"Think global, act local" is one of the most frequently heard buzz phrases of the environmental movement, but it can be a difficult, time-consuming directive to follow. While the more local something is, the better, it's also less likely that someone has taken the trouble to present it in a useful way.
That's part of why the locavore movement faces a bit of a challenge technologically. Those looking to consume foods that have been grown within 100 miles of where they live have to contend with a low crop of reliable or consistent information on where to find produce, dairy, and meat. News sites, blogs, and guides perennially appear and disappear, and undoubtedly many lose interest in adhering to the locavore lifestyle along the way.
But die-hard proponents cite health and environmental benefits and the back-to-the-land ethos is a breath of fresh air in an increasingly indoor world. The 2012 Locavore Index compiled by agriculture advocate Strolling of the Heifers shows how states stack up. For national inspiration, First Lady Michelle Obama has just released American Grown about her efforts to plant a fruit and vegetable garden in the South Lawn and how its harvest is put to use in the White House kitchen.
With the sprouting of farmers markets everywhere, it might be the time to give locavorism a try. And PCMag's here to help, with a roundup of the latest tech resources that will help you eat local.
1. Buy Local
The Local Harvest site and the Locavore app make finding farmers markets, food co-ops, and CSAs an easy task. Locavore adds a list of what's in season and lets users share where they've been and what they've eaten.
2. Grow Your Own
It doesn't get more locally grown than goods from the plot of land outside your back door. For advice on where to start, try folia, a social gardening site with an extensive database, active community, and a place to keep track of what you've planted. There's not a large crop of gardening apps with a similar database, but for iOS aficionados, there's The Gardening Guide from Mother Earth News and Gardeners' World has iPad owners covered with Grow Your Own Fruit & Vegetables. If you're more of a grazer than a gardener, there's the Wild Edibles app that identifies what's safe to eat—and what's not—for foragers.
Photo courtesy of Eating Battlezone
3. Now You're Cooking
If you're tempted by produce at a farmers market but unsure of what dishes you can use it in, it helps to have a guide at hand. The Whole Foods app (iOS, Android) lets you plug in up to three ingredients and then suggests recipes. RecipeGrazer (iOS) and Recipe Search (Android) do the same, culling from their online communities to let you know that a head of prehistoric-looking Romanesco cauliflower can become part of many pasta dishes.
For those who want to plan before they set out, seasonal recipe sites are a good place to browse. Culinate's recipes section features tantalizing dishes. (Right now would be the time to make some honey-roasted carrots, artichoke-lemon pasta for dinner and then follow it up with either a slice of rhubarb buttermilk tart or a black bottom cupcake.) Harvest Eating and Epicurious also serve up recipes by season.
Photo courtesy of Erika Meitner
4. Dine Out
Dining out doesn't have to mean ditching locavorism. The Eat Well Guide site narrows down restaurants (along with other food-related categories like retail shops, food trucks, and wineries) based on various dining principles (local, sustainable, organic, etc.). The inBloom iOS app (the creation of musicians Andy Ross of OK Go and Eytan Oren of Eytan and The Embassy) provides locavore choices for not just food, but businesses of all flavors.
Photo courtesy of Local Roots restaurant
5. Surf and Turf
Locavorism isn't synonymous with vegetarianism, though the two are often conflated. Meat-eaters (and those who consume eggs and dairy products) can find local farms with the directory on Eatwild's site. The environmental impact of eating meat that is sourced from long distances can be found in the Environmental Working Group's Meat Eaters' Guide. Seafood is only local for coastline dwellers, but SeafoodWatch helps users find sustainable seafood suppers (types of fish, restaurants, and markets) by region.
6. Required Reading
Michael Pollan's book The Omnivore's Dilemma, which journeys through four meals, has inspired many to live a more locavore lifestyle. Novelist Barbara Kingsolver switches to nonfiction to document her family's local eating in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. The New York Times' Mark Bittman, who's also penned How to Cook Everything and How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, layers lessons on food awareness with recipes in Food Matters.
When scanning the local news, scan the locavore news, too, at Mother Nature Network's Food News & Resources section. And add Diary of a Locavore and The Accidental Locavore to your blog lineup.
7. (Twitter) Feed Local
Follow these tweeters for the latest on locavore.
Alice Waters
Chef, owner of the restaurant Chez Panisse, activist, author
@AliceWaters
Daniel Klein
Chef, activist, filmmaker
@perennialplate
Farm to Table
Community blog focused on locavorism
@farm_2_table
Earth Eats
Local and sustainably focused blog, podcast, and public radio show
@eartheats
Lavida Locavore
Sustainable food and agriculture blog
@LocavoreBlog
Michael Pollan
Author, journalist, activist
@michaelpollan
Grist
Environmental news
@Grist
Sara Sciammacco
Director of communications for the Environmental Working Group
@EWGFoodNews
Meatless Monday
Organization that advocates and supports one meat-free day a week
@Meatless Monday
Civil Eats
Where sustainability meets social issues
@CivilEats
Mark Bittman
Journalist, author
@bittman
Marion Nestle
Professor of nutrition, food studies, and public health
@marionnestle
Alexandra Zissu
Eco lifestyle expert
@alexandrazissu
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