Boosting the Local Economy Through Local Food

"[O]ne of the most effective things governments and citizens can buy locally is food. There's no better way to reduce your carbon footprint than to buy locally produced food because the amount of fossil fuel required to fly your tomato in from California is extraordinary. When you add it up for all the food a family consumes in a given week, eating locally is the single best thing we can do to fight global climate change.

At a recent convergence of the Citistates Group in Chattanooga, Tenn., we learned that a local foods group estimates that if that city were to get just 5 percent of the food it consumes from the local region (compared to only a half of a percent today) it would keep $100 million in the local economy every year. And people would eat healthier, fresher, better tasting food."

Writing for Citiwire, David Cieslewicz looks at how cities are focusing on their local foods to stimulate the economy.