In 2007, the word ‘locavore’ was the Oxford American Dictionary’s word of the year. Now, three years on, it isn’t simply a term but a whole movement dedicated to eating food grown as close to home as possible. Read on to find out why being patriotic may help save the planet.
Yesterday I bought an apple. It was ripe and sweet, young and red, bursting with that distinctive crunch. On the back, it had a tiny white sticker with the small print: ‘Farm Fresh American Apples.’ I peeled it off and bit right in. America sure knows how to grow apples. I felt healthy, organic, and quite honestly, like a better person for not giving into my Dairy Milk craving. Ever felt that way? Sure you have. However, here’s the bad news: while you were busy counting your fat calories, you forgot about your carbon calories. In this new age of chlorophyll cool, thinking globally now means acting locally.
More and more, carbon footprints are determined by third hand factors – such as how many miles your food has travelled to get to you. That organic apple was grown in Washington State in the U.S.A., and I bought it in Lajpat Nagar, New Delhi. The distance between the two? Roughly 12,000 kms. I may think of myself as an eco-warrior and claim I’m living the green life by eating healthy. But today, eating ‘green’ now means eating ‘locally,’ and NOT eating a product that has travelled thousands of kilometers in fuelguzzling transportation, adding carbon dust to itself. When you eat that product, the carbon earned by the food, becomes yours.
What Is ‘Eating Locally’?
Eating locally begins at buying only that which is locally grown. It’s a simple concept. You eat what is certified as locally grown and cultivated rather than food that has been shifted around a lot, transported from place to place, and finally sold at a huge distance from where it originated. While some people classify ‘local’ as a 100 mile radius (160 km), a more reasonable and accepted border is a 400 mile (640 km) one.
Why Eat Locally?
More and more people are choosing to eat locally for various reasons. Some feel they can truly monitor the food they’re buying only when it’s ‘local;’ only then can they ensure that the fruit and vegetables they consume contain the least sprinklings of pesticide and preserving ingredients. Others are aware that buying a watermelon in the middle of winter can only mean one thing – it didn’t come from around here. Chances are it would have travelled miles and miles (perhaps even 12,000!) to get to your local grocery store. The next time you take a holiday, pop an apple in your bag and see how long it lasts. My guess is two days at most. People who buy locally grown food know that the food is actually ‘farm fresh’ – unlike the little sticker that promises it. When you buy locally, you also buy ‘seasonally,’ thus ensuring that the food has been cultivated in natural processes, without boosters or modifiers.
Another reason people choose to eat ‘locally’ is to aid the reduction in fuel emissions. Every year hundreds of trucks and aeroplanes and ships weave their way across the planet, carrying mangoes to Germany and Arabian dates to the United States. In the mid-20th century, it was popular to try Mediterranean artichokes, figs from Afghanistan, and crab from Alaska. However, today you might think twice before indulging in such exotic eating habits. The truly aware are shunning anything imported from overseas, or from far and beyond.
Hard as it may seem – do choose to eat ‘locally.’ Try a week long experiment in eating ‘locally,’ or tie up with like-minded people from your community. Make a day out of a trip to the nearest farmer’s market, or make jam together. On the surface, the concept of eating ‘locally’ might seem like downsizing, or subjecting yourself to the frugal life. However, you may find yourself discovering all sorts of new things about the area in which you live and, perhaps, even about yourself!
Courtesy: Greenlife Magazine
