Eat good food, eat good food, eat good food!

When I purchase and consume food, the environment is usually somewhere in the back of my mind, and not at the forefront. Cheap eats are my top priority since, as everyone has been saying, I'm just a lowly, broke college student. Though I try to purchase and prepare my own meals as much as possible, this is at times difficult due to my schedule of work and class. When I eat out, I usually just go for what tastes good. It is hard for me to think about the environmental costs of production that go into the preparation of my meals, since most of the time I have no idea where this food comes from. I assume, therefore, that the environmental impact of the foods prepared for me is negative.

When I think about the environment when I make food choices, I try to purchase and consume food that has the lowest production costs. To say that products are locally grown is more important to me than saying that they are organic. Eating organic doesn't necessarily mean that you're going to be spending more money, but this, more often than not, seems to be the case. I couldn't imagine buying all of my groceries at Whole Foods when a six-pack and a reasonably sized portion from the salad bar easily costs 18 bucks. I doubt if shopping only at Whole Foods will actually help the environment at all. I'd rather just buy things that are locally grown.

I remember when I was very young waking up early on the weekend and going to the farmers market down the street and the local fish and meat markets with my parents. As a small child, it was a fun time, and I remember eating some really good tasting fruits, and meeting all kinds of great people. By the time I was elementary age, we had moved out of the city, and I haven't been to a farmer's market since. I'm sure there are some in DC, but I've yet to check them out. Waking up early on a Sunday isn't the easiest thing to do for me either. Willie Nelson and Neil Young once told me that this was the right thing to do. Perhaps that's what it's going to take to make the world a little more greener.