No, no this word is not taken from an American horror movie 😉 Locavorism comes from “local” and “-vore”, so it is simply a movement advocating the consumption of food produced within a limited radius around one’s home.

Eating local is of course knowing the origin of the food consumed, benefiting from more transparency but also ensuring healthy eating with better traceability. 

How do you get into Locavorism?

Well it’s super simple (yes, yes, I promise!), for example by buying your tomatoes directly from the producer or from a local store, you’ll know that they haven’t travelled hundreds of miles to arrive on your plate. Locavorism: consume less and better, we told you it was super simple 😉

Concretely, how do we do it?

The concept of Locavorism is based on several principles:
– Purchase of products from small producers (markets, farms, farmers’ shops, local stores, direct picking in the field, etc.).
– Favouring fresh and seasonal products
– Avoid food waste by buying less, but better
– Reduce your ecological footprint, because the shorter the circuit and the transport chain, the smaller the ecological footprint!

How to find a local business or small producer near by?

Several websites list local businesses and small producers according to your location. For example:
– In Belgium, go to www.mangez-local.be to find the local shops and small producers nearest to you according to the type of products you are looking for.
– In France, the website www.acheteralasource.com offers a range of small local shops depending on your location but also on the type of product you are looking for.

Locavorism: consume less and better, In short, local food and products are favoured, which makes it possible for small producers to make a living. Moreover, you enjoy better quality products and there is no impact on the environment since there is virtually no transportation of food!

« Yes, but I don’t have time to buy local »

It is true that getting to small local producers and shops is not always easy depending on where you live and the means of transport. In most cases there is normally always a solution, such as GASAPs (Groupes d’Achat Solidaires de l’Agriculture Paysanne), GACs (Groupes d’Achat en Commun) in certain areas of towns and villages, local organic baskets in organic shops or organic e-shops, for example.

But the large supermarket chains surfing on the wave are also starting to go Locavorism! More and more supermarkets offer shelves entirely dedicated to local products, which is an alternative to short distribution channels.

It’s better than nothing, especially for those who want to get started, but who lack time, or who don’t have a local organic shop nearby. Beyond that, it allows small local brands to make themselves known too and if you have the opportunity to go and buy directly on their e-shop do it… it will be more beneficial to them.

Local and direct sales

That’s what we’re trying to do with Kalani. Reduce the distances, limit the middlemen and above all pay the producers fairly.
For certain products such as cotton textiles, it is impossible to make 100% local, but it is quite possible to reduce the distribution channel and reduce the ecological footprint by making the right choices.

And we also offer you locally produced novelties here in Belgium. But we will never let down countries like India, which grow the raw material and which more than ever need companies like ours to develop and live more decently.

In our opinion, what is important with “consuming local” is to respect the origin of the raw materials;
– Buying and consuming a local apple makes much more sense than importing apples from the other side of the world.
– Producing linen sheets in Europe makes sense because linen is grown in Europe.
– But producing organic cotton sheets in India makes more sense because cotton is a tropical plant that does not grow in Europe. Transporting the raw material takes up more than 50% more space in a container than transporting the finished products. On the other hand it would be far too protectionist and colonialist to want to produce all textiles in Europe by extracting the raw materials from a poor country and creating added value only at home and nothing in the country that grew the raw material, does that sound familiar?

In conclusion, for food, the local is essential, but for non-food products, the local does not always have the same importance, it depends on each case and what matters is to have good ethical and environmentally friendly factories.

Creating added value in Europe is all very well, but creating added value in third countries that have grown the raw material and that need to be supported with their industry is also a holistic approach that is fairer for all. So for each act, let us ask ourselves the questions: where, what and how?

If you have any good plans about Locavorism: consume less and better, don’t hesitate to share them with us here too!