What is a Localvore?

This morning a friend asked an interesting question online. She had found outside a restaurant that said "local vore waffle house." You see the word vore has a fetish connotation (that you probably don't want to look up) She was certain that this interpretation of the restaurant sign had to be wrong. So she asked for input from her friends. Through much hypothesizing we came to the understanding that there was no space and it was a new food movement called localvore.

What is localvore?

Localvore is an environmental and social movement regarding food. People who are localvore, only eat food that comes from within 50 miles of them and only food that is in season. Restaurants can also be localvore meaning all their food comes from within 50 miles of the restaurant.

Why does the localvore movement matter?

The short answer is it reduces your carbon footprint. "Carbon footprint" has become somewhat of a buzz word in the realm of environmental, social, and political movements. We are in a biosphere where most of the planet's atoms are the same as they've always been. How they are arranged what varies. Carbon atoms can take a variety of forms. There is carbon in trees, fuel, you, and the air. Carbon is everywhere. Carbon is emitted by natural causes all the time as people breathe, volcanoes blow up, etc.

Since the industrial revolution the amount of carbon emitted has increased sharply. Most of this is due to oil. When we burn fuel, carbon that had been under the earth's surface seemingly forever, get broken up and carbon is released into the atmosphere. This emission is humanity's carbon footprint. Many people in the world, not just environmental movements, believe this carbon footprint is the cause of the global climate changes.

By only eating food that comes from within 50 miles, you decrease the transportation carbon footprint of the food you eat. By eating food that is in season and fresh you decrease the need for a refrigeration and storage carbon footprint.

How can I get my food localvore style?

It is difficult to get started. We are so used to shopping at any store or restaurant without regard to where our food comes from.

A good place to start is your local farmer's market. The food here is localvore since farmers are not going to travel over 50 miles for market. The farmer's at the market are also going to know about seasonal foods and local small business producers of other foods that may not be at market.

As explained above, there are restaurants taking on the localvore movement. Localvore restaurants will let you know that they are Localvore in their advertising. After all, either people will be enticed by it or they won't care one way or another. Finding a localvore restaurant can also teach you a lot about seasonal food and what resources for localvore food exist in your area.

Remember the localvore food movement helps you decrease your annual carbon footprint. Search for food in your area through farmer's markets and localvore restaurants. There is a whole community of people in your area's localvore movement who can help you find your way to great food and a small carbon footprint.