Can the principle "eat local" be adapted to haircare? Have you tried it?

[Kitteh]

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[hibiscus]

Avoiding "foreign" just sounds like xenophobia to me.

[pepperminttea]

I'm afraid until they start growing coconuts in the UK, this is out for me. :p Eating local honey has definitely cut down on my hayfever this summer though. :)


Avoiding "foreign" just sounds like xenophobia to me.

With people yes, with food no.

[Kitteh]

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[Kitteh]

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[dinnee]

You know, I think it's also about making healthy choices. Picking up a habit like this, makes you look at what you eat a little harder. It helps you realise what it is you put in your mouth. Cereal don't grow from trees, but apples do. ;) For me it was easier to leave out unhealthy foods and replace them with something local and healthy.

[Bene]

Nothing against it, just not something I actually think about. However, "eating local" means I'd have to take the bus and then the subway downtown to the farmer's market. Not to mention that the wholesome organic stuff is about 2-3 times as expensive as the not-so-wholesome stuff I can get at the supermarket down the block from me. Not very local, nor very cost-efficient.


And with the hair care stuff. I actually have to order that stuff online, maybe it's local to the vendors I'm getting that stuff from, but it's not local to me. I doubt they're going to start making camellia oil 'round these parts.

[florenonite]

I try to buy local food when possible (Scottish/British carrots over imported ones, European oranges over American ones, etc.) but that's more for environmental reasons than health ones. The only place I can buy food within walking distance is a Lidl, though, so choice is somewhat limited. I don't even know if my city has a farmers' market.

I don't think I could make my hair care routine particularly local, though. Mainstream shampoo is the only thing that really works for me, and that's usually packaged in the south of England. I also use a lot of coconut oil. My brush is from the UK, at least :p

[Carolyn]

Other than going to the farmer's market a couple times each summer, no. The farmer's market is on Wednesday evening and Saturday morning. It's very rare that I go grocery shopping at those specific times and even rarer that I remember. There are a few things in the regular grocery stores that are labeled "local" but they are quite a bit more expensive. I would only eat local if it is convenient and close to the same cost as a comparable item in the regular grocery store. As for hair items, I don't know what other than honey would be made locally. The only place I use honey is is SMTs.

[lapelosa]

I've been eating local for a long time, and I have to say that I think that many of the reasons stated here to do so are a little off. It has nothing to do with weird science, like genes being attuned -- which doesn't make sense in this world of mass immigration anyway. The main problem is that a centralized food system is a highly fragile system -- we only have to see the constant proliferation of e coli and so forth, and the egg scare, etc etc. The constant demand for efficiency and disregard for quality has led to things like this.

Whereas local food is, by its nature, de-centralized. A de-centralized food system is a healthier food system. Think of the advice to diversify your portfolio, vs. putting all your eggs in one basket, so to speak.

The most important thing is that you eat and cook fresh, whole foods -- a "local" bag of chips isn't going to do your body any favors. That's why your body would respond to that diet. Forget the processed stuff.

Now I see no reason to be a zealot about it. I follow the basic principle, if it can be produced locally, I'd rather eat it locally. If it can't be produced locally, then it'll just have to shipped in. :) I'm not giving up my coffee. And it seems like many of the natural hair products follow this principle. I don't see avocado oil, aloe vera juice, or shea butter being produced locally. Not going to happen.

As for the price problem -- you can be smart about it, talk to other people, find the deals. Deals exist, although you have to look around for them. Cultivate your sources.

I'm drinking yummy local milk with very non-local coffee right now!

[RainbowHawk]

It depends on what you do/use. Eggs and honey are very easy to acquire locally, at least for me. That's true of some oils and herbs people use in their hair as well. Other things are more difficult to find locally, so you can do the next best thing-- support a local business which imports things from time to time. I know we have a small local store that imports all kinds of organic oils, supplements, etc. It's not quite buying local, but it is putting money back into the community in a much more direct way than going to EvilMart would be, you know?

[hibiscus]

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[lapelosa]

It depends on what you do/use. Eggs and honey are very easy to acquire locally, at least for me. That's true of some oils and herbs people use in their hair as well. Other things are more difficult to find locally, so you can do the next best thing-- support a local business which imports things from time to time. I know we have a small local store that imports all kinds of organic oils, supplements, etc. It's not quite buying local, but it is putting money back into the community in a much more direct way than going to EvilMart would be, you know?
I support this comment.

