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Buy locally grown foods, and savor the benefits SHOP SMART
Eating locally grown foods has several benefits.
Date published: 9/30/2007
LOCALLY GROWN foods give you more flavor and vitamins for less money, introduce you to interesting neighbors, and help the environment by cutting down on fuel needed to transport foods around the country. That's a lot of bang for your buck! And now, eating locally is trendy, lauded in popular books such as Barbara Kingsolver's best-selling "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle," other books such as "The 100-Mile Diet" and "Plenty," and in online forums. The average food item in the U.S. travels 1,500 miles, using a lot of foreign oil and creating greenhouse gases along with way, according to Kingsolver. Only 15 cents of every dollar we spend on food goes to farmers, she writes. The rest goes to distributors, stores, processors and packagers. Knowing this has made me think more about the virtue of buying foods that are in-season and locally grown, rather than foods whose nutrients may be degraded by freezing, travel or time. There are even ways to have "in-season" foods year-round--I'll discuss those later in this column. Help your neighborsIf you shop at a local farmers' market, you can save money while helping scenic local farms stay in business rather than being sold to developers. I almost always pay less at my local farmers' market in Wisconsin. I realize sometimes people find better bargains at chain supermarkets. But I like knowing my food was grown nearby. And personally, I enjoy meeting the people who care for my food. A few years ago, I met a charming schoolgirl who sold fresh eggs at the Fredericksburg farmers' market. I also enjoyed chatting with an older man who sold apples, peaches, and plums. I even worried about him when he didn't show at market for several weeks--it turned out he was recovering from hip surgery. He always told me which varieties of fruit were peaking that week, and his recommendations were mouthwatering. secret weaponsBesides being fun, the farmers market can be far less expensive than the grocery store. For example, I can buy glorious, ruby-red tomatoes for $1 a pound at my nearby market. The incredible aroma of sun-ripened tomatoes shames their pale, grocery-store cousins. Even hothouse tomatoes aren't as tasty to me, and they cost more.
Date published: 9/30/2007
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