I don't tend to get into state politics on this blog--I prefer to leave that sort of thing to those who know what they are doing. But thanks to a tip from reader and blogger David Pratt I pulled Senator David Valesky's constituency newsletter out of the recycling pile to find these fascinating morsels:
How Many Food Miles Did Your Apple Travel?
...One problem is we don't always know where food is from. I have proposed a bill to include "Food Miles" on the labels of fresh fruits and vegetables. You can also ask your grocer, and let them know you care about such things. By reducing how far our food has traveled we can cut our energy impact while we help the local economy.
And this:
Linking What We Grow with What We Eat
When I talk to farmers in Central New York about the prospects of selling more of their products to consumers downstate, many tell me how hard it is to break into these markets....New York's customers want fresh, locally produced foods. Upstate New York has the ability to supply these products. Together we can improve our economy, our health and our environment and create a better link between what we grow and what we eat.
Valesky's district is the 49th covering Madison Country, and bits of Onondaga County (including the city of Syracuse and some of its eastern suburbs) and some of eastern Cayuga County. It's an odd map but when I look carefully I note that many of the farms that supply the food I eat are in this district. So finally, I feel that I can write a letter of encouragement to one of our legislators.
It would be an amazing thing for New York to take some leadership on putting food miles on our food--it may even nudge the national Country of Origin Labeling legislation a bit further. I'll also want to support his efforts to expand our markets to consumers downstate but with one huge caveat. I'm all food my family in Brooklyn and Staten Island partaking of Central New York's bounty, but not if I can't get to it too. I find it more than a little frustrating that some of the best stuff leaves our area for NYC markets only. I shouldn't have to go to the lower east side to get Evans Farmhouse Creamery butter. Clearly, there are distribution issues I don't fully understand and I guess I'm lucky that if I really want that butter I can go directly to the farm--but let's not send all the good stuff away--we upstaters enjoy it too.
That aside, it is great to see Valesky tracking on these issues--let's hope his colleagues get on board too.
Archive Alert: On this date in 2005 I was sharing a little link love with a shout out to the York Staters blog.
Now this is an interesting idea --to put food miles on food. Just reada while back a book (FOOD from Alphabet City) which compared an ontario apple (the provicne of Canada, not the county I live in) to a naples (Florida, not Italy) orange. . . . , for people eating in Toronto. . .
Happy holidays.
Posted by: bibliochef | December 22, 2007 at 09:43 PM