Yeah, if the diet doesn't have coffee I'm not going on it. I don't generally check where my food comes from. Up til global warming became something I was aware of, imported food had an extra edge because it was assumed to be 'oh so good' otherwise why would they go to all the trouble of importing it? (Not the best logic I admit.)

I did read somewhere though, that food that is shipped overseas might not be as bad as local stuff in that big old container ships are relatively carbon efficient.

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Well, if you can't or don't want to eat only local, you can always support companies that do good in some way, like buying only fair trade coffee and chocolate, for instance.

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Issue? I say BUNK!

But here's how you "deal" with it: buy everything that you possibly can locally and supplement it with imported products and produce... and for goodness sake, grow your own herbs! It's not difficult, even for city dwellers. And if you think about it, do you really want those nasty tomatoes you get in the middle of winter? They are made to ship, not made to taste good. Blech! So buy what is in season no matter what the time of year.

In a nutshell, support your local farmer or farmers market... you, your family and your community will be much better off because of it.

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I do my best to buy local. But being on fixed income is a problem. I once thought $300.00 a month should feed the two of us very nicely. Not so any more and the prices just keep on rising.

Some of the places, like Wild Oats and Sunflower Market to name just two, who feature locally produced foods are priced too high for us. When the real farmer's markets repoen this Summer we will definitely be going.

One thing I have noticed since moving to Albuquerque: We shop at Wal-Mart because of the prices mostly. We also shop at a little local fruit and veggie market just up the street. The local guy has little to choose from but his prices are always the lowest. I buy my oranges and green chiles from him. The odd thing is that supposedly the same chiles, New Mexico produce, go for under a dollar a pound at the local guy but have soared to $2.34 a pound at Wal-Mart! We love green chiles, especially for breakfast. So it's worth walking seven blocks to the local produce guy to save that buck-thirty-five a pound!

We still haven't found a reliable source of local meats. We can buy from http://www.sharecolorado.com and get guaranteed local (okay from one state away) foods but you have to wait for delivery of your purchases. Buying online is convenient but picking up the food is not.

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Eat seasonal - no conundrum. Things like coffee can be shipped. Things like asparagus have to be air freighted. It's just not that difficult.

In addition, the local stuff is always loads cheaper. No brainer, all round.

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Compare the tax breaks offered for jet fuel with the barriers in place that discourage local food: "My Forbidden Fruits (and Vegetables)" http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/01/opinion/01hedin.html

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It's been awhile since this happened, so I don't have any links about it anymore, but when the US govt decided to open up import of asparagus from South America, many of our local farmers quit growing it. They couldn't compete with the prices. Now the farmers that do grow it in Washington, once only behind California in asparagus production, export most of their asparagus to Japan and Europe.

So, we ship asparagus 1,000s of miles here to eat, and export the asparagus that we grow ourselves to the other side of the world. Who does this make sense to?!

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