10 reasons why you want to buy local foods

Buying local food benefits both you and your community. When you buy local food you

1. Reduce your food miles. The fewer miles your food has to travel, the less environmental damage occurs.
2. Eat fresher food. When you buy at farmers markets and farm stands, the food is usually picked that day or the day before. When you buy local food at the grocery store, it's still fresher than the food that's been shipped hundreds of miles.
3. Eat better tasting food. Ever wonder why the strawberries you get from the local farm taste so much sweeter than the ones you buy in the middle of winter at the grocery store? To get strawberries to your store in the middle of winter (unless you live in a climate where they grow all year long), they are picked before they are ripe and force ripened along the trip to your store. It makes a big difference in the taste.
4. Eat more nutritious food. Food loses its nutrients as it sits around waiting to be shipped and then on the long trip to your store. Fresher food not only tastes better, it is better.
   
5. Financially support local farmers. According to sustainabletable.org, when you buy food in a grocery store, about 3.5 cents of each dollar you spend makes it to the farmer. When you buy directly from the farmer, 80-90 cents of each dollar you spend makes it in the farmers pocket.
6. Preserve open spaces. In the South Jersey region, when a farm closes and the land is sold, it invariably becomes a cookie cutter development or worse, the parking lot for a big box store. I can imagine that's the same all over the place. By putting money into the farmers' pockets, you're helping to keep the farm running.
7. Help the environment. When farmland is turned into a suburban development or a parking lot, lots pollution occurs, lots of critters lose their homes and lots of traffic starts pouring in. Open farmland is good for the environment.
8. Preserve genetic diversity. There are hundreds of tomato varieties out there, but you're grocery store only carries a handful of them. Go to the local farmers market, and you'll find dozens of varieties. Why? Some tomatoes "travel" better than others. Some varieties of tomatoes just can't survive the difficult trip over hundreds of miles. Because of this, large scale farms only grow a few varieties. Local farms can grow the less hardy varieties because they don't have to travel far to get to you. If the local farms go away, we could lose genetic diversity in crops.
9. Give animals a better life. Local food isn't limited to fruits and vegetables. Most small farms that raise animals for meat treat their animals more humanely. They feed them the food that is natural for them to eat and give them room to roam around. When you buy locally raised meat, you help to support this type of meat production instead of the cruel factory farms.
10. Get inspired. Once you get a taste for local foods, chances are you'll want to grow a little of your own in a container garden or a full fledged garden. Or, you'll look at that butternut squash on the table at the farmers market and say, "hmmmm. I've never made butternut squash before, but I think I'll give it a try." You'll try things you've never tried before.
    

Collingswood's Tortilla Press takes the green lead

As I reported on MNN yesterday, The Tortilla Press in Collingswood is going green. In chef Mark Smith's newsletter e-mail, he announced that he was going at it from many angles.

Spring is here and with it – new growth, new life and new ideas at The Tortilla Press.

First, after much thought and consideration, The Tortilla Press is going green. I’ve examined every single aspect of our restaurant and we are making changes everywhere in lighting, heating, take out containers, fair trade products – well, many things – and I am making a pledge to dedicate this restaurant in as many ways as possible to using eco friendly materials. We’ll join other chefs in this effort as part of the SJ Green Dining Association.

Chef Smith is already a supporter of local food. He shops the Collingswood Farmers' Market during the season and takes part in Farm to Fork week.

The Tortilla Press is located at 703 Haddon Avenue in Collingswood. It's a block from the Patco High Speedline, making it easy for Philadalphians to get to, too. If you've never been to the Tortilla Press, you can bring your own wine, beer or even tequilla (to put in their awesome margharittas), the restaurant does not serve alcohol.

Wegmans has a good deal on CFL's this week

I know this has nothing to do with food, but I would imagine that many of us locavores and locavore wannabes are also concerned about the environment. So I thought I'd pass this along.

In the Wegmans circular for 2/1 - 2/7, they are advertising Energy Star Earthmate CFL bulbs, 15w or 20w, for $1.99 each. They are regularly $3.99. The Earthmate CFL's are

energy saving, eco-sensitive CFL light bulbs are designed to reduce electricity consumption, prevent greenhouse gases, and fight global warming - all while providing long-lasting, economical, and reliable lighting for your home or business.

Earthmate light bulbs use 75% less electricity than comparable incandescent bulbs, which helps conserve natural resources used in energy generation - such as coal, oil, and natural gas - while reducing green house gas emissions. Replacing incandescent light bulbs with energy efficient Earthmate bulbs will not only reduce your energy cost, but you'll be helping to fight global warming and preserving our planet for generations to come.

If you haven't bought CFL's yet because of their price, here's a chance to pick them up at a really good discount.

If you're concerned about how to handle a CFL if it breaks because of the mercury contained in it, the EPA website has detailed instructions.

If you're concerned about disposing of your CFL's once they burn out, you can go to Earth911 to find a disposal center near you.