With many people here striving to eat better to enhance their health. We usually try to eat certain things, if you eat raw you are in constant need of "fresh" items. I want to see if anyone out there truly tries to eat things grown within close proximity to their home. Yeah its cool to be in arkansas in the middle of winter and have some dragonfruit,but at what environmental cost? I know that it is near to impossible to eat this way if you live in temperature climates without importing your food. So next time you reach for that dulse from Maine or goji berries from Asia, think about the environment and not yourself. Just a thought.

By the way I am as guilty as anyone out there!

Fuganetti,
It can be difficult in a temperate climates to eat as the saying goes within 100 miles from harvest to plate in the winter.

I have only lived one winter in cool climates where not much grows.As of now I would say 99.9 % of the food I eat is coming from less then 100 miles and alot of it is less then 5 miles.

I did buy a box of persimmons and apples around thanksgiving and that was my big splurge for the last 6 months other then that when I am in Florida in the summers even there some of the food I eat is from more then 100 miles especially bananas but the mangos come from my area I do not buy imported mangos fresh Florida ones are the best in the summers.

I am living in Thailand this time of year all the fruit I buy with the exception of my thanksgiving persimmons and apples are grown nearby some from my garden and others I purchase in the market local papayas bananas,guavas and Jackfruit tomatoes ect.
The apples and persimmons came from China they are shipped in down the Mekong to a town about 5 hours from here so if the ship took a 9 hour trip from the source of the fruit that was about 14 hours of boat travel.
Grow fruit trees save the planet,

Cherimoya,

Love Peace and Happiness,

I think there is merit in consuming foods grown in different soils because it can provide nutrients that may not be abundant in a given community. The soil in one community may not be exactly the same as the soil in a neighboring community.

No, I'm not, as I live in the UK (-5 right now) and follow a high-fruit diet. For around six months of the year there is no fruit growing - none at all, not even apples.

I'm fortunate to live in a tropical climate. Nearly all my fruit, greens, and nuts are grown at home. Right now though, I don't have tomatoes or cucumbers, so I buy them. Sometimes I buy fresh mangos (usually within 100 miles) or dried mangos, since it's too wet to grow them where I live. For now, I also buy sesame seeds and sunflower seeds. And I buy brazil nuts, olive oil and wheat germ.

We buy the majority of our food from local farmers.Right now I brought 2 huge bags of orange and grapefruits from Florida.We went there for the Holidays and I couldn't resist.

I'm happy to be raw and I don't feel guilty at all - rather grateful to be able to find enough fresh produce here in Canada to pursue this lifestyle.

I try to be as much as possible, but it's not totally possible here in New England in the winter. Well, I guess it could be if I just ate kale and apples. During the summers it's pretty easy to. I get my almonds from farmers in Cali when I go in the summer to see my kids and grandkids and the rest of the gang. But I eat oranges from Florida and mushrooms from Pennsylvania and we get a lot of freebies from everywhere when hubby culls the produce at work. This summer I want to see how much I can eat just out of my yard.

Thanks for bringing this up. Since the beginning of my raw foods journey about 6 1/2 years ago I have felt this topic is mostly ignored, and feel concern about the environmental impact of global fossil fuel food transportation.

Still, for those not living in a tropical climate, it is challenging, to say the least. I live in Colorado, where no foods that I know of grow outside usually between about November and April -- we were fortunate to have a late fall this year and had greens through Thanksgiving, a real blessing!

I do volunteer work on an organic farm during the growing season, about May through October, and am fortunate to be able to obtain most of my produce from that wonderful local source, supplemented by local farmers' markets.

I'm in the process of experimenting with balancing local and seasonal as much as possible, with wanting to eat a varied raw foods diet.

With Whole Foods type availability increasing, it is so easy to get into the habit of just picking up any type of produce at any time of the year.

The compromise I have made for myself for now is this: During the local growing season, if something is available locally I wait for when it is in season locally. And, although I also have a bias towards fresh foods as much as possible, this summer my husband and I invested in many cases of peaches, pears and apples that were locally grown, and froze and dehydrated a lot of them to use over the winter, so that at least some of my winter fruit can be local and at least purchased seasonally. And during the winter I choose to purchase primarily foods that do grow naturally in colder weather, such as kale, apples and winter squash.

I do also grow lots of sprouts indoors, but of course those seeds have come from elsewhere.

Unless we do live in a tropical climate I think about the best we can do is to at least think about these issues, and take whatever small or large steps we find available to us.

I'd love to hear what others are doing to up the local and seasonal percentages of their diets.

Cheers,
Kim in Colorado

In the summer, I grow everything in my garden so I then consume almost 100% local. In the Winter time though, there is no choice for me but to buy what is in store. Again, I am aware that living in northern countries is not so easy for raw foodist. I would probably eat 100% local if I had the chance to live in the tropics.

The thing is : I'm happy here in Canada so I try to adjust myself to the situation.

Blessings and love to you all.

Cynthia