:

Who's seen more exotic locales: you or your strawberries?

08.09.2006

Submitted by idealbite on Wed, 08/09/2006 - 5:00pm.
The Bite:
If you're eating out-of-season, the answer's probably red and sweet. On average, food travels between 1,500 to 2,500 miles from the farm to your fork. Buy local, in-season produce for the freshest, most eco-friendly bites.
The Benefits: 
  • Get fresh. Out-of-season fruits and veggies shipped from outside the country travel up to 2 weeks before they arrive in the grocery store.
  • Get local. Support local growers and encourage sustainable farming practices by buying in-season.
  • Cleaner air. A California tomato sold in DC has traveled about 2,800 miles - the truck transporting it produces more than 3,100 lbs of CO2 getting it there.
Personally Speaking: 
Heather keeps saying she's going to do an entire month where nothing that she eats comes from farther than 200 miles away. (Of course, she's waiting until she gets to California to undertake THAT project.)  In the meantime, she and Jen both hit the local farmers' market each weekend and belong to CSAs.
Wanna Try: 
Your best bet? Check out your local farmers' market or CSA for in-season eats.
  • Simply in Season - dig deeper into the benefits of eating in-season ($13).
  • Sustainable Table - browse to find which foods are in-season in your state.
  • Food Routes - use this interactive map to find a nearby farmer's market, food co-op, CSA or farm stand.
  • 100-Mile Diet - feeling extreme? Head here to learn what it takes to eat only food produced within a 100-mile radius of your home.

Cocktail Fact

Practically seasonless, Honolulu's average high temperatures range from 80 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter to 89 in late summer.

Bang For The Bite

If half of the food 10,000 Biters ate was locally produced, in a year we'd avert the amount of CO2 that's produced by almost 1.5 million cars, and local farmers would be very, VERY happy. 

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