Published September 22, 2010
by dbazely
The 100-mile diet, at least in Ontario, is, I believe, nothing more or less, than the rediscovery by a highly urbanized population, many of whom are recent immigrants to the province, that we live in one of the most productive agricultural regions of the world. As a teen in 1970's Mississauga, (or as I liked to think of it, by the pet-name, Miseryssauga), I was bombarded with Foodland Ontario recipes using local ingredients. But, along with Home Economics, and a basic ability to cook, much of this local knowledge appears to have been lost during the 1990s and early 2000s.
It's great that there is such a huge interest in local food, but I, for one, am not giving up olives, citrus, cinnamon and nutmeg or salt. The first three don't grow outside in Ontario, and I don't know of any local sources of salt. The history of humanity is all about how we moved from being hunter-gatherers, to providing ourselves with more predictable sources of food, by farming. Food preservation for the winter was hugely important, and spices, herbs and salt play an important role in this. Our most important spices are all tropical, as my Plants course students learned, in my lectures from our textbook, the wonderful, Plant Biology.
The spice trade is of enormous historical, geopolitical and economic significance. This is what took Marco Polo to China on the spice route. Ghandi's challenge to the salt tax, and his making of salt, shook the British Raj. Today, principles of sustainability, equity and justice come together in the fair-trade movement and are being explored in an interesting programme from World Wildlife Fund aimed at transforming markets and supply chains. At this year's Ecological Society of America AGM in Pittsburgh, Jason Clay gave a very interesting talk about the programme.
So, before you consider embracing the 100-mile diet 100%, please think again, and consider the 5,000 mile diet for 5% of your food intake. Remember that trade in foreign foods IS incredibly important for bringing income to local peoples elsewhere in the world.
Dawn R. Bazely
Posted in: Blogs | IRIS Director Blog
