How Many Miles On Those Grapes?

Have you ever thought about how many miles your apples have on them? Ever wondered how many pounds of global warming pollution were emitted to deliver your lettuce greens to you in February?

There is a growing movement that suggests that eating foods grown and produced locally has a myriad of benefits, including improved nutrition and less carbon dioxide emissions during transit. The Eat Local Challenge blog has articulated 10 Reasons To Eat Local Food:

• Eating local means more for the local economy.
• Locally grown produce is fresher.
• Local food just plain tastes better.
• Locally grown fruits and vegetables have longer to ripen.
• Eating local is better for air quality and pollution than eating organic.
• Buying local food keeps us in touch with the seasons.
• Buying locally grown food is fodder for a wonderful story.
• Eating local protects us from bio-terrorism.
• Local food translates to more variety.
• Supporting local providers supports responsible land development.

For those people in Maine, the Get Real Maine website has information about where to find local foods.

The next time that you are in the grocery store, take a moment to consider how far your food traveled to get to you. With super-efficient, refrigerated transportation, it is now possible to buy fresh produce grown thousands of miles away - but that doesn't mean that we should... Instead, if we all start choosing foods that are produced as nearby as possible, it will go a long ways toward reducing the amount of carbon dioxide emitted in the food industry.