eat local.

I think eating what's local has always been the way people did things. that's a dumb statement. of course it's how people did things.

then people started sailing the seas, and trading spices. curing meats and making meads to transport to a foreign land to trade for equally foreign goods. it's awesome.

then oil came along. ships turned to airplanes. wagons turned to cars. our economy turned oil-based. take away the oil, and uh oh, how do we get things?

we then realized, all this oil consumption is bad for our environment. it contributes to global climate change. it also makes us literally dependent on other countries for our survival, some countries full of people who resent us. in the process, how did delicious tomatoes grown outside our house, turn into these tasteless red things we get at the grocery store? why did they change?

so, we can't change the world in one swoop of our hand. we can't single handedly change how the world thinks. in short, we can't act globally. we can think about these global things... understand how the system works, and why organic garlic from china is found at whole foods... when there is garlic local to your town and it's something you can even grow at your doorstep and it tastes amazing!

yeah, let's think about that. millions of gallons of gas are used to transport something from across the world, and we can buy it from a local vendor. it might be organic, but who cares when all that petroleum is burned to get it across the world? it doesn't matter if it's made from the dalai lama's loin cloth, it's still wasteful... and also happens to taste flavorless in comparison.

we can't act globally, but we can vote locally with our dollars. and i would encourage you to do that when you have the opportunity. buy from your farmer's market. buy local produce in the grocery store. grow some veggies in your yard. buy your beef and eggs from a local farm or butcher who uses local cattle. it makes a difference.

we can't buy everything local, and that's ok. there's no judgement. it's fine, we can't get a lot of stuff locally. try getting locally grown and produced olive oil. yeah, not gonna happen. it's ok. you want kumamoto oysters from washington? yeah, buy them. it's cool. even veggies, maybe those local farms died off when those wagons turned to cars and the ships turned to planes. there was no need for them anymore.

but we can make a difference, and where you put your dollars can actually change the system.

so, be local... it's way more interesting, better for the world, and much more delicious.