'Mommy, what's a locavore?'

If only more children were asking that question - maybe then we wouldn't be seeing skyrocketing 'adult-onset' diabetes and obesity in our children today. Here's why:

First, a definition: A locavore (think 'omnivore') is a person that refuses to partake in the industrial agriculture system, prefering instead to gather in-season food from local producers - many times even directly from the farmers themselves. These locavores are not only supporting their local economy; they are also more efficiently supporting the nutritional requirements of their bodies. Think about it. The industrialized tomato is bred for durability, quantity and looks - we've lost the taste of tomato, receiving in return an unbruisable, odorless, and bland... bushel of what, exactly? It's also picked weeks before it's even ripe. Has it had the time to obtain all of the nutritional goodness it can from the soil? Unfortunately, no. You might as well eat sawdust.

Since local food is bred for taste, as well as allowed to ripen on the vine instead of in semis moving at 70 miles per hour, it is exponentially more nutritious than any fruit or vegetable you can buy in February from Argentina. By eating whole, local foods (which are whole because they are local), a person can enjoy amazingly delicious and nutritious food. Who needs soda when you can purchase ripe, succulent peaches from your farmer's market? Who wants to eat bland, 'fortified' bread when it can be made with little effort in your own kitchen, using whole grains and local honey? Who doesn't prefer a home-grilled, grass-fed hamburger to the slop that they serve at McDonald's? Surely America's children would be far healthier and happier if they (or their parents) stopped and thought about what they are putting in their mouths.

Thus begins a series I'll call "Why I am a Locavore." In it, I will attempt to break down the many reasons I have chosen to primarily eat within a 100 mile radius, and hopefully this information will convince you to do the same.

For more information on the nutritional content of our food, check out the 2007 report entitled "Still No Free Lunch," by Brian Halweil.