Five Ways to Spot a Christmas Locavore

Silver bells, Silver bells, it's Christmas time in the city! What a beautiful old Christmas carol. Just hearing the melody reminds me of nostalgic Christmases past.

This year, though, I had been intent on locating a Christmas locavore. In order to do this, though, I first had to know what a locavore is. So, I set out to define the term.

In these tough economic times, it wasn't really too tough to find a good definition. People are lining up to understand the meaning of green terms. And most locavores are pretty green. Ok, Ok, what is a locavore?

According to Wikipedia a locavore is defined this way, " .[1] Those who are interested in eating food that is locally produced, not moved long distances to market, are called "locavores," and the word "locavore" is the word of the year for 2007 for the Oxford American Dictionary"

Further, Wikipedia references Jessica Prentice as the originator of the term and her inspiration apparently was World Environment Day in 2005.

All of this is well and good and very important information for those who are interested in knowing what a locavore is. But, how do you recognize a Christmas locavore?

It might be telling to signify the five ways of recognizing a Christmas locavore by those qualities that highlight what a Christmas locavore is and is not.

1) You know you have located a Christmas locavore if you spot a guy riding a bicycle to Grandma's house loaded down with presents wrapped in fabric. The only mystery here is not knowing what is inside these fabric wrapped presents. If they are wide-screen TV's ordered from China- the guy is not a locavore-unless you see him in Beijing. And he enjoys television soup.

2) A Christmas locavore does not carry loads of plastic bags-he or she will be seen whistling 'Jingle Bells" while carrying a cloth recyclable bag full of goodies bought from the local farmer's market.

3) Christmas locavores have sworn off paper, and love trees. So, they either buy artificial trees that they can use every year or they buy a tree they can plant later. Pretty cool, huh? What's this got to do with the local food movement and locavores? Nothing, but I like trees, so there!

It's important to remember that locavores that are rigorous in their dogma will only eat or use ingredients that have been grown within a hundred mile radius. That's pretty tough for lots of people. So, like vegetarians, there are varying degrees of locavores. It's important to clarify this when you are intent on locating a Christmas locavore.

4) You know you have found a dyed in the wool orthodox Christmas locavore when you hear a man firmly asking a cashier where the apples he is buying for the pie he will be baking in his wooden oven were grown. If he is told they were grown just down the street, he will buy them and have a happy smile on his face as he leaves the market. If he is told that they were flown in from Ontario and he lives in Florida- he will huff out of the store, with nary a trace of a grin.

5) Christmas locavores believe it is their national obligation to regift. Regifting is more than recycling, after all. Regifting is bringing joy to loved ones over and over again. And we can always be sure that that a regift was bought within 100 miles of the giver. Especially, if it is a fruitcake. And if you find a person who is regifting fruitcakes over and over again, you can be sure you have not only found a Christmas locavore-you have also found the answer to our current economic crisis. Fruitcakes Forever!

I hope this lesson in locating Christmas locavores has been enlightening and adds to your holiday fun!