Eat Local: Simple Steps to Enjoy Real, Healthy & Affordable Food

Given that her new book, Eat Local: Simple Steps to Enjoy Real, Healthy & Affordable Food, is so thorough in its coverage of how (and why) to procure, preserve and cook healthful, local-focused food, one has to forgive Jasia Steinmetz for mistakenly and jarringly using the word “terrier” in place of “terroir” (meaning a region’s particular soil, weather and farming techniques that influence the characteristics of a crop grown there) in the book’s introduction. Steinmetz, a gardener, local-food activist and professor of food and nutrition at the University of Wisconsin, covers all the basics for anyone (especially those new to the idea) wanting to move away from eating corporate-produced junk food and trucked-in big-ag produce to eating locally produced fare. She breaks it down: How to get your local grocery store to carry more local food; the ins and outs of farmers’ markets, CSAs and co-ops; the benefits of organic food, non-factory-farmed meats, plant-based diets and participating in a community garden. Steinmetz even includes a nice little resources section at the back of the book that includes a number of useful websites such as the Rodale Institute’s Farm Locator site and www.eatlocalchallenge.com. Pick up a copy at www.eatlocalsimplesteps.com.