The coming Earth Day has me thinking about new ways of helping our environment. Some way of adding to the more common existing things we do everyday. Recently, I happened to run across a term I'd not heard of before ..... locavore. The definition goes something like this; a consumer of locally grown or produced products.

The transportation component of the products we eat and use is a huge part of our overall energy use and CO2 emissions. Something as simple as choosing products that are grown or produced close to home could have a profound effect on both. Imagine the difference in total energy used in the following scenario. Tomatoes grown in Mexico, trucked to a rail or truck facility, then put in diesel powered refrigerated rail cars or trucks and transported via rail/truck to various location in the U.S. or Canada to then be re-distributed via truck vs purchasing tomatoes grown locally. The difference has to be huge. Obviously with some products, like bananas or pineapple there is no choice, but there are many items that we eat that we do have a choice for much of the year.

There may be added benefits of using locally grown produce also, such as a more palatable quality product. Large commercial growers producing products for export are likely to grow varieties of produce that are chosen for their resistance to damage and deterioration during transport rather than taste. They are also likely to be picked before they become fully ripe. On the other hand local producers can pick and sell produce at its peak of ripeness and choose to grow varieties for no other virtue than its good taste.

Examples of other items are easy to find. I live in Idaho, we have lots of dairies which produce lots of milk, butter, cheese etc. But if you look in most of the large local grocery outlets you find milk, butter and cheese that is produced and processed in California, Oregon and Wisconsin. Some is even produced in Idaho then trucked out of state to be processed and trucked back to be sold. But if you search you can find locally produced dairy products, they are there and they are a fresh quality product.

In most areas of the U.S. you should be able to find locally produced dairy products, eggs and poultry and locally grown fruit and seasonal vegetables. They may not be at your local big name grocery but check your local Co-OPs, farmers markets, specialty and organic food stores and ads in your local newspapers. The key is you have to look, a little effort may surprise you. You may find items like organically grown produce, free range poultry or grass fed beef or hormone free/antibiotic free poultry, beef and pork. You may find quality products that you prefer to those you previously used. You may even find items like locally produced textiles, furniture or art too.

Local farmers markets provide a great opportunity to save energy and CO2 emissions and help our local economies as well. Communities large and small are suffering economically as a result of money leaving and never returning. Think about it, in my home town, when I first moved here in 1973, virtually all of the grocery stores, restaurants, clothing, sporting goods, drug stores, almost everything we purchased was purchased in a locally owned store. Most of the money spent here stayed here. Fast forward to 2009 and almost all of the products we buy and use daily are purchased at big box, big name or franchised stores and restaurants whose profits go to who knows where, but they don't stay here. Buying locally grown or produced products or buying from locally owned businesses can in a sense be looked at as a way of recycling. Recycling money in your community. You are spending dollars that stay in you community and help to sustain your community and neighbors plus saving energy and helping to reduce CO2 emissions. Try it, you could become a locavore!