So you may have heard that Locavore/Localvore (there are two popular spellings) was selected as the Oxford American Dictionary Word of the Year for 2007.

Check our uvlocalvore.com/blog for other breaking news on eating locally in the Upper Valley and for news on the progress of the movement.

The end of cheap food (based on corn syrup and cheap oil, yum yum) is near, eating locally makes more sense than ever, and you'll find the blog a regular source of new ways to eat locally here in our valley.

Localvores are people committed to eating foods grown within their local foodshed; many focus on foods grown within a 100-mile radius of home. These local food advocates recognize that there are many economic, environmental, political, and health benefits to eating foods grown close to home.

Knowing where our food comes from, and how it is grown or raised, enables us to choose food from farmers who avoid or reduce reliance on toxic fertilizers and pesticides, hormones and antibiotics, and farmers who treat their animals humanely. Do we want local farms to survive and continue to be part of our landscape? Are we concerned about oil-dependent shipping of foods over long distances and a secure, local food supply? Do we want irradiated, waxed, genetically modified foods? Are we concerned about the control of our food supply in the hands of a few, multinational corporations focused on short-term profits?

Localvores have questions about the production of their food, and eating locally helps to provide some of the answers. It also adds to our eating pleasure when we know where our food has come from and the farmer who grew it.

FIND YOUR 100 MILES
Here's an easy way to see what your 100-mile food zone looks like.

To learn more, we can recommend starting with this Wikipedia entry on local food.

CURRENT READING
A recent issue of The Nation: "Wake Up America! Pay Attention to What You Eat!"Articles by Alice Waters, Michael Pollan, Wendell Berry, Jim Hightower, Marion Nestle, Peter Singer, Frances Moore Lappé, and many others.
 

There are many places to jump in along the path of eating locally in the Upper Valley!

• Shop at our farm stands and farmers markets in season and at stores that support local producers. (Our co-ops do a good job on this.)
• Add one new local food to your repertoire, like cider from Walhowden Farm or Poverty Lane Orchards; eggs from a local farm; maple yogurt or ground flint corn from Butterworks Farm in Westfield, Vermont.
• Experiment with substituting local ingredients, such as maple syrup and honey in place of sugar. Use local wheat berries as a rice substitute or for hot cereal.
• Make a complete meal from local ingredients.
• Host a potluck, inviting guests to contribute a dish prepared from local ingredients. Have guests introduce their contribution, naming the sources for the local ingredients.
• Commit to eating one local meal per day or per week.
• Buy a community-supported agriculture (CSA) share. (See the Valley Food and Farm Locally Grown Guide for info on CSAs.)
• Commit to eating foods grown within a 50, 100, or 150 mile radius of the Upper Valley for a week, a month, a year — maybe allowing for wild cards for nonlocal treats such as coffee, tea, spices, peanut butter, olive oil, chocolate.

Buying foods locally can have economic, environmental, political and health benefits. Every dollar spent on food is a vote to either change or maintain the status quo.

Knowing where our food comes from, and how it is grown or raised, enables us to choose food from farmers who avoid or reduce reliance on toxic fertilizers and pesticides, hormones and antibiotics, and farmers who treat their animals humanely. Do we want local farms to survive and continue to be part of our landscape? Are we concerned about oil-dependent shipping of foods over long distances and a secure, local food supply? Do we want irradiated, waxed, genetically-modified foods? Are we concerned about the control of our food supply in the hands of a few, huge corporations focused on short-term profits?

Localvores have questions about the production of their food, and eating locally helps to provide some of the answers. It also adds to our eating pleasure when we know where our food has come from and the farmer who grew it.

To learn more, we can recommend starting with this Wikipedia entry on local food.