Does it make sense to buy locally produced organic products?

By Vanzetti,-D; Wynen,-E

Abstract
Enthusiasts of the organically grown food industry often espouse a preference for produce grown in the local region, and suggest that consumers should buy locally produced organic products.

One reason consumers buy organic products is to improve the environment. There is a perception that transporting foods long distances is wasteful, in part because transport costs are not appropriately priced to include all externalities.

The focus of this paper is to examine conceptually how trade can contribute to a more environmentally-sound way of supplying agricultural products to consumers, even when transport costs are adequately taken into account.

An example from the international wheat trade in Australia illustrates this point.

Citation
Advances in the Economics of Environmental Resources Volume 4; Economics-of-pesticides,-sustainable-food-production,-and-organic-food-markets. 2002; 195-206; Published by Elsevier Science Ltd., Oxford, UK

IB: 0762308508
UD: 200300
AN: 20033085974