Change is hard

I noticed yesterday that Marc Bittman in the Times advocated the same regional food renaissance I mentioned a couple of days ago.  He started out with hyper local food, but eventually stretched the definition to include a few hundred mile radius.  He did specifically push for grown in the US food, but I was struck by the commenters on the blog.  They overwhelmingly condemned his stance as elitist, and by the way, don't interfere with my banana and pineapple supply.  Others decried the bland diet that would result if we can't have Peruvian asparagus in January.  I think with a little tweaking, one could consume a local diet with plenty of greenstuffs year round.  Recent advances or rediscoveries of  climate defying cold tunnels and minimally heated greenhouses reminiscent of Parisian market gardens of the 18th and 19th centuries could revolutionize the way Americans consume produce in the next few years.  However, the long distance growers and shippers will still be necessary since the population centers in the East have decimated the farmland close by.  The local deals can probably gear up to supply more than they do now, but there would have to be a huge transformation of land from residential and industrial to agriculture to really affect the supply of produce going to NY, Mass and other eastern states.  There are probably too many entrenched interests lined up to oppose this kind of policy.   However, there will be plenty of opportunities for micro growers in the near future.