While planning holiday meals or for a holiday party, try to use local and organic food when available. The average piece of food travels 1,700 miles to reach its consumer. Many of the foods consumed in Georgia are grown in California, which means they must make the trip across the country, using thousands of gallons of fuel and producing significant air pollution. Buying locally grown food not only means you decrease the environmental impact of food consumption, but you also support the local economy. The best way to accommodate the varied definitions of “local” is to buy the most local product you can. For instance, an orange from Florida is more local than one from California.

One option for buying local is called Community Supported Agriculture, or CSA, through which a farmer, or group of farmers, grow produce for a committed group of people. Subscribers pay the farmer in advance for a season of fruits and vegetables, and the farmer delivers the produce to a central location for pickup each week. This ensures that consumers have fresh, local produce and that the farmer has a market for his goods. Farmers markets are also good places to buy local food and many run through December. Check out www.georgiaorganics.org to find a listing of farmers markets in your area.

Please reference our local and organic food Panorama article to learn more about these topics.