local eating

i wish more people would pay attention to things like this.
i'm late to the game of local eating, i'll admit. i never even heard of the concept til i joined the CSA and then for a month or so i largely ignored it. then as i felt better and was buying less junk food, i started thinking about it. eating locally has quite literally changed my life. well, my culinary life, anyhow. lets look:
1) the farm share has more veggies than i could ever imagine. instead of buying junk food and other snacks, i find myself snacking on them because, well, i don't want them to go bad and waste them.
2) i am enjoying foods i never thought i would ever enjoy. eggplant? no thanks. but now?! OMG EGGPLANT. give me more! i want to put it in everything. more variety= more vitamins and nutrients.
3) eating better overall has increased my energy, motivation, and emotional well being. in fact, i am off all of my "head meds" and am having almost NO problems without them. i am coping better than i ever have and despite this being the busiest year in my life, i am flourishing, for the most part.
4) i eat less chemicals in my foods which is probably going to make me healthier. i would assume so.
5) i am learning to enjoy preparing my food. for once in my life, food and i don't have a bad relationship. it tastes good and nourishes me. i use it to experiment with different flavors and textures. its not scary or full of numbers or separated into bad and good food. food is food.
right now, i would say that about 70% of what i eat is locally grown. i expect this to jump to 90% once i am all finished registering with the farm that delivers fresh meat once a month. i'm really proud of this. i'm not going to be all gung ho OMG YOU AREN'T FEEDING ME LOCALLY when i go to friends houses or restaurants, nor will i ever balk at the occasional pizza or potato chip (trust me. i won't). i will never ever give up buffalo wings. ever. period. but i might make them at home sometimes, with my locally grown meat, and the butter i got from the dairy, or throw together a pizza with some fresh ingredients. and i will eat and be merry.
look it up, people. try it out. its worth a second and maybe a third look. its a little more work, depending on how much you get into it, but sometimes work is satisfying :)