Eating locally produced food has advantages. It helps the environment, such as no transporting food across long distances and burning up fuel.

It’s great for the economy too. Local growers and businesses get eager customers, ready to snap of homegrown goodies.

And this Fourth of July, Kitchen Gardeners International, the folks who led the efforts to plant a garden on the White House lawn, encouraged governors from all 50 states to declare their food independence and eat more local food.

A spokesperson for the group said buying food grown close to home helps cut the United States’ dependence on foreign producers and growers.

Here’s an example. Most of the garlic used in the U.S. is grown in China. So buying local garlic might encourage more domestic farmers to grow it and eventually drop our dependence on Chinese garlic.

Lucky for me, I just got some organic garlic from my CSA.

And local food tastes better. One expert says most tomatoes in the United States are picked green and are not bred for flavor or nutrient quality, but rather for uniform shape and color. That’s why I grow my own giant tomatoes!

Via Eat, Drink and Be Healthy.