[archel]

I think eating local is good just because I'm not really down with eating fruit that's been trucked and flown in from foreign countries and across the continent when we also grow the same stuff right here (unless it's things like avacado, coconut, etc). I'm just not buying tomatoes from California when I live in North Carolina, ya know?

[Roseate]

It has - assuming you were raised at the same place where your gene pool was over several hundred years ago - to do with your body being genetically atuned (hope this makes sense) to the foods that surround it.

Well, that's definitely not the case for me, nor for most Americans! Nation of immigrants and all that. I still like eating local produce because it is fresher and uses less resources for transportation, but my genes are not from anywhere near here.

I've never gone as far as to source local flour, cooking oil, etc; pretty much just the produce for me.

[Cassie 123]

Interesting question - I think local haircare would be quite doable here. We have local olive oil, avocados, lemon juice, almond oil, apple cider vinegar, and of course honey; and aloe, lavender, rosemary, and many other herbs grow very well here even in small spaces. But I don't think there would be any specific health or beauty benefit, other than the lovely glow of good karma.

ETA: I was going to add that going WO would let anybody keep haircare local... but then again, the water that flows out of the tap here can sometimes be coming from hundreds of miles away.

[AceOfCurls]

Yes, this isn't the case for me either. I mean California didn't exist several hundred years ago...as California that is.

California grows fruits and vegetables that aren't native to California. My family still shops locally and organically. Farmer markets are amazing!:cheese:

Whole foods is also a great place because they support local farmers.:)

[Mairéad]

I keep a vegetable garden in the summer, does that count? I couldn't eat locally all year round. I go to the farmer's market a couple times a year and I am a horticulturist so I sometimes can even get local berries and fruit if I grow them. Eh, I'd rather just grow my own food. It's what I do. Not every thing I do is environmentally friendly, but I try to make myself more aware and do what I can.

[neko_kawaii]

An interesting question! We belong to a CSA, so most of our veggies are local(ish). What do I use on my hair that could be sourced locally?

For sure:
Herbs - Rosemary, sage, catnip, mint, chamomile
Honey
Eggs
Jojoba oil

Possible
Olive oil - I know olive trees grow around here (I have considered harvesting from one down the street for preserving olives) but I'm not aware of anyone producing them for anything other than personal consumption)
Apple cider vinegar - I'll have to see if the orchards make vinegar when we go check out the harvest this Fall

Not possible
Coconut oil


The xenophobia thing made me laugh. I make a lot of saag with our over abundance of local leafy greens in the winter but I really want to learn to cook with mesquite flour! Reminds me, I should see when the farm co-op down on the rez will have beans and flour in stock. I missed it last year. And I really should pick up that Desert Harvesters cook book. I love ethnic foods! I couldn't completely limit myself to what is available in my area, I'd miss too many different flavors, but at the same time I am a relatively new transplant to this area so there are many local food traditions I still have to learn.

There was a study of iron intake involving two different ethnic groups. They measured iron intake after each group ate an equivalent amount of dietary iron from their familiar foods and compared that to them eating unfamiliar ethnic foods (switched meal essentially) as well as to a bland diet neither group was familiar with. They absorbed more iron from the foods they enjoyed (ie, what they were used to). Wish I could remember where I read that.

[AnnaJamila]

That's funny, our farmer's market is open all the time and they set their prices by market prices. You have to get up early or it's all gone, and things that can't be found at the market that week are expensive, but the taste is always better and many of them are certified organic.

I guess people in my area won't buy things for more than what wal-mart would sell it for. Lucky me! :p

[AnnaJamila]

Kitteh, with all due respect you have obviously misread what I said. I never said that organic is xenophobic. I have bought organic coconut oil many times for cooking (due to its notorious health benefits) but coconut oil is definitely foreign where I live no matter how organic it is.

Food is a very big part of many cultures, so refusing to eat a particular food just because it is foreign tends to be perceived as xenophobic where I'm from. Also I don't think you can argue that we are better eating food from where we have lived for hundreds of years because the gene pool is very diverse due to mass migration, otherwise we would all be very inbred and that brings its own health problems.

Judging by your tone you are obviously offended by my opinion being different from yours, but this is a forum so you are going to have to accept that not everyone will agree with you.

