by Katherine Huether

Created on: July 08, 2009   Last Updated: July 26, 2010

So, what exactly does it mean to be a locavore? Simply put, this is a way of life that focuses on getting the majority of your food supply from your local area. This means that the ingredients are extra fresh and are bursting with vitamins. It also means that the food tastes better. A bush ripened strawberry, for example, is far superior in flavor than one that ripened in a truck en route to Vermont from California.

Good for the Local Economy

The sad thing is, the economy in the US isn't necessarily set up to support this way of eating so local farmers have a hard time staying afloat. The costs of running their farms are high because it is often the larger farm that receive financial help from the government, not the smaller ones. So, people who purchase meat, dairy, and produce from local suppliers find that they may be spending a little bit more money.

It is for this reason, though, that becoming a locavore is very beneficial for the local economy. As the farms become more profitable, the price of good will go down. As more and more people support the local farms, the government may even step in and give aid to those establishments that could use a boost. So you are not only benefiting your health, but the economy as well.

Eat with the Seasons

As it turns out, being a localvore essentially puts you in a situation where you're eating like someone from the Mediterranean and in other parts of the world, like Germany and France, where the economy supports and even embraces local eating. Have you ever eaten a truly fresh egg - one that barely needed refrigeration because it was just plucked from the kitchen? These are simple pleasures and amongst those things that are embraced by this way of eating.

Eating with the seasons is another art. In some countries, it is unheard of to find things like asparagus and strawberries in the markets when they aren't in season. It is for this reason that restaurant menus embrace these foods and rewrite their menus to suit the seasons. At the time of this writing, it is "Pffifferling" season in Germany, for example, and menus are centered around this delicate mushroom. Becoming a locavore means embracing food in a similar manner and enjoying the produce when it's at its freshest.

Food simply tastes better when grown by local farmers. This concept is the cornerstone behind Mediterranean cuisines from countries such as Italy, Greece, France and Spain. But, you don't need to get exotic ingredients to prepare foods with the same spirit.

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