How Local is Your Local?

Why it matters:

Finally, a way to get the nitty-gritty on your “food environment”.

Recap:

Planet Green is getting the word out, as part of the Obama administration’s Let’s Move program, the USDA has released its “Food Environment Atlas”.

The Yellow Pages this is not. The Food Atlas is a powerful tool for parents, educators, and individuals to get the details on their county’s food environment.

So, what the hell is a “Food Environment”? If you lived your entire life trapped in a Jack in the Box, your food environment would be comprised exclusively of bleached, white hamburger buns, ground beef, American “cheese product”, and large quantities of something called “Buttermilk House Dipping Sauce”. If you lived your entire life trapped at a farmer’s market, your food environment would include fresh (and ideally locally-sourced and organic) veggies, fruits, nuts, eggs, and, if you’re so inclined, you might even find some organic, grass-fed bison. Oh, and ill-fitting crocheted sweaters, but you can’t eat those.

Get it?

But if you’re like most folks, you were raised in a house or apartment and you weren’t trapped (I hope not, anyway), so your food environment probably includes restaurants of varying quality and philosophy, supermarkets, and convenience stores in addition to the fast food joints and (I hope) farmers markets. In fact, the food atlas goes beyond just telling you that you live in a fresh produce wonderland (psht, you already knew that anyway), it can tell you average food prices, restaurant density… every little detail you could possibly want to know.

Commentary:

In fact, if there’s any criticism of the Food Atlas, it might be that it’s a little too detailed. With about 90 indicators to choose from, you can find out just how many gallons of soft drinks your county consumes per capita. But maybe it needs to be a little more Yellow Pages. When I heard about the Food Atlas I was thinking: finally a tool to easily connect people to fresh, local food, whether it be through stores, markets, or restaurants. At best it can tell you whether on not there’s a farmer’s market in your county (A note to the citizens of Harney County, Oregon… you don’t), you’ll have to figure out where to go, and when, on your own.

It’s unclear whether the USDA has any intention of supplementing the atlas with information more relevant to consumers (addresses, hours, etc.)… but they should.