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A Locally Grown
America
Source:
The Hand That Feeds U.S.
Posted on November 26, 2010
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While it is often
disputed among Americans where exactly the first
Thanksgiving took place, we can be certain of one thing:
it was in celebration of the harvest.
Whether it first
occurred in Massachusetts or Virginia, all of the food
would have been grown "locally" due to transportation
and other logistical constraints of the time.
Locally grown has
made a resurgence in recent years—a wonderful movement
that puts people in touch with their food. But if we
depend on locally grown alone, there's a lot we'll miss
out on.
So, this got us
thinking. What would our Thanksgiving dinner look like
if we used only what could be produced in our immediate
regions?
In Florida you'd
have plenty of sugar cane for the pie, but it may be
lemon meringue instead of pumpkin. And you'd probably be
serving beef in place of your traditional Thanksgiving
turkey.
And in Nebraska, you
would have no problem finding a turkey, but probably
wouldn't find too many yams or green beans, meaning that
your favorite Thanksgiving casseroles may be missing
from the table.
We are able to enjoy
all of these things however because nowadays, the
concept of "local" is relative when you consider that a
product can travel the 3,000 miles coast to coast in one
day.
In 2008, Congress
defined the term "locally" in the Consolidated Farm and
Rural Development Act as, "the locality or region in
which the final
product is marketed,
so that the total distance that the product is
transported is less than 400 miles from the origin of
the product; or the State in which the product is
produced."
400 miles is a lot
closer today than it was at the first Thanksgiving.
Unlike in 1621, someone in Alexandria, Virginia can
visit family in Ontario, Canada in less than 400 miles
and a few short hours.
At the same time,
the food that is produced in East Texas would be more
local, geographically speaking, to the residents of
Louisiana than those of West Texas, even though they are
in different states.
Because of the
advances that have been made in agriculture and
transportation, America is local. So let's come together
to celebrate in our own way by sharing what we can with
one another and taking advantage of all of America's
bounty, rather than just what we can find in our
backyard.
Note:
This
article was originally published in The Hand That Feed
U.S. November 2010, and is republished on
ExperienceClovis.com with permission. All rights
reserved.
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Have an
Awesome Day and Experience in
Clovis and Central California!
Clovis is what every
small town aspires to be
when it grows up!SM
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