What she meant was food that wasn't grown in a foreign country, not foreign recipes or food types, for freshness/quality reasons as well as genes being created around what was locally available. IE, carrots grown in Brazil would be a no-no, a Brazilian rice and beef dish made with local ingredients is fine.

And not every country has lots of immigrants; one of my friends was 27 before she ever met a foreigner.

[wvgemini]

We try to do this as much as we possibly can. Some things are very reasonable to do (honey, herbs, veggies, some fruits, eggs, some meats), but some stuff (don't think I'm going to be finding any local coconut oil in West Virginia either :p ) doesn't work. I was getting my meats (grass-fed, locally raised, etc.) from a local source until the co-op decided to start charging $80 a year for their services. Yeah, I know you're going to run into that, but yeesh! I already spent between $50-$75 per order! And they won't let you spread it out :( Anyway, going to have to find another source I guess.

Oh my. Didn't mean to ramble like that :o

I do notice a difference in flavor if nothing else. We don't eat much processed food already, so eating local falls into that vein. But some things I just can't get here. Like good seafood. And I'm just going to keep pretending that my chicken wings are sourced locally :D Hey, could happen!

[wvgemini]

And not every country has lots of immigrants; one of my friends was 27 before she ever met a foreigner.

I really need to stop skimming ... I read ATE instead of met. :eek:

Our Farmer's Markets are the same here. Open all year (well, the main one) and produce is SUPER cheap! :) I love it!

[teal]

I don't think I could handle losing things like bananas, rice and avocado from my diet. That said, I'd love to add in some local stuff! I do eat lots of stuff that is grown here when it's in season.. berries, corn, etc.. and I planted a garden this year for the first time. I think it will get easier next year.

[Babyfine]

We have a vegetable garden and grow and freeze/can a lot of our own vegetables. We also try to buy local meat, however we do get our fruit from the store and that doesn't bother me too much. We do have an apple tree, which I love-too cold of a climate for an orange tree or any citrus, avocado, ect.
We get our eggs from a farmer when we can. I do eat some pre-processed snacks from time to time, though.
I think just avoiding a lot of processed foods will keep one healthier.
I'm too lazy to mix up my own haircare products-would be cheaper, though.

[Chromis]

We buy about 85% local foods. We are lucky to have an excellent large farmer's market which is often cheaper than the grocery store (and more convenient to get to for me, but that is on purpose since I took it into consideration when house shopping!). We don't do this for health reasons involving iffy gene theories (and as an immigrant myself, even if there weren't big holes in such theories they just would not apply). We choose to do this for environmental and economic reasons. There is still a lot of farming around here and I'd like to support it!

I do buy some spices that are imported but we do have local sources for salt and I have a large herb garden (32 varieties this year of herbs, plus veggies in addition). Even in winter we are able to eat local, we just have to be more thoughtful in our planning. This means using many root vegetables like potatoes, parsnip, rutabaga (sometimes known as Swede), and turnips. It also means apples all winter for fresh fruit! There are lots and lots of varieties here though, so this is not much hardship trust me. We just don't eat exotic things like oranges and bananas that can't grow here for the most part. Perhaps once in a great while as a treat, but not as a normal shopping item. (When eating out including in other people's homes this does not apply of course, but we normally do most of our own cooking.)

I am not as picky on my hair. Although I use shampoo bars, I have not found any locally that work for me. I remain hopeful! I have learned how to make soap, so I do have hopes that I can learn to make my own. In the meantime, I buy shampoo bars that were made by small business crafters like Chagrin Valley. I am still paying a small business directly this way which is in line with my general principals. I like to buy from smallholders and fairtrade as well if I am importing something like coconut oil or African black soap. My ACV is local.

My smug-meter is likely a bit inflated, but it is a happy feeling and for me a pretty frugal one. I know not everyone has the same produce options I have, but perhaps more might be possible than first appears. Some items took quite a bit of researching and others just take more work (like canning). Some areas have it even easier than mine, with longer growing seasons too. Others lack farmer's markets or CSA's and are much harder to source items in.

[Dorothy]

For me, eating local and/or organic is more about the planet than my genes or my health. My dad is always telling me it's not healthier, or it doesn't matter, or whatever. I keep telling him health is not the issue for me. I'm pretty overweight and 42 years old, I don't think a few pesticides are going to jack me up that bad, I'll die from obesity and my other sins far sooner.

