Unpredictable. Unfocused. Just like life.

I saw the term "food miles" for the first time today:

"Food miles" is a term which refers to the distance food travels from the time of its production until it reaches the consumer or end-user. It is one dimension used in assessing the environmental impact of food.

The concept of food miles is part of a broader issue of sustainability which deals with a large range of issues, including local food. The term was coined by Tim Lang (now Professor of Food Policy, City University, London) who says: "The point was to highlight the hidden ecological, social and economic consequences of food production to consumers in a simple way, one which had objective reality but also connotations."

I also learned the term "locavore":

Also, many trips by personal cars to external shopping centres would have a negative environmental impact compared to a few truck loads to neighbourhood stores that can be easily accessed by walking or cycling. A locavore endeavors to eat food from within a foodshed having a radius of 100 miles.

It's like a whole new language. I live in Canada so we have about a four monthe season for local fruits and vegetable within my 100 mile foodshed. So I'm a summer locavore.

But come October or November those fruits and vegetables are coming from Florida or California. So for the other three seasons I guess I'm a faravore.

Once we start playing this kind of game then we also need to take into account every other factor, such as how much heat and electricity were required in a greenhouse setting, or how much energy was required to create the fertilizer or pesticide, and how far it had to travel.

It's the same thing as saying that a Toyota Prius is energy efficient but ignoring the massive travel required by the battery components, and the fact that it must be disposed of in a particular way.