Since I don't really like to cook, I have to fill my love for food in some unique ways. One of them is to go shopping with my fiancée - who does like to cook - and indulge my senses in all the raw ingredients of a meal.
One of my favorite places to go shopping, especially at this time of year, is at local farmers markets. It engages all of my senses while shopping, thanks to the sounds of neighbors chatting with one another and local farmers, the smells of fresh-baked bread wafting through the air and the feel of a perfectly firm yet slightly tender heirloom tomato in my hand.
I've also learned recently that shopping at farmers markets is one of the most important things I can do to help the environment.
I'll admit that even though I've been trying for years to live my life as an environmentalist, it took me until just this spring to realize that eating locally could have such an impact on the planet. As silly as it seems, I never put together that where the food I buy comes from makes a difference. That's marketing for you, I guess. If the label looks pretty and pastoral, and if it says organic, it must be OK. Right?
Not so much. After all, how did that sweet and delicious pineapple get to my local supermarket? It sure wasn't grown in the Pacific Northwest, so it must have been shipped here to Seattle from Hawaii, which took - you got it - fuel.
Moving food around has a large effect on the environment. According to a study done at the University of Iowa, shipping a 3-pound pineapple 2,700 miles takes more than half a cup of fuel. I did some back-of-the-envelope calculations using numbers from the Energy Information Administration and discovered that that results in three-quarters of a pound of carbon dioxide being spewed into the atmosphere to move one pineapple from Hawaii to Seattle.
Next time you look at a pile of pineapples in the store, think of each of them as half a cup of fuel.
Then imagine that same pile in every store in Seattle.
Going to farmers markets goes a long way toward reducing your so-called carbon footprint because the food you buy there comes from local farmers who usually travel less than 200 miles to get their crops to your table.
Buying locally has other important environmental benefits as well. First, because local produce is fresher than lettuce that comes in a plastic bag from California or peppers in a plastic container from Mexico, less energy is used to keep it looking and tasting good during its travels. There's less physical waste, like plastic bags and their ilk.
Finally, because local farmers run smaller operations, they can't let their land sit fallow over the winter, so they plant a variety of crops on each plot. A winter cover crop of legumes will help keep nutrient- rich topsoil from washing away in winter rains. Rotating a variety of crops on a piece of land over the years keeps the soil from losing all its nutrients and helps maintain a healthy ecosystem.
Shopping for food at local farmers markets has another huge benefit: The food just tastes better. I found the best roasted peanuts in the world at the Wednesday Columbia City Farmers Market one year. I still go back to make sure I get plenty to take with me when I go to a baseball game. Over the summer, the tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic and other produce I get at my local market fill my mouth with tastes and flavors that I have never encountered in vegetables at my local supermarket.
It's enough to make even me want to cook dinner tonight.
Farmers markets are a regular feature of Seattle's landscape in the summer, and many of them are in full swing already. A full listing can be found at http://www.wafarmersmarkets.com.
The newest one in Seattle opens Saturday, June 28, at 3 p.m. in the McClure Middle School parking lot at 1915 First Ave. W. It'll be there every Thursday all summer long.
Charles Redell is a freelance writer in Seattle. Environmental questions can be sent to him at charlesredell@gmail.com
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