Bioregions the new food fad

Monday, March 7, 2016

First there was local food and "terroir." Now, according to a December blog post on the Mother Nature Network, there are bioregions.

The idea of bioregions is similar to "terroir," which presents the idea that a location's characteristics impart unique qualities to the food grown there. In bioregional eating, however, the geographic area from which food can be consumed is larger, and sustainable practice is the goal – much like the 100-mile diet but with one key difference. Bioregional foods include only those that could be easily grown outdoors in your region, ruling out products such as lemons, avocados and bananas.

"Just because it can be grown locally doesn't mean it should be grown locally," archly asserts Robin Shreeves, the post's author. She also lectures against eating fresh tomatoes out of season, even if they're grown locally. Hothouse tomatoes use too much energy to grow, she says. BF