A new study being completed by UC Davis may show that eating "local" could actually harm the environment. How could that be, you ask?

Sure, local foods usually are fresher. And it's good to support farmers, especially neighbors and local ones. But there's a reason that large, industrialized modern U.S. farms provide more food at lower cost than farmers anywhere else in the world ... it's called "efficiency." And it turns out that's one of the advantages of large, modern U.S. farms ... they're very efficient in shipping and delivering our food to grocery stores, restaurants and other places where we consumers buy it every day. This efficiency lowers the "carbon footprint" of these foods being shipped to grocery stores and restaurants, compared to the small, local farmers who drive their pick-up trucks, SUV's and other less efficient vehicles to stores, restaurants, farmer markets, etc. ... each with just a small load of produce, fruits and vegetables or eggs.

While it's easy to support small, local farmers .... remember that "big" doesn't mean "bad" when it comes to farming. Sometimes it actually means "better."