Frankly Green

Eating Only What Grows Around You

My friend Marie M. tried being a localvore for two weeks last year - with great success! Now she has a big garden in her backyard where she grows most of her own produce.

Once the purview of foodies and hippies, 'locavorism' is going mainstream
By Allison Linn

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When Katherine Gray takes her kids to the grocery store, they can pick out as many apples and pears as their hearts desire. But bananas? Pineapples? Mangoes? Sorry kids, if they weren’t grown within 100 miles of Gray’s house in Portland, Ore., chances are they won’t make it into the grocery cart.

For years, the idea of eating only food grown locally and in season was reserved for upscale chefs like Alice Waters of Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Calif., or serious hippies living off the grid, while the rest of us didn’t think twice about gulping down blueberries from Chile or avocadoes from Mexico.

Recently, however, a small but devoted number of Americans have started to think a lot more about the origin of the food going into their grocery cart. Worried about the environmental impact of shipping food hundreds of miles, plus the dwindling fate of local farmers – and obsessed with the idea of eating really good food – these extreme eaters try to only buy food that is grown within a 100-mile radius of their own home.

Demand Booms for Local Produce as Fuel Prices, Safety Concerns Increase

This is a great article about the benefits of eating locally grown foods. I recently made a post on The Environmental Cost of Shipping Groceries Around the World. Not only is eating locally grown food better for the environment, it is better for your community!

PalmBeachPost.com
Monday, May 19, 2008

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Although the business of factory farming has made just about anything we want to eat available almost as soon as we want it, some are starting to question whether it's really the best thing for our communities, our health or the planet itself. In this occasional series, agriculture writer Susan Salisbury examines aspects of this switch-over and what it means for the future of food.

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It's something he's done every day for 60 years.

"This is like giving ice cream to kids," White says, throwing handfuls of corn feed to several dozen honking, hissing geese crowding around him on a recent morning.

Because White, 80, runs White Enterprises, a farm off Old Dixie Highway in the middle of a residential neighborhood in Lake Park, the casual observer might think he's a quaint holdover from a time long past.

But looked at another way, James White actually is the face of the future.

Long before the "buy local" movement started becoming trendy, White was raising local food. And these days, he can't keep up with demand.

The Environmental Cost of Shipping Groceries Around the World

Every wonder why buying local products can have a positive environmental impact? This excellent article about the true costs of shipping food around the world will help explain. I was fascinated to learn that fuel used in international freight carried by air and sea is not taxed! That means that we are subsidizing the true costs of shipping food around the globe! And it makes no sense that Great Britain imports 15,000 tons of waffles each year while simultaneously importing the same amount! And regular readers know how I feel about shipping water around the globe. 

The New York TImes
April 26, 2008
By Elizabeth Rosenthal

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Cod caught off Norway is shipped to China to be turned into filets, then shipped back to Norway for sale. Argentine lemons fill supermarket shelves on the Citrus Coast of Spain, as local lemons rot on the ground. Half of Europe’s peas are grown and packaged in Kenya.

In the United States, FreshDirect proclaims kiwi season has expanded to “All year!” now that Italy has become the world’s leading supplier of New Zealand’s national fruit, taking over in the Southern Hemisphere’s winter.

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But the movable feast comes at a cost: pollution — especially carbon dioxide, the main global warming gas — from transporting the food.

Food Trends for 2008

Local, ethnic, niche: Some words of the year.

I'm happy to see the trend of buying locally produced foods becoming more popular. It's better for the community and for the environment. However, the trend can be applied to many goods and services. For example, shopping at a local hardware store versus a Wal-Mart or Home Depot means that the money you spend is much more likely to stay in the local community. Shop Local estimates that dollars spent on locally owned businesses have three times the impact as dollars spent on local chains. Here are two sites with more information on local shopping.

Stay Local

Local First

By Marilynn Marter
Inquirer Food Writer

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Count yourself a "locavore" if you dine on and utilize foods grown or produced foods locally whenever possible.

> That also puts you on top of one of the biggest food trends to hit the industry in years.

> Indeed, locavore is not just the reigning food buzzword, it has also been designated Word of the Year by the New Oxford American Dictionary.

> The movement brings with it support for fresh foods, farmers markets, family farms, sustainable agriculture, the reduction of greenhouse gases, and, in general, a healthier environment - and healthier consumers.

> Shoppers want, and are getting, bolder flavors, more spices, stronger cheeses, and more crisp and crunchy textures - all subtle changes in taste attributed to the dulled taste buds of an aging population.

> On the ethnic food front, Indian, Indian-fusion and Japanese fare are moving toward the mainstream, while the adventurous are trying Korean and African foods. And Olympic hype from Beijing is sure to boost cravings for Chinese food.

> In the kitchen, steaming has surged with the tripling of products calling for that cooking method. You're also apt to find more men in the kitchen, attracted by more high-tech "power tools" (adult toys) from espresso machines to vacuum sealers.

> Here's a rundown of hot-button food subjects likely to have the greatest effect on what and how we eat in the coming year: