by Lillian Henry

Created on: January 28, 2009

Before becoming a locavore one should know what a locavore is. A locavore (or localvore) is a person who has committed him/herself to eating foods only from local sources. I'm not talking about the local grocery store but local farms and local sources that provide safe fishing, netting, and hunting.

Once you decide to make this transition in your life you need to consider a few things. First, how local do you want your food to come from? Most locavores stay within a 100-mile radius from their homes. Others will probably shorten it to 50 miles or extend it to 150 miles. Some are satisfied as long as the food is produced within the state's boundaries. There are also three primary types of locavores. The Ultrastrict who avoid all ingredients that has not been grown or produced locally. These folks just will not buy coffee, chocolate, olive oil, or anything else that has to travel vast distances. The Marco Polo followers will use dried spices, such as what a sailor would carry while at sea, but keep all other ingredients local. And, wild cards are not so restrictive with their practices. They use foods they feel they cannot live without (attention caffeineholics) and they usually try to rationalize these purchases by sticking to fair trade products. Some might even buy from a local processor who obtained raw product from fair trade companies.

Jennifer Maiser, editor of the "Eat Local Challenge" website, offers 10 helpful steps to becoming a locavore.

1. Visit a farmers' market. You get to help a small businessman actually earn his hardworked for money.

2. Lobby your supermarkets. Ask the mangers where your meat, produce, and dairy come from. They might not even know but will acknowledge what is important to the customers.

3. Choose 5 foods in your house that you can buy locally. This is probably the easiest step for someone who lives in a climate where winters really do include cold air and snow.

4. Find a local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm and sign up for deliveries. You pay them for shares in the farm, you get fresh food straight from the farm. Some farms allow for a trade off of volunteer hours.

5. Preserve some of the food for the winter. This is an awesome way to stock up. Try your hand at freezing, canning, or preserve making. Yum.

6. Find out what restaurants in your area support local farmers. Ask them about their ingredients or ask your favorite farmers which restaurants they have an account with. Then, frequent those same restaurants.

7. Host a local Thanksgiving. Participate in the 100-mile Thanksgiving project by making one dish or an entire meal from local foods.

8. Buy from local vendors. If it can't be grown locally, how about produced locally? Even though these businesses don't strictly use local ingredients you still help the local economy. One example would be the coffee roaster who gets his beans raw.

9. Ask about origins. Ask where the food came from.

10. Visit a farm. You will be surprised how many people don't know where or how their food grows.

If this is a lifestyle you feel strong about, go for it. Sometimes, the local businessman is the small businessman being eaten up by the smiling face bandits and golden arches. What a way to help them out.

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