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Local food. Grown or raised locally, served locally. It's a way of thinking about food that's as old as humans have been on this planet - back to when tribes picked berries and hunted bison within walking (and dragging) distance of their tents or caves.
However, over the past 50 years it's no secret our food is being "dragged" (or rolled if you will) from great distances. The average miles food travels to get on your plate? Fifteen hundred miles to get from farm to supermarket -- I was shocked by this statistic.
In the little town where my ancestors grew up in Portugal food never traveled more than a few steps from farm to frying pan. Even in 1978 when I visited my great-grandfather there (who grew potatoes and raised sheep and goats) the idea of visiting a grocery store every week was an alien concept. A typical dinner in my great-grandfather's simple home was a steak (from a cow slaughtered just days before), potatoes dug up just that day, and eggs plucked right from his barn attached to his house. Thirsty? Grab an urn and go down to the stream. Carry it back balanced on your head. Everything just steps away.
We have inevitably lost this connection to our food. (Not that I wish to carry an urn of water on my head every day into my kitchen to wash the dishes!) But the miles our food - even our bottled water - is shipped verges on the absurd if not the obscene. All this to get food laden with chemicals to survive the trip. Yet even organic foods - a vast improvement nutritionally and environmentally - takes a fleet of trucks & emissions to get to Eastern supermarkets since much of it is grown on the West Coast. Yes, it's organic. Is it good for you? Undoubtedly. But is it good for the world? And what about local farmers? Why do we need to go across the country or halfway around the world to get good food?
Wherever you live you can have local food at your disposal - all you have to do is look and ask. Farmers Markets are burgeoning throughout the country - a strong sign that people care about where their food comes from.
You can, like me, be a bit of a detective while at the supermarket. Flip the bag of produce over and sometimes you can see where it comes from. Is there a bag of apples from Chile sitting next to bag of apples from Vermont? You make the choice.
You can't always buy local - try buying New Hampshire bananas! - but when given a choice of fruits and vegetables in season in your area why not select what's been picked just days ago rather than weeks (or months) ago? Why not make the choice to support the people right in your backyard who labor to put food on your plate?
This week while at your supermarket, try buying one or two products that come from your local area. Or visit your local farmers' market. It's these small choices made everyday by people like you and me that can tip the scales in favor our rural heritage and can save family farms from being plowed under into yet another strip mall.
About the author: Marcia Passos Duffy is a freelance writer and the
publisher/editor of The Heart of New England.com
(www.theheartofnewengland.com), a free weekly online magazine
with weekly recipes, gardening advice, travel stories, prizes & more!
Subscribe to her weekly newsletter -- its free! Just send a blank email to: heartofnewengland-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
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