“Eat Local” has been in the news of late.

Many are longing for the feeling of community they miss by living in an anonymous city. Others have learned the carbon footprint of their groceries is too large for their own comfort.

And Macrobiotic principles state that foods grown in your own region are much healthier for your body.

It may be difficult to eat local out of your supermarket, however. Modern society has gotten spoiled to eating out of season, so foods are imported from the other side of the world, then taken back and forth across country for distribution.

Another reason to eat local is so you can know the condition and freshness of your food. The USDA has been lowering Organic Standards due to pressure from the Big Ag lobby, so even if it’s labeled “Organic,” you can’t really know for sure if that produce is free of harmful (and global warming) petro-chemicals.

If you know the farmers and their methods, you can be assured your food is pure.

So what about becoming a localvore?

According to www.Localvore.co.uk,”…in the same vein that a carnivore is a being who eats meat, and a herbivore is one who eats plants, a localvore is a person who eats only locally-grown and produced food.”

I support the idea, and yet I have a hard time giving up coffee, and chocolate, and salt, and fresh ginger. I would really miss cinnamon, and salmon, too.

My compromise is to grow a few things myself, shop with local farmers, and then fill in the rest at my local health food store. That way, I can be assured that my food is as local as possible, clean, and if it has been imported, it’s Fair Trade.

Look for locally grown and produced foods at small health food stores and “Mom and Pop” groceries.

Choose local farmers’ markets, produce stands, and community supported agriculture over supermarket foods.

Even if you don’t become a complete localvore, you can still eat local.

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