“Locally grown” nonsense

In an essay that’s a must-read for anyone confused by the dictates of modern “locally-grown” food zealots (the Chefs Collaborative comes to mind, along with a host of organic food activists), Reason Magazine’s Ron Bailey writes: “I don’t care where my food comes from. And neither should you.”

Bailey argues that his farmhouse upbringing, in which his family salted their own hams and “knew the names of the pigs and cows” that became lunches and dinners, makes him “cherish modern grocery stores and restaurants.”

As a kid, says Bailey, “I knew where my food came from because it took my family a huge percentage of our time just to do the mind-numbing and back-breaking labor of raising it.” By contrast, he concludes, “food today is cheap, nutritious, and safe.”

Perhaps, someday, that will be enough. In the meantime, consider Bailey’s final words: “Eating shouldn’t be a moral duty; it should be a pleasure.”