Does this make sense?

Does "eat local," as Elizabeth Edwards is suggesting, really make sense when the loss of efficiency in the system means an increase in hunger and that the majority of fossil fuel used procuring food is the trip to and from the supermarket.

No tangerines for you?
The Politico

The politics of global warming got very concrete, and oddly difficult, in a meeting with local environmentalists in the coastal town of McClellanville today, where Elizabeth Edwards raised in passing the importance of relying on locally-grown food.

"We've been moving back to 'buy local,'" Mrs. Edwards said, outlining a trade policy that "acknowledges the carbon footprint" of transporting fruit.

"I love in North Carolina. I'll probably never eat a tangerine again," she said, speaking of a time when the fruit reaches the price that it "needs" to be.

Edwards had talked about "sacrifice," at the meeting, but Elizabeth's suggestion illustrated just how difficult it is to sell the specifics of sacrifice.

Asked about her comment immediately after the event, John Edwards avoided the question twice, then said he wasn't sure.

"Would I add to the price of food!" he asked. "I'd have to think about that."

UPDATE: Just to be clear, he's not talking about a food tax. The basic point is that any plan that imposes new costs on carbon emissions is going to make anything that's transported long distances with fossil fuels cost more. It is, in a way, a moment of clarity in this debate.