Without trying to sound clichÈ, history does repeat itself. Two generations ago Americans relied on local producers for much of their food, whether that was a nearby dairy or a backyard garden. Fortunately, gardening never went completely out of fashion, and now seeking out local producers is again gaining popularity.
Before large-scale food production companies like Kraft, Borden, and Nestle, local growers were the only option for all but a few items. In recent decades, that situation has reversed. The majority of products in our supermarkets aren't originating within our state; they are coming from a few key agricultural areas in the U.S., but also from China, Mexico, Chile, New Zealand, and many other foreign countries.
However, a combination of reinvigorated local food systems and problems with foodborne illnesses linked to large, centralized production and transportation has made a larger portion of our population concerned about who grows their food and how.
Enter the locavore movement. This is a concept gaining ground nationwide that encourages people to buy as much food as possible from within a 100-mile radius of their home.
There are a number of books, organizations, and Web sites addressing this idea. Barbara Kingsolver's latest book, Animal, Vegetable Miracle: A Year of Food Life, chronicles her family's yearlong experiment eating food from within a 100-mile radius of their Virginia farm. The site www.eatlocal.net explains some of the whys and hows of the locavore movement. At www.foodroutes.org you can see a "buy local scorecard where visitors to the site can pledge to spend a certain amount of money each week on local provisions. Only 12 Kentuckians have participated