hundreds or even thousands of miles before being consumed.

To me, this seems slightly impractical. Do we in British Columbia even produce enough food to feed the province? Wouldn't the mass expansion of agriculture or other food industries such as fishing in the region required to feed our population mean the wholesale destruction of forests, the rapid depletion of ocean stocks etc.? Certainly isn't "environmentally friendly" if this is the case.

When our population hits seven million in the in twenty-five years, how will we possibly be able to feed ourselves using "local" food?

While it's good to buy local (I buy my meat from local farms at the butcher), it just really seems kind of pie-in-the-sky to me. Doesn't seem as if such a plan would survive contact with reality if we were all to adopt it.

So, what do you think?

It also seems like it would be difficult to sustain large urban centres such as metro Vancouver, since it will apparently have a population of 3.5-4m in the near future. Is it possible to support a population of four or five million like that?

It's partially workable, but you may have to go further than 100 miles for rice, oranges and bananas. I think we could produce all the climate compatable food we can use if people would quit sub dividing arable land for building houses. Greed is what is eventually going to bring about our demise. :smile:

 

[TenPenny]

It's partially workable, but you may have to go further than 100 miles for rice, oranges and bananas. I think we could produce all the climate compatable food we can use if people would quit sub dividing arable land for building houses. Greed is what is eventually going to bring about our demise. :smile:

I think the whole point is that, if you have to go more than 100 miles (or 1000 miles) for rice, bananas, and oranges, then you might want to modify your diet to avoid those items.

 

[YukonJack]

Some says that the 100-Mile diet idea was jointly devised by an American living in Anchorage, a Canadian living in Toktoyaktuk and a Russian who livin Murmansk.

 

[JLM]

I think the whole point is that, if you have to go more than 100 miles (or 1000 miles) for rice, bananas, and oranges, then you might want to modify your diet to avoid those items.

Then you are limiting your choices. I always thought a good diet included as many foods as possible as all foods have slightly different attributes.

 

[YukonJack]

JLM, can you name one single period in history, of more than two minutes when to these people common sense trumped being politically correct?