Great Green Idea: Green Eating: Eating Local, Saving Global

Eating Local, Saving Global

Small Actions, Big Benefits

Small actions; big benefits indeed. Locally grown products bought from farmers' markets is one of the easiest and most effective of ways for consumers to aid in energy conservation, not just on a local scale, but on a global scale also.

Farmers' markets are not a new invention but a fad of modern living. Prior to mass production methods, intensive farming and mass distribution, not just on a country wide, but a world wide scale too, consumers were able only to buy locally grown products in the local towns, (not at what is now known as farmers' markets) but at the local market in the towns or villages close to where they lived.

There wasn't an issue with energy conservation; the main problem was getting the horse drawn carts to the village on time for the start of the market. And with energy conservation in mind, all of the byproducts of horse power (horse pooh) was used as a natural fertilizer on the land; modern chemical fertilizers being mainly a byproduct of the petro chemical industry.

In terms of locally grown produce and livestock, one has the opportunity of seeing, and knowing from where the food that you will eventually eat comes from. The benefits to the local economy by buying locally grown produce and meat products from farmers' markets cannot be overstated.

For one thing, the energy conservation by NOT transporting the produce long distance, only to be transported back to the local shops and supermarkets (yes, it happens all the time) keeps the overheads for the local growers and producers down, therefore resulting in a lower cost to the local consumer.

Then there is the issue of how many land food miles or indeed, air food miles the products in the supermarkets have traveled to get onto the shelves. The carbon footprint of this per dollar spent on end product is huge. There are many products brought in from all over the world all year round just so the selfish consumer can have strawberries in December or Asparagus in March.

This has been to the detriment of home cooking, locally sourced produce and in season produce at that, and also locally sourced meat.

Some of the beef, pork and chicken served in restaurants and fast food outlets has a carbon footprint the size of a red giant star; coupled with the rapid decline in children being taught basic culinary skills by parents that have gone down the fast food, convenience packaging and lazy "too busy to cook" excuse has served to do for home cooking what that big comet did for the dinosaurs.

The first place to start is to walk, yes walk, the kids to the local farmers' market, get them touching and feeling the different fruit and veg; capture their hearts at a tender age, and you have them for life.