In a recent article in The Economist the author does a fair job of casting doubt on the benefits of fair trade, organic produce and buying local.

As always with The Economist, the article is well written and researched. The figures are there to support the author’s arguments, as are quotes from reputable experts.

In the concluding paragraph, the author writes:

“Food is central to the debates on the environment, development, trade and globalization — but the potential for food choices to change the world should not be overestimated.”

That’s a reasonable conclusion, based on the figures in the article.

However, I came away feeling like I had read a particular good high school essay on the topic of, “Find a popular movement and debunk it using statistics and quotations from experts.”

It’s easy to find figures and experts to debunk just about any topic you can imagine. Essentially, it’s a cheap trick, journalistic legerdemain.

When using “food miles” data to undermine the benefits of buying local, there are a few things that remain unsaid in this article.

There is no mention of the human benefits of reaching across a wooden table in an outdoor market, with the wind in your hair, and no fluorescent lighting, and taking a bag of produce from the man or woman who actually grew it.

There is no mention of taking your children and explaining that the person behind the table actually grew all the food on sale, and got up at 4 o’clock that morning to pick the vegetables and drive them to the market.

There is no mention of the underlying social and human benefits of supporting small, local farmers in your own community.

And when it comes to fair trade, while heavy with the expected economic arguments, the article fails to talk about the coffee farmer who has had the opportunity to buy school books for his children for the first time.

In the West we are addicted to the rational and the measurable. It comforts us to use figures and experts to support our views.

But our compassion, our human spirit and our ability to see what is actually in front of our own eyes withers and dies.

You want to know what fair trade, organic growing and buying local are really about?

Take your child to a farm market and watch his or her eyes as he or she reaches out to take a bag of fresh vegetables from the person who actually grew them.