Slash Your Food Miles, Eat Local Foods

It takes a lot of fossil fuel to transport foods from far-flung locales to your grocer's shelf. Also see our 20 Winter Farmer's Market Secrets

Photo: istock

By Brian Clark Howard

It takes a tremendous amount of fossil fuel to transport foods from far-flung locales to your grocer's shelf. That's one reason more and more people are adding locally sourced foods to their diet.

The other reason: They're fresher and taste better. Meals with fresh meat, milk, eggs, artisanal breads and cheeses, grain, fruits and vegetables prepared using locally grown or produced ingredients use from four to seventeen times less petroleum to transport than one compiled from the typical grocery store. And the money you spend will stay in the community longer, creating jobs and helping preserve family farms.

Better yet, become a shareholder in a nearby community farm, also known as Community Supported Agriculture or CSA and reap the many benefits, including weekly boxes of seasonal fruits and vegetables. The United States has lost more than five million farms since 1935, and those that remain face fierce competition from large agribusiness and urban sprawl.

To find a CSA near you, check out Local Harvest. For more information on cooking local, see Sustainable Table.

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