Oscar Wu

Ms. Sharber
AP Language/Period 4
4/22/2015
Locavore Synthesis Essay
The locavore movement is one of the most revolutionary and profound campaigns
sweeping the nation. Its endorsement for the consumption of locally grown produce is one that
bears a plethora of effects upon the conventional eating habits of most Americans and the
environment. The movement, despite contrary beliefs, provides significant benefits in the
nutritional and sustainability sectors of the community due to the health assets and pollutionmitigating effects of growing and consuming food locally.
Locally grown food has been stated by multiple sources to contain more nutritional value
and, as a bonus, a fresher taste than any food found in supermarkets (Source B). Food that has
been acquired from the local farmers market has most likely been harvested within twenty four
hours of ones purchase, while food from a supermarket has traveled to and stayed in the grocery
store for several weeks (Source A). The disparity in nutritional value between fresh produce and
a stored is quite evident as the beneficial substances within food begin to degrade as soon as food
is picked. In addition, the additional pesticides and preservatives applied to mass transited food
possess only a further detrimental effect upon the efficacy of these foods. The sheer freshness of
local food is also a very desirable trait. It is indisputable that fresher tasting foods are preferred
by all. Such vigor is accommodated by the locavore movement, while the food found in Walmart
or HEB has degenerated into a much more bland and tasteless mass. Thus, consuming better

tasting and more health food is worth only a slight additional cost, as agreed by many ordinary,
middle income citizens and, with the passage of the Farm Bill, the legislators in Washington DC
(Source E).
The locavore movement also vastly promotes the concept of sustainability and possesses
many environmental benefits. Surprisingly, the transport and wholesale carbon emissions of the
most consumed types of foods are relatively uniform and small (Source D). However, the
production carbon emissions of all types of food are enormous, constituting more than 80% of
the total carbon emissions, with red meat as the number one source (Source D). Such statistics
reflect the fact that all such carbon emissions can be sourced to mass production factories that
produce such foods and possess massive carbon footprints. Buying locally grown food raised in
more individualistic and natural conditions financially endorse such methods and protect the
environment in the long run. In addition, buying the food in nearby sources in smaller amounts
reduce the total number of emissions released during transportation (Source C). While
proportionally, the emissions per ounce of food is equivalent to mass food transportation over an
extended distance, the total amount of emissions released is multiplied. It is not the scale that is
pertinent towards protecting the environment, but rather the total amount of emissions released,
something the locavore movement effectively minimizes.
Although some may point out that most urban areas are far from major centers of food
production (Source F), they seem to have ignored the very basis of the locavore movement: food
must be acquired from locally grown small farms and not from industrialized, factory-intensive
ones. Locally grown small farms offer the advantages of minimizing total carbon footprints and
providing the key freshness and nutritional value foods should have. The massive, industrialized
farms are, as Source F neatly points out, typically hundreds of miles, often thousands of miles,

from the major centers of food production (Source F). The use of smaller, more local based
farms circumvents this problem and provides all the benefits the locavore movement advocates.
The locavore movement is one that endorses both health and environmental beneficial
ideals. Fresh food has, since the dawn of man, the best type of food to be consumed. The many
problems such as extra pollution and decreased nutrition values critics associate with the food are
solved by the locavores.