Mapping your local zone.
In the interests of eating locally, I've been intrigued for some time as to what locations are actually situated within 160 kilometres (100 miles) of my city, but I've been unable to work out how to map it online (not that I spent much time on it), so I've just been estimating it or using road distances.
However, I stumbled across Free Map Tools yesterday, which includes the Radius Around a Point function in association with Google maps. Zoom in on your location on the main map, then scroll down to the tools section - set your radius distance to 100 miles, and click on your location. Ta da! Now you have a nice 100 mile circle (and you can edit the settings, the default is a shaded green area).
It's a bummer how living on the coast wipes out half the 100 mile area. Is it cheating to expand it to 200 miles to compensate? LOL. Luckily for me, there are a large number of food producers, including a growing number of organic or biodynamic farmers within my 100 mile circle. Even a new, small-scale organic wheat farmer (although they sold their entire crop to a local bakery/ flour mill apparently). Perhaps next year their crop will be more widely available, which would be pretty cool.
15 comments:
That's very handy!
Having moved inland I've managed to (just) include Shepparton, and therefore a lot of stuff that wont grow in my backyard, in my 160km. In fact, 160km covers most of Victoria and enough climatic zones to provide a pretty good range of food.
Nah - definately not cheating to expand to 200 miles to compensate ;-)
So - any plans to set up a locovore google map so that you/we can add local producers? Would ne a great resource.
Neat. I'm going to check this out in just a minute. I've thought about something like this before, and though those living on coasts do lose land, they're also the only ones who get seafood as part of their local foodshed. Seaweed too, and I do love my nori. Something to think about, perhaps.
Great little tool. I tried it out and I just miss out on cheese from Timboon. Such a shame, because I love their peppered fresh cheese! But then I still have a fair bit of Victoria to choose from.
Gav
What a great tool. I have always wanted to do this but been too lazy to get out a map and draw circles with the legend. This makes it so easy. A bit of dilemna for me: I belong to a community sustainable agriculture program and they have three farms in my state (USA)to produce things over the seasons since they vary so much. I just found out that one of the farms is 250 miles from here - but the main one is within the 100 miles. I will have to think on this one.
gosh Julie, if I'm not mistaken you have some very nice wineries in your area. I wish they were in my 100mile radius. Great idea this "eating locally" concept.
I've got it even worse than you! From my town in Rhode Island it looks as though my circle is only about one quarter land and part of that is on Long Island which may be within the radius by sea but definitely not by road. Too bad I can't afford lobster. Thanks for tip but I think I'll cheat a little.
Just read yesterday's post. I live in the tropics so can't have butter out on the bench at all. If you blend 1/4 cup of olive oil and flaxseed oil (either, or, or both) with your organic butter and then refrigerate it, it spreads like a dream.
excellent
Hi Kate,
Very sly - just move so that your zone includes everything you want to eat LOL.
Hi Tricia,
Argh, seriously, if I had an extra 10 hours in the day I'd seriously set one up! It *would* be a great resource. I have a draft local-eating in the Hunter website set up in my head and I am writing down local producers and their details as I come across them, but just don't have the time to take it any further :-(
Hi Kate,
Good point, I always forget about the seafood component since we don't eat much of it at the moment. I do intend to start buying more from our co-op though, when I work out what the local sustainably fished species are.
Hi Gavin,
Nah, just cheat a bit, it's only just outside! Until my own bananas start cropping we are still getting ours from outside the 100 miles (although not by much), and my flour comes from Breeza near Gunnedah (well outside 100 miles).
Hi NMPatricia,
Yes, my flour comes from a farm about 250 miles away also, but it's the closest commercial organic flour I can source, so it's either that or no flour! I figure 250 miles is so much better than imported AND if its a CSA, you are supporting smaller farmers, so you can't really go wrong there.
Hi Mariana,
Oh, you aren't mistaken, we have some wonderful wineries close by! Lucky me ;-) Lots of olive groves and great citrus too.
Hi Diane,
I think a lot of people need to 'cheat' on the 100 miles as it just isn't practical for everyone.
Hi Anon,
Thanks, great tip!
Hi susiecol,
Have fun with it!
Cheers, Julie
To be fair, you should limit yourself to pi*100^2=31415 square miles of food production. For someone inland that would be 100 mile radius, for someone on a coast with half water that would be 141 miles, and for the rare case of 1/4 land then going out 200 miles would give everyone an equal amount of food source land.
If you don't like what you can eat from your area... move?
As for me, I like fish so living on the coast has advantages.
Hi Ryan,
Thanks for your input, that makes a lot of sense - and it vastly improves my 'local' food shed :-)
Cheers, Julie
This is a brilliant tool! Not only for the reasons you posted but we're also considering the option of relocating for work and it's a simple way to see how far out of town we CAN live!
Cheers :)
There is a website that calculates your 100 miles for you. Very easy - just enter the name of your town and country and up it pops!
http://100milediet.org/get-started/map
Makes you think about what you can and can't eat.... we realised that whilst we should technically be able to get most things we use regularly (cheesee, flour etc) it is quite another story to find locally produced staples. I'm fairly sure it can be done but its going to take a lot of research.
Cheers
Flick
Hi Felicity,
Glad to have helped LOL.
Hi Flick,
Thanks for the link! I wish I'd have found that first LOL. Ah well, I should have just asked :-)
Cheers, Julie
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