If you're really worried about issues like chemical adulteration of your food, GMO crops, working conditions for farm laborers, fossil fuels and global climate change and animal welfare and even bio-terrorism – eat what's grown locally and focus on what's in season.

This is a growing trend that even big chain supermarkets like Safeway and Fred Meyer are starting to notice. Both of these companies are increasingly turning to local suppliers for their produce and even many meat products. So are restaurants, including regional chains like In-And-Out Burger in Southern California, Burgerville in the Pacific Northwest and Colorado's Chipotle Mexican Grill.

I've talked about this a few times here, but it bears repeating – particularly in light of the recent example of criminal negligence in the Gulf of Mexico. Food raised locally – within a 200 mile radius – does not have to rely as much on petroleum to get from Point A to Point B. But here's some reasons that hit closer to home.

First of all, that food's going to be fresher and will be more nutritious. The problem with shipping produce a thousand miles or more is that in order to survive the trip, it needs to be picked before it's ripe. If you've ever been subjected to the tastelessness of green, unripe fruit, you know what I'm talking about.

Of course, the issue that's got everyone's shorts in a knot is terrorism. Now, I'm not too worried about people with bombs strapped to their bodies, but I have to say that the idea of someone sneaking into a commercial food processing plant and dropping a heapin' helping of e-coli or anthrax into the works – that bothers me (and it would be relatively easy to get away with). However, it's a lot less likely that some nut-case is going to be able to pull it off when the food is consumed close to its source.

Another issue that is on everyone's mind is the paving over of America as more and more farmland winds up being turned into strip malls and housing developments. When you support your local farmer, you're giving him/her a reason to stay in business – and when the developer comes around with a sales pitch and a wad of cash, s/he's more likely to tell this character to take a hike.

Of course, last week we talked about "Victory Gardens" and how you can't do much better than growing your own in your backyard. Since every region of the country is different however, you'll need to have some ideas as to what you can raise. Fortunately, there's a fair number of websites out there that are focused toward local agriculture and gardening. For example, Front Range Living is one such online resource geared toward people living in the Denver area. For folks living in and around Portland, Oregon, check out Minerva's Garden; this site is updated regularly and even has a couple of nifty videos. Vegetable gardeners in the Southeast should check out Veggie Gardening Tips. Just go to your favorite search engine (it doesn't have to be Google or Yahoo – there are a few more out there), enter "vegetable gardening tips" and your location. You'll be surprised at how many helpful folks there are out there when it comes to growing your own.