“Darling, I just love local food! Don’t we all? Friday evening Simon and I pile the kids into our Prius and it’s voom off to our cottage in Stroud. Saturday morning the farmers’ market. Local food! So good for them. I wouldn’t feed Hugo and Daisy on anything else!”
I have an issue with local food.
As a resident of Kennington in inner London, I think it is a meaningless construct. Even if we turned Kennington Park into allotments we Kenningtonians couldn’t grow enough cabbages and potatoes to feed us all!
Yet the Brazilian chicken at the Olympics has got the chattering classes chattering away.
But why?
From the point of view of economic nationalism it makes sense: “Spend the money for the British Olympics in Britain” Among the objectors there are many who in any other circumstances would prefer to die rather than wrap themselves in the Union Jack!
But if international free trade really does benefit developing economies, what is so wrong with chicken from Brazil?