Trying to understand the 100 Mile Diet

Last night I was talking to my mother about how I really wanted to read the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle because it talks about a family's quest to live only off of what they can eat locally.

I think this is amazing for several reasons 1) because having been a victim of some still unnamed digestive disease, I am very concerned about what's in the food I eat and how it affects my health. 2) If you grow your own food or if you can have a conversation with the person that's growing your food you'll know that the seed is not genetically modified to prevent grasshopper loitering or something. 3) Sure, like mom says, there won't be strawberries to eat in Ohio in the winter (maybe some strawberry jam, though) but it forces one to be creative and crafty with what is available and 4) It would save the world from all the gas that it takes to drive/fly those strawberries to Cali or wherever they're being grown to me.

Think about it. What did you eat for breakfast or lunch today. Out of all the things you ate, can you name all the ingredients and better yet, do you know what they are? I know I can't. I had a cookie out of the vending maching and all I know is that it had no trans-fat and it tasted good. Probably had some flour... dark chocoalte... sugar I'm sure, but the point is that I don't know. We don't know. All this sickness and disease plaguging our race has some kind of connection to what we're eating, and what we're exposed to, but we can control one of those things. We can choose to make better choices for us and the environment.

The option has always been there for me, in my hometown in Ohio, to eat local. I can even tell you the name of the popular year-round farmer market. The challenge is to try.