Earth Day for Locavores

The chicken or earth day? Earth day or every day?  Every day or earth days?

For me and most locavores every day is earth day. Being someone who appreciates local food is also someone who loves the earth and her glorious bounty. I can think of no greater way to celebrate earth day than to adopt a more locally grown and fresher diet.

Here are 10 ideas for the Traverse City locavore to embrace for Earth Day. 

1. Eat an entire meal that you prepare from food grown no more than 100 miles from Traverse City.
2. Fast and bring awareness to yourself and your table that 33% of the world is well fed, 33% is under-fed and 33% of people in the world are starving.
3. Carpool.
4. Eat vegetarian for one day.  According to Environmental Defense, if every American skipped one meal of chicken and substituted vegetarian food every week, that would be the same carbon savings as taking 500,000 cars off the road for an entire year.
5.Purchase food from a farmers market.  Support your local farmer by making a purchase from her and add money into the local economy. Better yet, join a csa!
6. Plant an edible plant.
7. Walk or bike over to watch the earth day parade on Saturday.  The parade starts at Central Grade School on 7th street at 1pm.
8. Help clean up the beach in Traverse City on Saturday 9-5pm. Call 922-4910 for more information.
9. Share a meal with friends.
10.Walk or take a hike.
11. Eat a cage free egg.
11. Drink a local beer- (okay, this is going on and on ad nauseum, but you get the idea and you really can celebrate in so many locavorian earth-wise ways!).

You see, we know it's all about loving the earth, savoring the bounty, treading lightly, slowing down and having something left over for the next generation. In order for us to move forward on this planet  to a more sustainable life-style, we have to embrace some of the practices of yesterday. Fortunately for me, i see local food as a fresher and healthier choice for me, my community and the planet. I love fresh food, direct from the earth, grown in the soil that i walk on.   I really can't think of a better way to celebrate the earth than to be a locavore!