Know your food, be a 'localvore'

I remember standing within the rows of tomatoes on my grandparents' family farm. Just like you would bite into an apple, I'd bite into the juicy and flavorful tomatoes just off the vine. It didn't need salt or dressing. It was perfect just like it was.To this day, I still compare the flavor of tomatoes I eat to the flavor I tasted then. I can't find this same flavor when shopping at the grocery. It just doesn't taste the same. It's no wonder. It was likely picked days, weeks or maybe months prior. Then, it had to travel hundreds, or maybe thousands of miles, just to get to you. It may look really pretty. But it just doesn't have the same flavor.The memory of fresh tomatoes is likely why I am drawn to find locally grown food. It tastes better, and I enjoy the ritual of knowing where my food comes from.I enjoy talking to the farmer about what is in season and asking them how they might prepare the food for themselves. There is also comfort in connecting to the people who produce your food. Today the art of farming, where men and women live in accordance to nature, is becoming rare. In today's world of economic efficiency, we have substituted low prices and convenience with a real connection to food and those who produce that which nourishes and sustains us.We've lost touch with the stewards of the land, and the knowledge that they can share.In Ayurveda, a holistic healing system, disease is created when we are living out of balance with nature. Given our disconnection to our food source, it is no wonder we have a tumultuous and confused relationship to food. We are a nation obsessed with food, yet the concept of "balanced diet" changes depending on the winds of recent fad diets. We count our calories, our carbs and fat grams.We are experts in ways to lose weight, and gain weight as we ride the fad-diet roller coaster. Rather than finding joy in our food, we often experience guilt. Despite all the energy put toward thinking about food, most of us don't give much thought to where our food comes from. We rarely ask who produced our food.We don't take the time to prepare or eat our food. It's no wonder our relationship to food is disconnected and disharmonious. We don't know our food. We don't know who produces it. Throw your fad diet out the window. Stop counting carbs and calories. Instead, take the time to get to know your food. Just like you want to meet the parents of your children's friends, meet the people who grow your children's food. Just like you investigate the teaching methods of those who teach your children, investigate the production methods of those who make your food. Food is that which nourishes you. Take the time to know what it is you are eating.We are lucky living where we do. Unlike many places, we have choices and plenty of convenient opportunities to purchase locally grown produce directly from the grower.We are entering the season of Farmers Markets, where you have the opportunity to meet the growers directly. Rocklin has its own Farmers' Market on Sunday's beginning in June. Auburn has a year-round market, and Newcastle Produce features local produce year round. No time to shop? Placer Grown, an organization of local growers, provides an opportunity to have produce dropped at your front door in a weekly "harvest box."Perhaps scientists can't agree on whether local grown is better for you, or whether organic or conventional produce is better for you. But, it's hard to argue about taste and freshness of the food you get from a local grower. If we choose to eat local, we'll preserve this tradition. We'll preserve the flavor, and the opportunity to know where our food comes from. By taking the time to know our food, we improve our relationship. By improving our relationship, we inevitably cultivate balance and harmony with ourselves and nature. We will experience joy and gratitude that can't be satisfied by counting calories, carbs or following a fad diet.