It's hard to argue with buying local. Anyone who’s bitten into a tasteless imported strawberry knows that local produce are tastier, fresher and more nutritious. Beyond our taste buds, buying local supports local farmers, reduces economic dependence and builds community.

Supporters also argue that eating local can also reduce fossil fuel consumption by reducing food miles, a term that describes how far food has travelled before you buy it. But that may not always be the case. New studies show that buying local and reducing food miles doesn’t automatically mean it’s good for the environment.

Some aruge that buying local can deprive the world’s most impoverished of jobs that could lift them out of poverty. For the world’s poorest, the only thing worse than a backbreaking job on a farm, is no job at all.

Instead of measuring a product’s carbon footprint through food miles alone, other energy consuming aspects of production such as water use, harvesting techniques and use of fertilizers should be taken into consideration. Farmers in developing nations tend to farm organically without knowing it, simply because they can’t afford to use fertilizers and chemical sprays. In this context, those bananas from South Africa may have an insignificant carbon footprint despite the fact it was shipped to Canada by air.

A study mentioned in a New York Times op-ed piece claimed it was more energy efficient for Londoners to buy lamb imported from New Zealand than buying it locally. That’s because lamb raised on New Zealand’s pastures and shipped 11,000 miles by boat to Britain produces 1,520 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions. Compare that to British lamb which produces four times that amount due to poor quality of British pastures which force farmers to use feed.

Since it’s impossible for most of the world to feed itself a diverse and healthy diet through local food alone, and because we’re used to having out of season foods readily available, food will always travel.

In some cases, importing products like coffee and bananas can make economic sense, especially if the farmers get a fair return for their goods. The growing fair trade movement is making a huge difference in the lives of farmers and farm workers worldwide.

This is not to say you shouldn’t buy local as much as you can. You can’t deny the benefits of eating local. But, as we become increasingly aware of where our food comes from, we need to look at the whole picture and accept that under certain circumstances buying local may not always the best solution.