Green Daily

Packaging. Shipping. Fuel. It takes a lot of these for food to make its way to markets. But it takes a lot less if the food isn't traveling far. Buying food grown or raised locally is the only way to make sure you're truly shopping green. According to a study from the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, conventional produce travels an average of 1,494 miles before reaching store shelves.

The most significant thing you can do for the environment in terms of food shopping is to buy local, enjoy fruits and vegetables that are in season and support sustainable agriculture in general. There are lots of ways to do so, including farmers markets and food co-ops. These options can offer a greater degree of trust in the food you are buying and freedom from the frustrating experience of trying to find poultry and meat that's organic, grass-fed and free range in the supermarket. Finding all three on a label can be a frustrating experience. Trust me. I've tried.

My neighbors and I have ultimately turned to our local farms for answers and to buy our food. (We are lucky enough to live in an area that has such a thing.) They feed their animals grass. They roam free on pastures. But they skirt organic certification. They don't want to spend the $600 a year to do things they've been doing for years. Or that don't make sense because, they say, their practices are better than what the government requires for certification. But we don't have to go by spoken word or printed label. We can see with our own eyes when we visit the farm.

Skip ahead

• What does Fair Trade really mean?
• Heard of rBHG? You should
• How does eating meat affect the planet?