Local Food

The local food movement is growing, mainly because it's fun as well as healthy.
"Locavores" are people who think globally and eat locally, usually fresh produce, meat, and dairy grown and prepared within a certain distance of their home (often a 100-mile radius).
Originated several years ago by four women from San Francisco, in 2007 the Oxford American Dictionary named the term its Word of the Year.

Why Choose Local Food?
Food quality and safety
Food that travels thousands of miles (conservative estimate for US-consumed produce is 1,500 miles)
* isn't fresh (varieties are selected for shelf-life and ship-ability, not flavor or nutrition)
* requires an enormous amount of energy to transport (a serious global warming issue)
* is hard to trace back to its grower or packager, to assure quality and safety
* may have been irradiated, fumigated, or preserved with chemicals to meet import regulations

Your dollars stay in your community
Money spent on groceries and eating out either benefits corporations in other states and countries, or
benefits locally owned businesses, who support your schools, hospitals, jobs, etc.

It is easier than you think to get fresh food close to home When you can't buy locally, you can still make good choices to support a healthy local food system.
Here are a number of ideas that can save you money, increase your fun, improve your health, and make you an eco-hero all at the same time:

Buy local food from a Family Farm
Farmers Markets
Farmers who sell to big grocery chains and to packaged-food manufacturers make a few cents of the dollar you spend for a food product.
But when you buy from the farmer directly, all the profit stays in their pocket and becomes part of your local economy.
At the farmer's market, you'll find local growers, mostly from small farms. They offer whatever is just picked, for superior freshness and often at prices lower than the supermarket. And they'll answer your questions about how they grow each herb or vegetable.
Some growers bring meat and eggs, as well. Want to know what "cage-free" or "humanely raised" really means? They can tell you, not in theory, but for their own farm and animals.
Finally, many markets are like festivals, with live music, other local products on offer, and of course, samples to taste.

U-pick Farms
A trip to go apple picking in the fall, visit the pumpkin patch, or gather baskets of spring berries makes a great family outing. When else do most of us get to see a real working family farm?
Prices tend to be low, since the farmer saves labor and transportation.
The farm may offer other products made from its produce, like jams or ice cream.
You only pick as much as you feel like; and it's as fresh as if you grew it yourself.

Join a CSA, or subscription farm
With Community Supported Rather than making a special trip to a farm or market, you pay the farmer a set fee before the season starts.
All season (or year, depending on your climate), your share of fresh produce is delivered to your home or workplace. This is a good system for people wanting to eat more veggies and willing to try new ones (many farmers provide recipes with the week's produce featured). If one share is two much for your household, you can split it with a friend, neighbor or co-worker.

Start a Kitchen Garden
Dreaming of fresh herbs, vegetables, or even eggs from your own chickens?
Whether you have a sunny window, a patio, a backyard or acres to cultivate, you can grow something you'll enjoy eating.
There's no better way to know exactly what's in the food on your plate!

Be Picky when Eating Out
Many locally-owned restaurants, cafes, and coffeehouses offer local food, whether they market themselves that way or not.
Think beyond the chain; and be willing to ask, 'where did this come from?' and 'how was it raised?'

Local Eating Stories from Around the Country

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
by Barbara Kingsolver. Non-fiction, but reads like one of her engaging novels. You hardly realize how much you are learning about the American food system. Motivates change in the nicest way.

Plenty: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally
A couple from Vancouver, BC makes it through a full year on local food from within 100 miles of their home. They also have a blog at www.100milediet.org