To enhance the environmental, social, and economic well being of a society, specifically an agrarian society like India, it becomes imperative that the entire chain of food production, processing, distribution, and consumption are integrated. Locavorism, as a movement and a practice emphasizes on buying and consumption of food that are grown within a relatively short distance from one’s location. The word ‘local’ refers to buying products which are available in closer proximity. People who prefer to eat locally grown food are referred to as localvores or locavores. A locavore are those who would prefer to consume food that is produced locally, within a limited radius of around 50-100 miles. This is an effort to build locally strong, self reliant and self sustaining food economies. These sustainability measures that attempted exploring the impact of the food items on the dinner table, led to the emergence of another concept i.e. food miles (which refers to the distance that food travels from place of production to the point of consumption). Food mile is often associated with the locavore movements, since it emphasizes on consumption of locally grown food or otherwise reducing the distance travelled by food. Locally produced food is mostly fresh, goes through less processing procedures and uses less preservatives, comparatively. While there are both advantages, and disadvantages with being a locavore, the key limitation of food miles is that it indicates only the distance traveled, not the processes involved in the value chain. Decrease in cultivable land area at an alarming rate due to urbanization, and with a huge challenge ahead to feed the population (80% of the world’s population is expected to reside in urban areas by 2050) in a sustainable way. Various programmes and techniques pertaining to urban farming are gaining momentum, thereby utilizing the so-called developed urban areas for sustainable agricultural production.
Review Article
English
P. 25-33
