I crunch the numbers here: http://blogs.reuters.com/adam-pasick/2009/10/26/crunching-the-numbers-on-a-vegan-in-a-hummer/

Adam Pasick
Reuters News

I also have a lot of respect for anyone making ethical food choices and try to remain open to people drawing the line in different ways. I know some who only eat meat they raise ( on sustainably grown pastures) and slaughter themselves and others who only eat wild meat they hunt. I’ve met Jains who refuse to eat root vegetables because growing them is believed to harm more soil organisms than other vegetables. Personally, I don’t eat red meat (because I don’t like it) and have a lot of vegetarian days when I rely on soy (and I have many questions about how it’s raised and gets to my local health food store). I agree that the world (particularly North America) relies far too much on livestock for protein. I know all that contributes a lot to greenhouse gases and also changes ecosystems. But I’ve lived in places where people raise buffaloes and goats and slaughter one now and then (usually less than once a month) for a bit of animal protein in an otherwise vegetarian diet. I don’t begrudge them that. It’s hard to imagine everyone giving up meat, so it would be good to move in the direction of less meat, grown sustainably (while also respecting vegans and vegetarians).

CSA’s are great. It’s wonderful seeing them become more popular. It’s definitely the next best thing to growing it yourself and builds local communities around food. And yeah, Local Harvest is a great resource. They’re all part of the food revolution.

But I’m with you: I get all my vegetables from local farms (I live in an apartment and can’t plant a garden, though I’d love to). I’m part of local CSAs where I get regular supplies of organic, locally grown produce (at one I get to go pick it myself–a great way to meet like-minded people and make new friends). Without shipping it and packing it and processing it, I think a world of difference is made–and the food is MUCH fresher.

BTW, if you’ve not seen it, a really cool resource for this is here: http://www.localharvest.org/ — a great tool for finding markets, CSAs, local farms that sell direct to consumers, and so on.

Growing some of my own food focuses my attention on weather, soil quality, nourishment, bugs, and a host of other issues that would have remained abstract if I were still getting all my food in boxes from the supermarket. It also connects me with the community as we trade seeds and extra tomatoes.