The Locavore Movement and Wine (aka Wine & Environmental Stuff)

Recently, on a chat board on LinkedIn, I became involved in an impassioned discussion surrounding the "locavore" movement. Although I generally review wines on the blog, I thought it may be interesting to discuss this hot topic, which is sweeping the food and wine world at the moment and is steeped in controversy. In addition, I have recently received a lot questions on the topic because I am co-organizing a wine event focused on organic and biodynamic wine in Chapel Hill, North Carolina (details to come!). Hopefully this is of interest and is not just pontification (if you think it is, don't worry, I'll post a review by the end of the week. My cold is gone so I can drink away!).

So the first question that you may have, is what the hell is a "locavore?" It sounds like someone who exclusively eats locusts or possibly feasts on crazy women, if you speak Spanish. Good guesses, both, however according to the all-powerful and ever-accurate Wikipedia:

"A locavore is someone who eats food grown or produced locally or within a certain radius such as 50, 100, or 150 miles"

The movement is really kind of neat. Its basic tenet is that if you eat foods that are local, you can reduce environmental impact (less transport), eat healthier (smaller farms usually use fewer pesticides), and provide economic support to your local farmers. It's really a back-to-basics movement -- think "Little House On The Prairie" and Ma selling eggs to the Olsons at the General Store.

In my opinion, eating local food is a great idea for the reasons mentioned above. But taken to the extreme, it's a tough row to hoe. Should I never eat a kiwi? An orange? Must I give up pineapple? And, more importantly, what about wine? Should I only drink wines from Georgia because that's the only option less than 100 miles away for me? Die-hard locavores would probably say yes to all of that.

I resoundingly say, not so much.

For me, the sustainability/environmental movement is about doing a little better than what we all did before -- incorporating changes into our daily lives that collectively make a huge impact. Part of that is driving less, shutting off the water when we brush our teeth, and choosing products whose producers are mitigating their impact on the earth.

The last point is particularly relevant to wine. I personally don't think we need to give up wines from other parts of the world and only drink from our back yard. Maybe instead of buying only local wines, we can try to support companies who are making their wineries greener, and figuring out alternative transportation methods that decrease their carbon footprint and negative impact on the environment. On the East Coast, we may want to drink more European wines, as the transport to get them here has a smaller footprint. On the West Coast perhaps they should consume local wines to do the same. Or we could all help support organic and biodynamic producers worldwide who are trying to preserve the earth in their winemaking, lessening their impact on the planet and doing a lot better than many non-sustainable wineries that destroy the earth, use more than their fair share of resources, and pollute the environment.

Ultimately, what concerns me about going extreme with the locavore movement is that taken literally, it does not recognize that we live in a wonderfully interdependent world and although it's important to constantly and relentlessly mitigate our impact on the planet and help support local businesses where possible, it's also essential that we don't become insular.

The cost of only "drinking local" is that we become limited in our ability to appreciate the history, tradition, and culture of wine regions around the world. Part of the enjoyment of wine, in my estimation, is the cross-cultural learning that comes with tasting things from diverse areas. I personally have learned so much about the traditions, geography, food, and history of other cultures through wine and although I very much support local farming, I think that taking an extreme position on the localvore movement where wine is concerned cuts us off from appreciation of other cultures, which is essential in an interconnected world. Further, if we only care about our own backyard, we may be devastating someone else's local economy by cutting off our support of their wine trade, which can have global financial implications on us all.


So there you have it. Although I will try to always do a little better -- compost, recycle more, buy products from ethical producers, for me, cutting off wines from other regions of the world is not worth the price.