Locavore
Loca-who, you may be asking?
Well, a locavore is someone who consumes foods that are locally grown, foods that didn't have to travel more than say 50 miles from where they were grown to where they were sold.
To be a locavore in this day in age, you either have to live on a farm, live near a farm, or have a farmer's market near you.
You've heard me talk in the past about the wonderful attributes of farmers markets, the delicious sweet fruit and vegetables, the succulentness and bounty of what there is to offer, and of course, the friendly helpfulness of the growers who are there to answer questions about how they grew their fruit and vegetables.
In no other setting can you learn so much about what you are putting in your mouth. You go to the grocery store, all you learn is, "my apples are from australia, or my grapes of chile." Granted, I don't actually if grapes can be grown in chile, but that's not my point.
In a world where it is critical for us to be greener for the sake of the planet, we must eat greener too. If we are shipping food from 1/2 way around the world so that we can eat them any time of year, we are not observing a green eating habit. We are squandering so many resources to have that food brought here, and I guarantee you, it doesn't taste all that fresh anymore.
By eating locally, you know that the food was likely picked that day, at it's peak of fresheness. You can learn that perhaps a farm has not yet been certified organic, but their practices of growing are organic, if not better than organic.
But, best of all, you're saving the world a lot of fossil fuels to transport the fruit and vegetables, you're saving the world a lot of wasted time, and you might even make some friends in the process and find better produce.
Locavore, it's worth it to eat green and to eat local.
Well, a locavore is someone who consumes foods that are locally grown, foods that didn't have to travel more than say 50 miles from where they were grown to where they were sold.
To be a locavore in this day in age, you either have to live on a farm, live near a farm, or have a farmer's market near you.
You've heard me talk in the past about the wonderful attributes of farmers markets, the delicious sweet fruit and vegetables, the succulentness and bounty of what there is to offer, and of course, the friendly helpfulness of the growers who are there to answer questions about how they grew their fruit and vegetables.
In no other setting can you learn so much about what you are putting in your mouth. You go to the grocery store, all you learn is, "my apples are from australia, or my grapes of chile." Granted, I don't actually if grapes can be grown in chile, but that's not my point.
In a world where it is critical for us to be greener for the sake of the planet, we must eat greener too. If we are shipping food from 1/2 way around the world so that we can eat them any time of year, we are not observing a green eating habit. We are squandering so many resources to have that food brought here, and I guarantee you, it doesn't taste all that fresh anymore.
By eating locally, you know that the food was likely picked that day, at it's peak of fresheness. You can learn that perhaps a farm has not yet been certified organic, but their practices of growing are organic, if not better than organic.
But, best of all, you're saving the world a lot of fossil fuels to transport the fruit and vegetables, you're saving the world a lot of wasted time, and you might even make some friends in the process and find better produce.
Locavore, it's worth it to eat green and to eat local.
posted by Dana M. Ellis, MPH, R.D. @ 10:02 AM
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