Oh My God, It's Only Wednesday...

Since my last blogs have been focused more vegetarianism, I decided I'd shift my focus this week to healthy, organic living--while following a vegetarian diet of course. I've always been one to eat a lot of fruits and veggies, but it wasn't until earlier this year that I got interested in organic living. I always knew that eating organic was better for your body, but beyond that I had never realized what an impact it also has on the environment. Did you know that by eating organic you are helping lower the rates of chemicals and pesticides that are released into the world? And did you also know that organic farms use less energy and produce less waste? It's amazing what can be done by simply altering your diet, for the BETTERMENT OF YOU!

But anyways, back to eating organic. I have always bought my organic foods at the grocery store (just look for the organic label, sticker, or sign if you are confused), but then I got curious; what would happen if I started buying organic, local produce? So I decided I'd put my theory to test. While living in Hawaii this summer, I found that every local Hawaiian bought local produce. So, since my family had just moved there, we we're ready to start fitting in. And so it began. Every Saturday we went to the local farmers market and bought our produce for the week. It was almost instant that I saw improvements in my family's conscious buying. Instead of overbuying in bulk, as most produce is sold, we only bought what we knew we needed for that week. And from that first Saturday, "organic everything" was the way we lived. I loved it.

And so as I sadly flew back to Alabama just before school began, I realized how much I missed buying local. When you buy local, you are not only benefiting yourself, but you are also helping community. You are directly boosting the economy of your own place of life. Plus, you where your food has been, and don't have to worry about getting infested bananas from Peru. And so as I prepared myself to write this article, I was curious to see what kinds of farmers markets are offered in my home town of Montgomery, Alabama. I knew of one that I grew up going to with my mother, but I was surprised to see how much we had branched out as a community! Google pulled up five more local markets in my tri-county area!

And so with this new-found excitement, I encourage you reading this to find your own local markets, and get to shopping! :)