Eating locally

That's a new trend, taking things one step further than eating organically. The idea is that, by only eating things grown withing 100 miles of your home, you cut pollution and energy usage a great deal more than by eating organic foods trucked in from California or Mexico (or, as Michael Pollan describes in Omnivore's Dilemma, flown in from Argentina). In practice, it's fairly difficult. Here are some chronicles of the effort:

In Vermont.

In Wales. Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5

In Canada. Here, it's not just local, but also wild.

In Philadelphia. No mention of local cheesteak sandwiches, though.

Eatlocal.net The heart of the movement.

The consensus is that it takes more work to find local food, and it costs more than normal. It also tastes better, and seems to be better for you, probably because folks switch from processed foods to fresh fruits and vegetables, which are better for you anyway.

I don't think I could handle a serious local diet, because I'd have to give up coffee. I started drinking black coffee when I was seven or eight (really), and I've been drinking several cups daily since I was about fifteen (wow--I can now say that I've been drinking coffee daily for most of my life!) I'm an addict, and I can't give it up.