December 4th

For the Starving, 'Eat Local' isn't an Option talks about how eating local has constantly been a goal for Americans. Everybody stresses eating food from local farmers. But, Americans have never been "local." Ever since colonial America, people have eaten local produce, but alongside the local produce, there are imported goods such as rum, wine, molasses and sugar. So, a US citizen's diet has never been "entirely local." But, due to recent studies, people are finding out that although most people believe it is healthier to eat local foods, it is actually not very effective for the environment, or for the poor. Most long distance food shipments also only contribute a little bit to the environmental impact made on the world from growing food. 25% of America's crop is imported, so no matter how hard we try, it would be difficult to eat a 'local only' diet. And, this idea of eating "local foods' is diverting our attention from world hunger. Although some people live in societies where there is food that it available to everyone, there is also places, where food is not openly available at markets or stores. So, people who are starving due to lack of food are being ignored because of our efforts to turn away from eating imported goods. There are 842 million participants in the United Nations World Food Program , and 827 million people in the program live in developing countries where reasonable amounts of the population are undernourished. If you calculate the amount of money required to help feed just the starving children in the world, it adds up to $3.2 billion. So, Americans should put their minds to helping these starved people out there who do not have food available, instead of trying to eat food that is made locally, because no matter what you eat for dinner, whether it is local or not, it is still going to be dinner, one meal that you eat on one day of your life.