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Sarongman wrote:This is precisely what our ancestors did and, is still practiced by the Amish and, to a degree, by the Mormons.

Indeed it is, but recall how small the population of Amish is. I'd posit that without transportation we surpassed the carrying capacity of the planet (what it can provide to support the population using "natural" means) by the turn of the 21st century, and very likely before that. So, this relegates "locally-grown" to boutique status; it's tasty as all get-out, and nice to have if one can get it, but we cannot survive as a civilisation -- with our current population -- strictly using such measures. There are just too many of us. This, obviously, begs the entirely nasty question of, "Who do we cull to get below the carrying capacity?"

As far as buying food trucked, and sometimes flown, long distances, there is a trend that eschews such practices who are called 'Locavores' I.E. if it's not in seaon, it's not eaten.

All well and good, but what happens when nothing is in season or -- worse yet -- the local crop fails? What happens if the locality one lives in has little arable land?

I'm not rubbishing the idea of locally-grown -- far from it; it's a wonderful source of delightfully fresh produce that cannot be had when it's been flown halfway around the planet (with the accompanying carbon footprint). What I am rubbishing is the notion that it can scale sufficiently to the point where long-haul transportation is not required to meet basic nutritional needs.

Jim, welcome.

Carl - China adopted an aggressive yet incredibly brave policy. It's estimated that the policy has prevented 450 million births in the last 35 years or so. It's not without it's troubles but it has worked. Education seems to be the answer - evidence pointing to reduced birth rates in developed countries.

It's not an easy issue to raise, but it's crucial that we do so.