Eating Local

In Animal Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, her husband Steven Hopp writes short interesting essays that she includes in many chapters. In the first chapter on page 5, Steven writes "If every U.S. citizen ate just one meal a week (any meal) composed of locally and organically raised meats and produce, we would reduce our country's oil consumption by over 1.1 million barrels of oil every week." With each barrel holding 42 gallons of oil, we could save a lot. Eating more locally grown produce is something I can start doing right now and help change the earth for the positive. My food choices have shifted greatly over the years and now I consider vegetables one of the more enjoyable foods to eat or at least complement my main course with. From the way Kingsolver describes homegrown vegetables I anticipate I may like them even more than the store bought varieties.

In my Our Place in Nature class on Tuesday I will be visiting the Farmers Market to purchase fruit with my group members to serve at a small gathering. it will be a nice introduction to the farmers market and hopefully Ill get some idea of something I may want to purchase on a later date. I have not been to the market since I was little and am excited to see how things have changed. i am excited to sample and view what local foods the farmers have to offer. Oftentimes I want to make a difference but don't know how, this is a great way to start, not only bettering the local farmers but bettering my own health. Though I know they are not farmed I am hoping someone will have some Paw Paws or Springer berries for sale. I am sure I will report home one of my future Farmers Market shopping experiences will go on this blog.