Clarification after flaming

I noticed Marc Bittman (who, by the way, is the food blogger and former writer of the Minimalist column for the NYT) issued a "clarification" today after being flamed by his commenters as elitist and isolationist for suggesting we should eat more locally grown food.  There are several ways to answer this criticism, and he chose the least combative.  He noted he was not advocating total reliance on our own ability to produce everything we eat.  That would certainly leave us short of such staples as bananas and coffee.   As a Greek economist said the other day, even if global trade is important, why should Greeks be offered Belgian tomatoes in the middle of the summer?  Or in our case, why should we have Dutch or Canadian greenhouse tomatoes undercutting Jersey tomatoes every summer.  It makes no economic sense in either case.  Not only that, but in the long run it destroys the ability of nations to feed themselves in the event of catastropes in the developing world, where the majority of these vegetables are produced.  Of course, anytime you question the status quo, you will get your head in the crosshairs of everyone who thinks they benefit from the present system.  There are very few advocates for the small local vegetable grower outside of his immediate neighborhood.  Aside from pretty pictures at your local Hannaford or Wegman's stores touting the small grower, there is not much support.  Even these chains probably have a quota for locally grown, since they want to preserve their buying clout with large shippers and importers.  So, conditions for locavores are improving, but there is still a long way to go before the average person can source a majority of their diet from producers within a 100 miles of home.