Every day people send me, ”We should just grow our own!” as a solution to pretty much any foodie issue, from climate change to food security. As a botanist who studies crop production, I should prob clear up that 7 billion of us growing our own would be a ecological nightmare*.
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Replying to @Botanygeek
well it depends what you mean by "our own" : local, diversified grown food has less impact than "grown on another continent at massive scales" food, but I agree if it means "everyone grow food in their garden", wich would be worst
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Replying to @ShettyShet
Nope, it doesn’t necessarily. It’s just a claim that fits well with nostalgic food narratives.
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Replying to @Botanygeek @ShettyShet
My favourite example of this was UK meat having a larger carbon footprint than that shipped from literally the other side of the planet, New Zealand. A quick google didn't find anything, do you know about this?
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Replying to @Kyrall @ShettyShet
Yep. One study showed importing NZ apples had a lower carbon footprint than British (in summer), but *the same* product was higher in winter. In a complex world, simplistic ‘local is better’ narratives just aren’t very useful.
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I have a family farm and grow my own food, and so chat w other hobbyists. I find it endlessly frustrating that they're good at gardening, but not at math or economics. Your point is exactly right. Growing my own X (for most any X) costs more per lb., uses more land, etc.
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I still do it because (a) I've got the land, so why not, (b) I care about animal welfare, (c) I enjoy the higher quality of the food, (d) it's a hobby. ...but replacing industrial farming w 7 B hobby farms would be a catastrope.
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