Of biodomes and breadbaskets.

[Marburg]

Whenever people start talking about the science of discovery, I remember how many users of internet forums are huge nerds.

Thats interesting, because for most of us, the food we eat is coming from half way across our countries, or even the world. Eat fruit or vegetables during the winter? Or chocolate? For most of us, a significant portion of the food we eat comes from far away. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? There are many differing opinions on the matter and a few that actually impact on the discussion. The Buy Local movement is a good example one side of the debate. They suggest that making more of your food local serves a positive purpose in several way, first local product does not need to be shipped as far, the benefits are many, lower transport costs which lead to lower prices, less pollution, increase in local economy, and less need for chemical preservatives in food to name a few. Then there are the opponents of this movement, lets call them globalists for lack of a more descriptive name. These globalist will tell you that while much of what the Buy Local people say is true, it is only true on the surface. Globalist explain that first, using local products exclusively makes it impossible to have the varied diet that most people in the west have come to expect. You see not everything grows in every climate, for example, sugar and coffee only grow in a few places in the world. So that would mean most people would not have any caffinated beverage to drink if we only had local food. Second the globalists would explain that while local products save money in shipping costs, that by creating large specialized farms focusing on one product to export, production costs are cut significantly, globalists would say, the lower production costs more than out weight the lowered shipping costs of local products.



How does that effect this discussion you ask? Well, It may be much cheaper to ship food from Freeport 9 to Crete than from Kyushu, but the production cost on Kyushu would be much lower than the production costs on Freeport 9. Why? Because Kyushu is a large planet, specialized in growing food, while Freeport 9 is a station with maybe 200 people on it.



So, while whether it is cheaper to move food from Freeport 9 or Kyushu is up for debate, it is my opinion that after quite a bit of thought, that it is most likely cheaper to move food from Kyushu or Cambridge than to move it from Freeport 9.

I haven't had one in years, so I can't say for certain...but I think Zelot just gave me a nerdgasm

:mellow:

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