Hate the Player, Not the Game (Local Food Edition)  

John Quiggin at Crooked Timber argues that “tribalism generally trumps ideological consistency,” using the case of free marketeers and environmentalists – who have both adopted policy positions that are at odds with their presumed larger goals.

I’m one of those jerks who takes photos of food and spends time cooking nice meals. However, I just want to eat really good food. Then I want it to be healthy. Then I will worry about if it is nice to the environment or artisanal or what not. If local means fresher and tastier, I am all for it. And I’ve had great experiences purchasing produce at farmers’ markets in Wisconsin and with a CSA-like home delivery service (Braise in Milwaukee). But, rote localism just seems absurd in most of the United States. Often, I can’t help myself from asking certain aggressive activists if they only consume local political science.