Define "Local" for El Paso

So what is "local food" for El Paso? How do we define it. We could start by talking about El Paso as part of the Chihuahuan Desert. We could define the ecosystem that stretches nearly 500 miles south to Torreon and more than 300 miles north to Albuquerque. However, eating local food has much more to do with the energy that it takes to move food to a market and the freshness and nutritional value of that food when we eat it. When we talk about local food for El Paso, we can talk about native and adaptive plants in our area as food sources. But, to be fair to the local food movement, we need to define a radius around the city.

100-mile diet advocates, Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon, began their now famous 100-mile diet challenge in agriculturally rich British Columbia. Although El Paso may have been agriculturally diverse less than 100-years ago, it isn't so much today.

A 100-mile radius around El Paso does get us to the apples of Cloudcroft, the pistachios of Alamogordo, the chili fields of Hatch, New Mexico and, of course, the extensive pecan orchards just across the border in New Mexico as well as those in El Paso County. A very good beginning. However, we miss some of the farms of Sonora, Mexico.

If we go to a 250-mile or 300-mile radius, then we touch Tucson and Lubbock and almost Hermosillo and pick-up those exotic flavors around Santa Fe and Taos. In a area not as agriculturally diverse as British Columbia or the States of Washington and Oregon, a regional view over a local view might be better. Eating locally for El Pasoans is probably best defined as eating regionally. We will keep an eye on both.

One sad word about food from Mexico. Although we get much of our produce from Mexico, it may come at a price.

A recent story posted on the Newspaper Tree highlights "the human toll of child labor in northern Mexico’s agricultural export industry." Green beans, child labor and NAFTA reports the about the literal slavery of children and their endangerment (even death) in food production and distribution in Mexico. I hate to think that the green beans that I buy at the grocery store supports the slavery of children - but there you have it. There are a number of good reasons to eat locally and sustainably including taste and nutrition. However, having a conscience is just as important. It is something to think about and a topic we will return to here at elpasonaturally.