What I need is better access to a lot of this, although my trouble is the level of hydrocarbons in locally grown food---NOT that they are per se better in food grown elsewhere.

I hear we are getting a great new organic, green shop in soon.

Good tips!

Julie
Using My Words

The CSA we worked with had a winter program in which they offered regular deliveries of winter storage vegetables (apples, onions, carrots, winter squash, etc) with the option of supplement with a supplement of organic food from suppliers down south with whom they had an existing relationship. It was actually a pretty good deal... unfortunately we now live too far from them.

Okay the water thing scares me! I drink it fine...but I've never given it to the boy (exclusively tube-fed). It just makes me nervous to do something different. He's been using bottled water since he was 6 months old. How is tap water safer than bottled water?

bottled water is a consumer product, and is regulated as a consumer product, so it is not as tightly regulated or monitored as frequently. Tap water is regulated under public health, and in ontario at least, is monitored for safety every day to much tighter standards.

YOu can check with either your local public health agency or your provincial environmental agency if you want to see what the difference is locally.

I'm committed to buying local produce, but I really hadn't considered dairy products. I also need to cut down on packaged goods, although compared to many folks I think we're doing ok. We could still do a lot better. Thanks for raising my awareness.

Here's one that bugs me to no end...let your little preshuss ride the flippin school bus!!

My kids ride the bus everyday, but you wouldn't believe the number of people who drive ONE child to school every day. Not only does it cause terrible traffic snarl ups, that's a lot of wasted fuel and unnecessary emissions. And of course, while they sit ther ein the care line, they let the engine idle. ARRRGGGGH.

I've begun buying produce from a nearby farmer's market, but I have to ask where stuff comes from. My folks visited recently and wanted peaches. They had some, but they were from Florida.

They are always honest with me, but you really can't assume that just because somehting is old at a produce stand, it is locally grown.

That's one HUGE plus for me staying home. I don't drive nearly as much as I did when I had a job to go to!

As an aside -- I drive my son to school sometimes because I then go on to drive my daughter to daycare. Driving to school adds about 1 1/2 miles to my trip to daycare, but it gives us an extra 45 minutes in the morning. Trade-offs.

What got me in your previous post on this topic, Andrea: When I entered my info in that carbon footprint calculator, my house alone sent me over the limit. My house is 1800 sq ft which is pretty small by local standards... It was dismaying, I tell you.

We did a CSA this year. They delivered produce for SEVEN months! In this cold desert climate! We got our final delivery last week and it was a sad, sad moment for us all.

I've replaced sugar with honey in several different recipes, mostly sugar cookies, or ones similar, and blondies (which are the same texture as brownies, but are sort of vanilla-flavored). They taste better, too!

If you can believe it, the town I grew up didn't *have* buses for kids. There was one for the high school, that I took, but it was wildly expensive.