But it is important to me that there is less pesticide in the environment and less fossil fuel tearing up the ozone layer, because the planet will hopefully last a lot longer than I will, and it contains a lot of people, plants, and animals I hold dear. That's why I try to eat local. Now in Kansas...right here next to the Kansas river, whose fish are in fact too toxic for even toxic old me to eat - going totally local year round would diminish my choices so much I probably couldn't even maintain my obesity :D so I just do the best I can. Local flour, eggs, chicken etc. are totally obtainable, and Local definately tastes better.

We do have local soap here, I could try washing my hair with that sometime. But I'm not giving up my tiny bottle of Camillia oil, which flies to me twice a year airmail from Japan, as the swallows return to Capistrano... Or my Henna, ideally from Yemen.

[hibiscus]

What she meant was food that wasn't grown in a foreign country, not foreign recipes or food types,

Ok here's why that doesn't quite follow sound logic: How would you make an Indian curry without the spices that will only grow in a hot country for example? If you live in a cold country and you are excluding foreign food ingredients, it would be impossible to cook Indian style food. This is just one example of many.

I'm not saying there is anything wrong with supporting local businesses and trying to reduce your carbon footprint etc, in fact all that is very commendable. But so is buying fairtrade, supporting third world communities and supporting the women of Ghana by buying fairtrade shea butter etc. The logic of the OP is questionable.

[Chromis]

Ok here's why that doesn't quite follow sound logic: How would you make an Indian curry without the spices that will only grow in a hot country for example? If you live in a cold country and you are excluding foreign food ingredients, it would be impossible to cook Indian style food. This is just one example of many.

I'm not saying there is anything wrong with supporting local businesses and trying to reduce your carbon footprint etc, in fact all that is very commendable. But so is buying fairtrade, supporting third world communities and supporting the women of Ghana by buying fairtrade shea butter etc. The logic of the OP is questionable.

This is true, however, I find it it is not insurmountable! I simply buy the produce and meat locally (I can even buy local paneer) and buy only the spices from afar. This is not very hard to do and still reduces your carbon footprint. (It takes a lot more fuel to ship heavy produce than dried spices for example, and many spices also do not require the same level of fertilizers and such as well.)

[Lianna]

Food is a very big part of many cultures, so refusing to eat a particular food just because it is foreign tends to be perceived as xenophobic where I'm from. .

I agree with you. If a country refuses to import "certain foods" from "certain countries" seems like xenophobia to me.


What she meant was food that wasn't grown in a foreign country, not foreign recipes ...carrots grown in Brazil would be a no-no...

That's how I understood. Carrots from Brazil are fine by the way ;P (I live in Brazil). But I totally understand the freshness concern, but doesn't need to be like that with every food.

[julliams]

Does it still work if your parents originate from another country? I'm not understanding the theory behind this. I get it if your family lived in the same area for generations, but if my parents came from another country, had me here, then shouldn't I be buying foods from their country? Sorry if this is a stupid comment, but I'm not getting it...

And also, how local is 'local'? Can it be defined in km?

[<3OnHerSleeve]

My family are very into growing our own vegetables and fruit trees, and local meats are taken for granted in Australia because of the cattle and sheep farmers. Also, we're very traditionally British in our diet as my grandfather came from Ireland and my grandmother being a country girl... well most of the family is very steadfast in our heritage. We're not full on organic-only eaters, it's just the way we eat. When I stick with 'healthy' organic food I lose excess weight and feel great :)

[Kitteh]

Oh, wow! This thread has gotten big! I have to force myself away from the computer. Lots of work tomorrow, but I will come back and read. Thanks in advance to all of you, I am sure I will learn something new when I sit down and read it all!

[RainbowHawk]

The "eating local is better from a genetic standpoint" theory is deeply flawed, as far as I'm concerned. Not only are a great many of us far, far from our origins, many of us are very mixed as well. As far as I can tell, most of the people who are seriously into eating local are either a) hippies or b) poor. It's about putting less stress on the environment, not about eating "where you come from". I suppose if I was someone whose ancestors for thousands of years had all come from the same geographic area and had all continued to live in roughly that area it would be different, but it's far from the case for me. I wouldn't even know which continent to begin with. *shrug*

It's usually (though not always) cheaper to buy local. It's also usually (though not always) healthier to buy local. Maybe there's nothing wrong with carrots from Brazil if you actually LIVE in Brazil, but if you live in Pennsylvania those carrots have to go through an awful lot just to get to the grocery store. It's really not the same thing.