Local vs. Organic, the complexities are immense!? We all know that locally produced, organic food is the best choice for a person who is working towards a sustainable society/world. However, in most places it is very difficult to create a complete diet with locally produced organic food, and in many places (take my home state of Montana for example) it is essentially impossible. In some of the larger cities here in Montana, a person can find a Good Food Store, a Real Food Store, or something of the like. However, although they sell a few local organic products, the stores themselves are very seldom local businesses; most in fact are owned by large corporations in big cities somewhere else. Most the products for these stores are shipped thousands of miles to get to Montana. On the other hand, locally grown produce can be found at farmer%26#039;s markets from spring to fall, but not all (in fact few) of those products are organic. If a person had the choice between non-organic local produce and non-organic produce from some far away

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6 months ago

place, obviously the better choice with sustainability in mind would be the local product. But what if there is a choice between a non-organic local product and an organic product that has been shipped halfway across the world? With all potential health, taste, and economic issues aside, which choice has the lesser impact on the environment? Is it worth it to buy an organic product when there has been a large amount of fossil fuel emissions tied to its transport? Non-organic/non-sustainably farmed produce may cause degradation of land to the point where it is not usable in the future, and the chemicals from pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers etc., may cause irrevocable damage to ecosystems near and far; do these impacts outweigh those caused by the impacts of fossil fuel use (global warming etc.)?

What do you think is the better option? should help you find and connect with local growers in your area (there are many sustainable and organic growers in Montana but it is a big place so I can see where it would be hard to find who you need to buy from)

You need to put up food by canning, freezing, fermentation, dehydration during the growing season for use during the off season. And create a root cellar for foods like garlic, onions, carrots, turnips, winter squash to be store in. This is what people used to do before WWII and the modern, processed food, grocery chain.

The book Root Cellaring by Mike and Nancy Bubel is an excellent title on the subject. they explain how anyone can do this even people living in apartments in the city.

The other thing to do is if you are gardener yourself learn about season extension. I know people who grow most of the year in Minn and S Dakota using simple unheated hoop houses. Eliot Coleman has several excellent title on season extension, he lives and gardens year round in Maine. I know of a couple of farms in MT that use geothermal hot springs to heat greenhouses for year round growing in your state so it can certainly be done.

Keep on educating yourself and good luck. I believe you can and will become a full fledged Montanan locavore.