Just exactly where does Mrs. Slump think her food comes from (April 11 letter “Preference should be given to local vendors)? If she had read such books as Peter Kropotkin’s Fields, Factories and Workshops, she would understand that before we had modern railways and roads to transport goods, the size of towns were limited by how much food could be produced and brought into the cities by the type of farmer she is trying to discourage.
The invention of glass greatly extended the amount of food that could be produced by such farmers. It seems to be splitting hairs when she wishes to discourage farmers who may not reside in the city but says nothing about the supermarkets who provide, by far, most of the food we eat that comes from places and other countries much farther away than the farmers who bring products into the farmers’ markets.
Perhaps she hasn’t noticed, but in the 35 years or so I have lived here, farm land within the city has dwindled considerably. These days many municipalities around the world are encouraging markets that sell food that was grown within 10 to 25 kilometres of the very markets Mrs. Slump is apparently trying to limit in size, both to encourage healthy eating and limit the costs of transporting food to market.
Transportation of goods accounts for well over 60 per cent of gasoline consumption in North America, of which transporting food is a major percentage. It is estimated that the average food item sold in the U.S.A. has travelled 2,000 kilometers — check the internet if you find this hard to believe.
When we visited ex-Penticton resident Don Hole in Boissevain, Man. on our cross-Canada trip last summer, I commented to Don that I felt somewhat frivolous burning up gas driving back and forth across Canada, as when I viewed the fields that stretched on into the horizon in Manitoba I wondered where, in a few generations, all the gasoline was going to come from to propel the huge machines used in planting and harvesting.
So, Mrs. Slump, when commenting on limiting/discouraging farmers who are bringing food to market in Penticton, please try to think outside the box that most of your food is in when it arrives in Penticton.
Discouraging local farmers from bringing goods to market, be they from five kilometres or 50 kilometres away, is not going to solve anything.
Brian Sutch
Penticton
