’Locavore’ was named the 2007 Word of the Year by the New Oxford American Dictionary.
“The word ‘locavore’ shows how food-lovers can enjoy what they eat while still appreciating the impact they have on the environment,” said Ben Zimmer, editor for American dictionaries at Oxford University Press. “It’s significant in that it brings together eating and ecology in a new way.”

What began in 2005 as an event sponsored by 4 women in San Francisco ( see www.locavores.com) to challenge people from the bay area –and all over the world– to eat within a 100 mile radius of their home for one month, has now become all the rage. And locavores are taking the pledge for more than a month at a time.

So what’s the deal - is this just another passing fad?

You can get a sense of this movement at Eat Local Challenge where hundreds of locavores are posting their regular blog entries.

When our country was made up of small family farms and many families had a vegetable garden out back, no one thought twice about the superior taste and other benefits of food grown
close to home.

Today, of course, it doesn’t surprise us to learn that much of our food is grown halfway around the world. The growing demand for constant availability and variety and for organic food in the marketplace has fueled the growth of globally-sourced fruits and vegetables.

And “fueled” it is. Shipping food cross-country or cross-continents requires a great deal of energy (average food travels 1500 miles) - and delivers crops that are not delivered at their peak o
ripeness.

Out of this dilemma has come the growing awareness of the benefits of eating food grown locally. “Locally grown” is considered to include food grown within 50-100 (or some say 100-
250 miles) of where you live.

You can support local farmers, help reduce shipping costs, keep local money circulating in your own community, improve your community’s food security, and also gain access to fresher crops, including interesting heirloom varieties (those passed down through generations) that would not be able to withstand the rigor of cross-country shipping.

Action Steps for LOCAVOREs

1. Visit your nearest farmers market. Farmers markets are growing in leaps and bounds, so you may be surprised to find that you have more choices near you than you did even a year ago. Chat with the farmers, find out how they grow their crops and raise their animals for meat or dairy products - some use completely organic growing methods even though they may not be certified organic; other may be mostly organic. Be open to trying something new.

2. Ask your grocery store manager to stock locally-grown food. It’s not uncommon now to find locally-grown berries, local honey or local, naturally-raised chickens at large supermarket chains. Many stores pride themselves on their support of local farmers and have signs throughout the store drawing customers’ attention to locally-grown food. When given the choice between the cross-country broccoli (1800 miles) and the local one (50 miles), choose local to encourage
more local food choices.

3. Patronize restaurants that feature locally-grown ingredients. Every city has a few of these restaurants now, usually run by passionate supporters of local farms.

4. Join a CSA. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture, a subscription relationship where you sign up for a weekly (or biweekly) share of crops from a nearby farm or collection of farms, which are delivered to centralized pick-up spots. Some CSAs let you indicate some preferences. Others encourage you to embrace the surprises of the season to discover what’s in the box. Most offer you recipes (and other ways to learn what to do with crops that may be new to you) plus a spirit of community among members that encourages sharing of tips.

5. Plant a garden. How to begin? Pick a sunny patch in your yard with at least six hours of sun a day. Bring in good top soil if needed. Add organic compost. Plant. Water. Weed. Harvest. No time? No interest? How about growing a few herbs in pots? How convenient to be able to snip a bit of rosemary as you need it. Bonus: many herbs are perennials - plant them once and they’re yours year after year, with minimal work.

6. Get informed. Just about every newspaper and magazine lately seems to be carrying stories about the issues involved in eating local. Read and explore the internet too so you can make informed decisions at the check-out counter and at the polls.

Read more on this site:
Local Living Economies - What is it?
Move Over Green, Here Comes Lagom!
Permaculture - PermaBLITZ
Ten Reasons to Buy Local