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How global is my local milk? Evaluating the first-order inputs of “local” milk in Hawai‘i

How global is my local milk? Evaluating the first-order inputs of “local” milk in Hawai‘i “Local food” is gaining in popularity, particularly within a rising alternative food movement, yet it remains an ambiguous term. We use an illustrative example—the case of “local milk” in Hawai‘i—to demonstrate this point. We evaluate "localness" by measuring the origins of production inputs by economic value and physical mass–an approach that is akin to the Made in America standard. The innovative method we propose is easily replicable to other food products or locations worldwide. We find that most first order production related inputs are obtained from non-local sources. Our findings are significant to the local food debate because a focus beyond the point of production to upstream inputs in the life cycle of a food item can push towards a re-framing what local means both in Hawai‘i and beyond. In particular, our findings suggest that production system type, as opposed to location of production end-point, might have a greater impact on the degree of localness of a product. Looking forward, a shift in focus towards production system characteristics may help researchers make headway in exploring the environmental and economic effects of local food. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Agriculture and Human Values Springer Journals

How global is my local milk? Evaluating the first-order inputs of “local” milk in Hawai‘i

Gupta, Clare; Makov, Tamar
Agriculture and Human Values , Volume 34 (3) – Nov 21, 2016
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References (60)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © 2016 by Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
Subject
Philosophy; Ethics; Agricultural Economics; Veterinary Medicine/Veterinary Science; History, general; Evolutionary Biology
ISSN
0889-048X
eISSN
1572-8366
DOI
10.1007/s10460-016-9755-7
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

“Local food” is gaining in popularity, particularly within a rising alternative food movement, yet it remains an ambiguous term. We use an illustrative example—the case of “local milk” in Hawai‘i—to demonstrate this point. We evaluate "localness" by measuring the origins of production inputs by economic value and physical mass–an approach that is akin to the Made in America standard. The innovative method we propose is easily replicable to other food products or locations worldwide. We find that most first order production related inputs are obtained from non-local sources. Our findings are significant to the local food debate because a focus beyond the point of production to upstream inputs in the life cycle of a food item can push towards a re-framing what local means both in Hawai‘i and beyond. In particular, our findings suggest that production system type, as opposed to location of production end-point, might have a greater impact on the degree of localness of a product. Looking forward, a shift in focus towards production system characteristics may help researchers make headway in exploring the environmental and economic effects of local food.

Journal

Agriculture and Human Values – Springer Journals

Published: Nov 21, 2016

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