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On the surface, the benefits lauded by local foods advocates seem obvious.

Who could doubt that an agriculture characterized by farmers’ markets, neighborhood vegetable gardens and local millers, butchers and canners would result in reduced fossil fuel use, a richer and healthier food culture and better economic security for farmers?

“This is opening up a niche for a lot of small- and mid-scale producers,” said proponent Nancy Creamer , director of the N.C. Center for Environmental Farming Systems. “This is not going to put anyone out of business because the market and profit opportunity is so great.”

But researchers, policy-makers, economists and other stakeholders say the advantages are not so clear-cut. They are trying to identify the strengths and weaknesses of producing and selling foods within a limited geographical area and contrast those with the dominant globalized food system.

For example, no one knows how much food Americans consume from their region, let alone how that food’s safety compares with foods imported from hundreds or thousands of miles away.

“Do local food systems require more or less fossil fuels?” said Michelle Da Pra , an agricultural economist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. “I don’t think that question has been answered.”

The USDA has been working since 2008 to define the concept of local foods and describe its size, scope, policy issues and trade-offs. The department’s Economic Research Service division is developing both a primer and set of case studies on local food supply chains. It expects to complete its research in 2010.

“I think one idea of a trade-off is if there should be a regulation on the marketing of local foods,” Da Pra said. “I think people could argue either way on that.”

North Carolinians pushing for local food systems are running into similar challenges. A bill filed this spring by Sen. Charles Albertson , D-Duplin, initially included a goal that residents would get at least 10 percent of their food from within the state by 2020.

But what counts as local? A North Carolina beef farmer who processes his meat out of state? A jam maker who uses one North Carolina ingredient? Questions such as these have held up the bill in committees.

The Center for Environmental Farming Systems, a partnership of N.C. State and N.C. A&T , helped draft the bill.

The center drew about 400 people to a “Farm to Fork” summit in May and plans to publish its final state action plan by September.

Recommendations include supplying public schools, universities, military bases and private businesses with locally grown produce and meat.

But let’s face it: Modern agriculture has its benefits. It buffers communities against bad crop yields, supplies jobs, frees up time for people to pursue other career and leisure interests, provides a variety of products on a year-round basis and allows farmers to specialize in crops that yield the most financial return. And government and neighborhood restrictions deter many people from growing food in urban areas.

Tony Kleese , who has promoted organic agriculture in North Carolina for 20 years, said he worries that the Farm to Fork initiative will unwittingly support local farms that use inhumane and environmentally destructive farming practices over nonlocal farms that don’t.

Kleese once served as director of the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association and believes organic practices are vital in a future of changing weather patterns, high energy prices and depletion of natural resources.

“As we move from being a grass-roots movement to a broad-based shift, we have to stay true to the original values that this was built upon,” Kleese said.

Contact Morgan Josey Glover at 373-7078 or morgan.josey@news-record.com