Oil Conservation

Everybody is always talking about driving less to conserve oil, which is great...but really hard. Especially if you live in a rural area where most things are not within walking distance. But there is a way to cut down your oil consumption without altering the way you drive. EAT LOCALLY GROWN FOOD. Most of the food you eat has travelled several thousands of miles to get to you. Sometimes even across oceans. It was grown on huge industrial farms and harvested with big combines. Think about it. Local food is also usually cheaper because there aren't huge gas bills for it. You support local economy. And it tastes better because it's fresher. The other day, I went to a local produce stand and got 2 huge tomatoes, 2 huge onions, 9 peaches, and 2 1/2 pounds of potatoes for ten bucks! Can you imagine what that would have cost at Wal-Mart? Probably twice that, at least. If everyone ate one locally grown meal a week, the US would save 1.1 million barrells of oil a week. (www.silverbrookdartmouth.com/csa.html) That's a lot of oil. It's also potentially better for the environment than eating organic. The label 'organic' means less and less right now. Industrial farms have had the rules for becoming organic relaxed and it's also very expensive to become organically certified. Many local farmers simply cannot afford, but are farming that way without a label. And if you eat local, you can always talk to the farmers and ask them about their growing practices. Anyway, give a try. Look around and see what you can find out there. Maybe truly free range chickens and eggs. Or grass fed beef. Maybe a local dairy with reusable glass bottles. Maybe local apple or peach orchards. You won't know what's out there until you look. We live in the South. We have a long growing season. It's not so hard down here. Let me know if you're taking the challenge. If I tagged you, it's just because I thought you might be interested. If I didn't tag you, let me know anyway. Oh, and read "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver for more information.