There are many things you can do to reduce your ecological footprint: buy less, drive less, offset your carbon footprint, use compact fluorescent lightbulbs, and weatherize your home just for starters, but one of the most powerful things you can do is to eat locally grown and produced food.

In the United States, food typically travels a minimum of 1500 miles to get to your plate. That’s just dumb. It’s also unsafe (think about the e. coli scares with spinach and green onions).

Five great reasons to eat locally produced food

1. Eating local reduces the amount of petroleum required to produce and transport your food.
2. Eating local supports local farmers (your neighbors).
3. Eating local supports your local economy.
4. Eating local is more nutritious.
5. Eating local tastes better.

Bricoleuse Local Food Guides

Eugene, Oregon

“Eat local” Resources

100 Mile Diet
The story of one couple’s decision to eat only local food for a year.

Deconstructing Dinner
A radio show (available for download or streaming) discussing local food strategies.

Eat Here: Homegrown Pleasures in a Global Supermarket
Brian Halweil of The Worldwatch Institute examines the true costs of global food trade while giving practical suggestions for things you can do, as a consumer, to help shift our food economy to our local bioregions.

Eat Local Challenge
“EatLocalChallenge.com is a group blog written by authors who are interested in the benefits of eating food grown and produced in their local foodshed.”

Eat Well Guide
“The Eat Well Guide is a free online directory of nearly 9,000 farms, stores, restaurants and other outlets that offer sustainably-raised meat, poultry, dairy, and eggs in the United States and Canada.”

Going Local on a Global Scale
An article examining some of the costs and negative impacts, economic and environmental, of global food trade.

Kitchen Gardeners International
A website promoting kitchen gardening, home cooking, and sustainable local food systems.

Local Harvest
Use this nationwide (U.S.) searchable directory to find local farmers and food producers in your area.