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<P mce_keep="true">[quote user="schlimm"] <P>Tin hats and black helicopters! <BR></P> <P>I really don't think all this is as big a departure from the norm as some are suggesting. There is precedent fort this from a time long before locavores and carbon footprints. Back in the day when the name trains (CZ, Empire Builder, Capitol Ltd., Super Chief, etc.) had fine dining car service, local specialties were often featured on the menu: Rocky Mt. trout, Chesapeake Bay scallops and crab cakes, etc. in season when available. And the reason? Much higher quality. But then perhaps eating microwaved and frozen and canned food is what you are used to?<BR></P> <P>[/quote]</P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=verdana,geneva>It is true that railroad dining car service in the past, as a quaint marketing strategy, often featured menu items obtained from the regions they passed through in the quest for the highest quality.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>On the surface, it may appear that this same marketing strategy is being proposed by the developers of Chicago-Quad Cities HSR when the applicants for federal funding claim they will serve locally grown produce.</FONT></P><FONT face=verdana,geneva> <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></FONT> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=verdana,geneva>However, they make this claim in the context of “green products and practices,” and the purpose of serving locally grown produce in that context is to reduce the carbon footprint of food by reducing its transportation for distribution.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>In that context, buying local not only applies to food, but it also applies to all products, and it is a fundamental pillar of the green / sustainability movement.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>There is nothing conspiratorial in noticing this.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>There are uncountable websites promoting it.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It is everywhere in the media.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></FONT></P><FONT face=verdana,geneva> <o:p></o:p></FONT> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=verdana,geneva>It is true that one of the claimed benefits of buying local to be green is to get better quality and freshness just as with the tradition of serving local food in railroad dining cars in the past.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>But that tradition was never done in the name of “green products and practices.”<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The concept of “green” did not exist during the railroad passenger train era.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Nobody thought CO2 was a pollutant.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"><FONT face=verdana,geneva><FONT size=2></FONT></FONT></SPAN> </P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"><FONT face=verdana,geneva><FONT size=2>The green buy-local movement of today might yield better quality than non-local food in some cases, but in a larger context, it calls for sacrifice.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The overriding mission is to eat food produced within 100 miles.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>If it is not available within 100 miles, you don’t eat it.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>This is entirely different than the old dining car tradition of serving local cuisine.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
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