Lynne Kasper and Sally Swift in their Splendid Table cookbook, How to Eat Weekends, begin with these words:
"It's no longer about just us. Buy food today and you might as well have dropped a pebble in a pond -- that purchase reverberates in the world.
"Some of us believe we're healthier for eating from local, organic, and sustainable farmers and producers. Hopefully that's true, but eating today touches the environment, the ethical treatment of people and animals, the vitality of communities and their lands, and the value of the small and unique. And yes, how we eat directly touches the people we care about.
"These days we're all doing the best with what we have, but if at all possible, please try to prepare these dishes with organic ingredients. That USDA "Certified Organic" sticker isn't the perfect solution. But for now, though, it is a better option than most.
"In the best of all possible worlds, shop as close to the source as possible. When we can, we get a lift from handing our money over to the farmer who actually grew the lettuce."
I would agree with much of what they have written and am a staunch advocate of local and sustainable. If you can't grow it yourself, find someone near to where you live who does. So that makes me a locavore, I guess. And I also find concurrence with their statement on governmental regulation of organic certification. It is still an imperfect science. Unfortunately it is still difficult, at times, to determine the qualitative difference between organic and non-organic foods items, except for the price. More work needs to be done to raise both awareness and acceptance of the organic process America.
Perhaps 2013 will be the year.
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