Question #2: Buying Local Produce

For many years, I've been hearing the refrain that buying local produce is both environmentally and morally better than buying non-local produce. The argument seems to be that shipping produce from far away (as far as the EU or South America, for example) is wasteful and not environmentally sound. Also, I sometimes sense a subtext to these arguments that support the narrative that buying locally also supports small farms, which I guess are somehow better than large farms, or ones that feel corporate. There are a lot of issues here to unpack. And any discussions involving something as basic as food while talking about business are sure to be complicated. But my question is, what does the science say about 'local' vs. 'non-local, or 'distributed' farming? I live three blocks from a popular farmer's market in Union Square, Manhattan. I see trucks and vans full of produce being driven into town from upstate NY or from out in NJ somewhere, and often wonder how much fuel was spent in transporting that produce. Is it really more energy efficient to ship small quantities of food (much of which is not sold by the end of the day and is then presumably driven back, after having spent a full day outside in the sun). As an environmentally conscious person myself, I am primed to want to believe that small farms, selling produce off the back of trucks and getting things “the day they were picked” is somehow better for us and the environment. But when I stop to think about it, I can’t come up with any solid reasons why this should be true. And, so far I haven’t found any studies that have looked at this in a meaningful way. Any thoughts/info would be appreciated. Thanks, Ben Allison Musician New York, NY