Quote Originally Posted by OakLeaf View Post
You grow your own or buy from a local sustainable farmer whenever you can. Every new customer puts a little fillip into the economy of scale. You be very careful about reading the labels on stuff that you don't get directly from the person who grew it. You recommend The Omnivore's Dilemma and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle to everyone you know (and probably In Defense of Food, also, though I haven't read that one yet). You support your local bike co-op with money, time, advocacy, or cast-off parts. You do whatever advocacy you have the energy for. You set a good example for the people around you.
You all simply must read Michael Pollan's latest: In Defense of Food. He talks about these very issues and offers some practical advice that sounds very much like what Oakleaf said. His basic premise is this: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

That first point--"Eat food"--sounds obvious until you start to think about how much of the crap sold at most grocery stores isn't really food, but some chemically enhanced food-like substance (or as they call it in Skinny B**ch, a "sh*tstorm of chemicals"). Pollan also talks about trying to buy locally produced food, about how we got where we are now, and ideas for moving toward a better place--foodwise, environmentally, culturally.

Plus, Pollan is such a wonderful writer.