Why Cooking Is the Best: Part Seven

The environmental costs of the standard American diet are astronomical, especially compared with how simple food production and preparation were in the past, when we grew it ourselves, or our neighbors or local farmers grew it for us, and then we cooked it or preserved it in our own kitchens. “Food miles” is a concept that had to be invented in the 20th century because, before then, food never traveled very far (unless it was on the hoof.)

The notion of food miles is a bit of a red herring, though. How far food travels before it reaches its final destination—usually a stomach, though as much as half the time, a dumpster—certainly has an effect on the environment. But arriving at this magic number requires a complicated formula, fraught with many tangential factors. And overall, raising meat and processing junk food are far more onerous.