LOCAVORE – Eat Locally

local food wheet

Local food wheels help you know what is seasonal in your area. Avoid buying foods from countries in different seasonal zones, and buy locally instead at your farmers market.Â

Eating within 100 miles of your city location is called being a LOCAVORE. Our best advice TIP for today is “go local” and become a locavore. The concept “think globally act locally” is a known political slogan. Buying food from your local farmers markets, community gardens, food co-ops, farmers markets or community supported agriculture is a great way to do that. You can also join private group membership organizations for a small fee (usually about twenty-five dollars like the one I belong to) that carry food from local sources providing fresh produce, meats, and other products, with the added benefit of meeting other folks with similar interests to share new ideas and TIPS. Find local providers in your area online. Take action to create a community garden in your immediate area or neighborhood if there isn’t one already. Involve children and their schools to provide classes teaching how to grow vegetables and flowers that work together for organic farming methods. My favorite home method is the French Garden technique. All you need is a 4 by 6 foot size plot of dirt you create by framing and raising the patch above ground to keep pests away. Or if you live in an apartment, you can create “square inch”  gardening (good for any garden), if you have a balcony or terrace. Or you can grow tomatoes, lemons, berries, and herbs in clay pots purchased from your local nursery with organic seeds. Group with neighbors who have a backyard and offer to grow together, each of you planting different variety of food to share.

WHAT IS LOCAL
Those supporting development of a local food economy know that a small change in the way it is produced and marketed will have a great effect on health, the ecosystem and preservation of our cultural diversity. Shopping decisions made wisely improves local economies and are more ecologically sound. Shopping for locally grown cheese may need to include a wider area but do limit those items to your city and state if you’re able. I consider buying in California my limit of mileage but first try to make all my purchases at my local farmers market. I’ve discovered wonderful vendors who call me when they’ve got something special in season they’re offering, letting me know ahead of time. The benefit is having amazing foods and fresh juices (like organic fresh cherry or pomegranate, which are labor intensive to de-pit/seed) and juice blends you otherwise wouldn’t find at commercial markets. One of my local sources makes fresh JUICE twice a week from a large variety of offerings, including fresh coconut meat that’s wonderful for recipes. I learned that TIP from one of local restaurant chefs who also buys from this source. It’s a great way to obtain labor intensive items you might not otherwise indulge in.

organic produce

ORGANIC is the  GREEN choice for a LOCAVORE

Some local business with specific retail and production focuses, such as cheese, may take a larger view of what is ‘local’ while a local farm may see the area with in a day’s driving as local (since this is where they can efficiently move their products to). Some see “local” as being a very small area, typically, the size of a city and its surroundings, others suggest the ecoregion or bioregion size, while others refer to the borders of their nation or state. Local food networks include community gardens, food co-ops, community supported agriculture (CSA), farmers markets and seed savers groups. Community based agriculture is the best way to go, gives us all the mutual benefits of also being more ecological, and saves gas for trucks delivering by reducing distance of travel. Become a LOCAVORE, you’ll discover benefits and support our green economy.

Have A FRUITFUL And Happy Day!

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