Fight global warming. Grow a garden or, as groups of people on the Seacoast, in Keene, in the Upper Valley and, naturally, in Vermont have done, become a locavore.

Most people were once locavores, people whose foodstuffs were produced within easy traveling distance of their home, out of necessity. It's cheap energy that makes the American diet possible.

It takes, by one estimate, 127 calories of fossil fuel energy to produce every calorie in lettuce.

Fertilizer, which is primarily made by extracting nitrogen from natural gas, accounts for some of that energy cost, but transportation makes up most of it. Grapes from Chile, apples from China, milk from Arizona, shrimp from Vietnam, star fruit from Hawaii, cauliflower from California, papayas from Mexico and kiwis from New Zealand come at a price paid in oil and the carbon dioxide emissions that fuel global warming.

According to the World Watch Institute, food hauled long distances requires the use of four to 17 times more petroleum than food produced locally. And food does travel - an average in America of 1,500 miles from field to table.

Living on cabbages, carrots and turnips in winter won't save the world. Purists should be pitied as much as admired. But locavores save energy, support local farms, keep New Hampshire green and leave money in the economy. Locally produced food is also fresher, tastier and unlikely to be contaminated by illegal or uncontrolled pesticides.

Consumers should be aware of all the good they do when they shop at local farmers' markets or buy meat, poultry, eggs and fruit from the farm on the outskirts of town. That food will cost more than the stuff grown or raised on factory farms, but it will be healthier.

Organizations like the New Hampshire Farmers Market Association and the state Department of Agriculture have made it relatively easy to find pick-your-own businesses and farm stands. And some supermarkets have begun selling locally produced foods. It's a bit harder to locate local sources of beef, venison, buffalo, pork, cheese and other products, but all can be found within 50 miles or so of the capital.

Concord has yet to form an official locavore group, but its food co-op goes out of its way to stock locally produced goods, including turkey pies, cookies and salsa.

The co-op also serves as a clearinghouse for information. It has a community bulletin board, where local food producers can list their products, and plans to post its own list of local suppliers on its website at concordfoodcoop.com. In all, the co-op carries products from 72 vendors in northern New England.

Locally grown food, especially if hauled home in a shopper's own cloth bag, also saves the energy that goes into packaging and trash that has to be incinerated. In all, food processing and packaging accounts for an amazing 23 percent of all the energy that goes into America's food production system.

Life without bananas, coffee, tea, chocolate, scotch and other imports would be pretty grim, but even small efforts to consume locally grown food can lead to a tasty treat.

Monitor editorial