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With the cost of gas prices sky high and random contaminated food scares making the rounds regularly, it just might pay to buy local now more than it ever has. When you buy from local farmers and merchants your dollar stretches farther, you reduce your carbon footprint, and you keep your neighbors (relatively speaking) in business. Now, to me, that is ROI. And, the fact that it is summer for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere it is the easiest time of the year to do so.
My entire view of the food system shifted when I read Michael Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma" a year or so again. It contines to shift as I read "In Defense of Food" and starting watching some quality documentaries and talking to local growers.
That is why I just have to laugh when last year's spinach crisis resulted in colleagues saying at lunch "You're not eating spinach are you???" as if I were eating something from a Survivor challenge. I could confidently look them in the eye and say, "Of course! I bought it from the organic farmer down the street and am confident it does not suffer from these huge unknowns as the industrial sold version.
Heidi Tunnell states the case well in her post (with the big honking picture of a tomato) "Now Will You Eat Local Food?":
If the latest report doesn’t scare everyone into eating strictly local food I’m not quite sure what would. They are now saying they STILL don’t know where the salmonella outbreak came from. Could be onions, cilantro, jalapeños, or maybe they still just don’t really know- Yeah, that’s comforting.
So, buy local or grow your own! Then you don’t have to worry and start throwing stuff out of your cupboards each time there is an outbreak in our messed up food system.
You might think that you don't have the time or money to buy almost entirely local. After all, who has time to go to the grocery for non-perishables and then farm hop to get the rest? Goodness knows sometimes I feel like I'm hopping here and there, but I've streamlined. Consider Story Girl's approach in "Why I love CSA":
I recently signed up for a share in a CSA, which stands for Community supported Agriculture. For a seasonal subscription fee, I get a basket every week of fresh, naturally grown vegetables from a local farm. The contents of the basket change week to week based on what's coming up at the time.
She goes on to state four great reasons why she loves CSA. Here's one I particularly like:
2. Better food. The produce I get is organically grown and locally produced. I know this because I've seen it. It's also in my hand within 4 days of when it comes off the plant. This is the absolute best way to maximize the nutritional content of my vegetables (thus making me healthier, one say it saves money) and also the taste - oh my the taste. Tomato basil salad is practically a spiritual experience.
Amen to that! Taste a local farm vegetable side by side with one from a store. No comparison. When I read in "In Defense of Food" that today you'd need to eat 3 apples to match the nutrition in 1 apple grown in 1940 I almost had an episode. At first glance you might think it is more expensive to buy local or organic - it is a total myth. Nutrient for nutrient you actually save money.
Now, you might think -- but I live in an urban jungle! How could I ever find this stuff? Well Niki at Super Forest gives three great tips for New Yorkers in "Organic vs. Local Food Debate Take 2" (it doesn't get more urban than that) and I'm sure these ideas can be applied to any urban area:
Ok...so if it seems too hard to get to your local green market every week, here are 3 ways to get locally grown produce (and even local organic produce) into your kitchen, if you live in New York City:
1) Urban Organic: They are a home delivery service of strictly Organic produce that is 80% local.
2) CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).
3) Good Ol' Fresh Direct: Fresh Direct, another food delivery service has a section dedicated to local produce, meat, fish, cheese and wine.
If you Google CSA you can find one for your state and locale.
Buying local is a little
