Eat Local...

For years, we've been told to eat organic. It's good for the environment. And good for us. So markets like Whole Foods and Central Market...and increasingly "main-stream" stores like Kroger...provide us with organic options. They cost a little (or a lot) more, but we buy them because we SHOULD.

Well there's another SHOULD nagging at us these days. Not eating organic, but eating local. The New York Times had an article about it on April 25. Even Time made the debate its cover story on March 12. The new argument is that environmentally-friendly growing techniques simply aren't enough since the amount of fossil fuel used to get an organically grown apple from New York state to Dallas negates the fact that the orchard owner didn't use pesticides or synthetic fertilizers. It's enough to make a foodie's head spin.

Leave it to D magazine and brilliant food writer Nancy Nichols (along with Rod Davis batting clean up) to put things in perspective. She is one of the few who realizes it's not just about logic...it's about emotion. We FEEL better buying vegetables from local farmers at the market, whether it's really best for the environment or not. Nichols' best advice from the June 2007 issue: be practical.

"I would be mindful of what I eat. Yes, at times I might eat a lamb from New Zealand that has more frequent flyer miles than I do, but in the end the most important thing is to take care of myself. I will eat organic when it makes sense, like with thin-skinned fruits and vegetables. I will spend a little extra money on hormone-free meats and pastured poultry. I will buy local and in season every chance I get. And I will hug a farmer whenever possible."

All in all, great advice. So check labels carefully. And head to the farmers' market every weekend. If you're at the one in downtown Dallas, make sure and buy tomatoes from the Lemleys in yellow shed #1. And give Carolyn a hug. You'll never have felt better.