Buying Local

While visiting Montana, I was lucky to be exposed to this organization called Bioneers and its annual conference. Bozeman hosted a satellite beaming site for the main conference held in San Rafael, CA. My friend and her friends were all about it--volunteering, attending talks via satellite and live workshops generally about Environmental Justice and Social Change, and specifically about issues of sustainability.

The Buy Local movement involves consuming food sources that can be obtained from anywhere within 200 or so miles from home. Some reasons why you may want to buy local:
- support local farmers, ranchers, restaurants
- keep food grown in other countries for feeding people who live in that country
- reduce # of rainforests chopped down to make farms feedng industrialized nations (this one might be bit stretching it)
- since food is coming from nearby, it can be more ripe, nutritious and delicious (shipped from afar, most food grown overseas is picked before it's ripe so it may ripen en route to its destination)
- food is subject to USDA and FDA regulations (this could be good and bad)- wait, isn't this down already.
- encouraging the food/farm industry to diversifiy their local production. we don't need more corn here.
- can anyone think of more?

The November issue of Los Angeles Magazine outlines sources of food grown, raised, made, or laid within 200 miles of Los Angeles. Local Meat, dairy, fruit & vegetable sources can be found at most Farmer's Markets. Aparently, LA Mag's favorite farmer's market happens Wednesday in Santa Monica.

My questions is whether buying local is as feasible as I think it is. Climates are changing in many parts of the world. Can everything we need and want to eat be found here? How does LA air and water pollution affect local sources of food? Is it economical to shop only at specialty grocery stores and farmer's markets? Are we all time efficient enough to manage this lifestyle change? Do stores and restaurants know where their food comes from?

This is what I know. I've recently driven around parts of the Pacific Northwest and I'm now in Alabama--if I don't end up exclusively buying local anytime soon, as least I will be staying local for while. I love LA!