the geography of food

[crazy_for_books]

So, anyone who knows me knows that I'm a foodie. I love to eat, and if I ever had to go on a real diet, I think I would self-combust. That said, there is a style of eating (or maybe a way of eating) that I find intriguing, which is eating only food which comes from your own community in some way (community being defined as a geographic location). When you eat this way, you only eat what you yourself produce or what you can buy within a certain radius of your home, say 25 or 50 miles. This has some obvious benefits for the environment: for example, your food wouldn't need to be shipped (costing fuel) or preserved while waiting to be purchased (more fuel and chemicals). [It must be said that this is only a revolutionary concept if you're not Amish or living in most of the non-first-world countries.] I started contemplating this diet again this evening when I discovered that one of my favorite authors, Barbara Kingsolver, has a new book out, and guess what she's written about?

http://www.harpercollins.com/books/9780060852559/Animal_Vegetable_Miracle/index.aspx

E and I have discussed whether this would work in the area where we live, and we initially concluded that it would work fine during the summer, but it might take quite a bit of time, energy, and know-how to do it during the winter months that we may not have. And to give up Oreos?? For pete's sake.

But then again, what a challenge.....