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You grab a few vegetables that are familiar to you and then walk out of the good-for-you Shire section and into the Mordor of processed foods. One soybean to rule them all. But have you ever stopped and wondered exactly where that tomato or head of broccoli came from? Or what chemicals have been used on it? Or maybe even how long it has been since it was picked?

If you are a locavore, this will never happen to you. Locavore is a term coined by San Franciscan Jessica Prentice in 2005. A locavore is a person who eats foods that are grown locally. The definition of 'local' in this case depends on which locavore you ask. Some say 50 miles and others an entire state. There are many different reasons why people choose to shop and eat local and some are already mentioned as questions above. Here are some common questions that locavores might ask. The answers to which drive their shopping habits:

Where is it grown? There are some seafood markets and a few other distributors who are picking up on the fact that people want to know where their goods are coming from. You can see the country of origin labels already on some shellfish, beef, and some types of nuts such as peanuts and pecans. According to WebMD Health News, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) started requiring "retailers to display the country of origin for a wide variety of foods" back in the later part of 2008. Why? Different countries have different standards when it comes to quality control. If a country isn't minding its P's and Q's, then it's nice to know that a particular cut of beef you're pulling off the grill and shoving in your family's mouths originated from a quality environment. Before this recent Farm Bill, cattle might have been born in one country, fed and raised in another, and processed in the US. Since it was processed in the US, it would be labeled a product of the US. Now, multiple countries of origin are shown on the labels. But again, locavores wouldn't worry about this because they know exactly where their food is processed. Close to home, or in their own backyard.

Who gets my money? Or, who am I supporting. Today's consumers have a collective conscience when it comes to purchasing just about anything. With the Orwellian conglomerates overshadowing the smaller businesses, shoppers today are adopting an increasingly moralistic view concerning whose hands their money ends up in. Do you want the faceless, evil empire to have it, or the farmer down the street whose sweat you can still taste on your vegetables? This "food chain" starts somewhere, and no matter how you cut it, you are placing a little of your money in all the peoples hands along the way, starting with the person who dropped the seed in the ground or helped birth a calf. Not that this is bad. Free trade allows developing countries or countries lacking certain resources to keep up with the rest of the world. But keeping your money invested locally usually wins out, especially if you can't put a face on who you're buying from.

When was this picked? Have my vegetables or fruits been processed in some way to keep them from spoiling? If so, has this impacted the quality of the food I am eating in any way? Has my food been irradiated? Does it matter if it has? What pesticides were used? Except for the irradiation label, the rest of the questions may be impossible to answer if buying in a store. But again, if you're buying from the farmer down the road, he can ease any of your concerns personally. And in a world of Internet avatars and computerized voices guiding you through phone menus, that can be a welcome novelty.

Am I helping the environment? It usually takes a lot less energy and carbon dioxide to grow or catch locally instead of shipping resources and final products all over the country or globe. Although you have to be careful because this is not always the case. Resources available in different areas affect this greatly. It might be less of a tax on the atmosphere to produce something in one country and ship to another if the country receiving the goods would have to ship in unnecessary amounts of fertilizer or feed. This would have to be figured on a product-by-product basis and is usually carried out by university studies or the like.

There are larger economic arguments, but the real heart of the matter always comes back to a few basic things. Locavores like to support their local community, trust people they can talk to face to face, and enjoy helping the environment when feasible. If you would like to be a locavore, find a local farmer's market and start paying attention to labels.

Learn more about this author, Shawn Bailey.
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