CONSUMER TIP OF THE WEEK

DON'T JUST BUY LOCAL -- BUY IN SEASON

More and more consumers are beginning to understand the incredible environmental and economic benefits of buying local. Industrial agriculture and long distance food transportation and processing now generate up to 25% of all climate destabilizing greenhouse gases. Farmers Markets across the country are reporting record attendance and sales. Massive amounts of CO2 are produced when the average, often highly processed and wastefully packaged store-bought food item travels 1500-2500 miles from farm to fork. You know you're doing the planet and our climate a favor when purchasing items grown by farmers in your area.

This week's tip is a reminder to consumers that buying foods in season can be as important as buying locally. A bag of tomatoes grown locally may have less of an energy impact than those shipped up from Chile. But grow those tomatoes out of season in a heated greenhouse and its energy impact can exceed the imported option.

Of course, the moral of the story isn't to buy your tomatoes from Chile in the winter time, but rather to look for foods that are growing locally in season or were grown and canned/dried/preserved locally.

Tip provided by organicconsumers.org.