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Eat Local: Locally Grown Food Sources 
There is a tremendous amount of growing support to buy foods that are grown locally, thus reducing the amount of food that has required thousands of miles of fuel consumption to get it to our grocers and eliminating the resulting vehicle pollution. Trucking, shipping and flying in food from around the country and the globe takes a toll on the environment and on public health.
Other benefits of eating foods grown locally include:
- Food is much more fresh
- Conserving energy and reducing greenhouse gases
- Keeping more jobs in your own economy
- Keeping more money in your own economy
The 100 Mile Diet Philosophy
What has become known as “The 100 Mile Diet” is gaining more and more support - essentielly, the idea is to buy foods produced within 100 miles from where you live. When you consider that the average North American sits down to eat, each ingredient has typically travelled at least 1,500 miles. That’s a lot of vehicle emissions going into our air, and there are strong arguments that a lot of this shipping isn’t necessary because there are numerous local food growers.
While in winter months this might not be the case, in warmer months and in warmer climates, it's hard not to agree with the logic. Let's support these groups and organizations who are demonstrating responsible environmental choices!
 is a great place to start – it’s set up regionally, so you can surf around and see what’s available in your area (unfortunately, not all of the links are functional, including Ontario information). Check out the rest of the website as well as the books because there's lots of relevent information on this site.
Other Recommended Links:
All of these links will help you find the freshest food available, while some will also enlighten you on ecological impact, local tourism, festivals & events, etc.
 A very cool site with great information, and a search engine that brings up Green-oriented farms, stores, restaurants etc within 20 mile of your postal/zip code. Become a member (free) and the search engine becomes way more robust!
 Is a good source for Agri-tourism attractions and local foods. Their goal is to promote Canadian agriculture by providing farm-gate businesses with an opportunity to make a fair value for the products they produce. While it's predominantly Ontario based for now, they state that this initiative is expanding accross Canada.
Ontario
 This is a pretty cool site with an effective search tool.They highlight the in-season fruit and produce, then direct you to where you can get it, by region. .
 is an award winning non-profit organization that brings farmers and consumers to the table to share in the benefits of environmentally and socially responsible food production.
 If you live in Southern Ontario, you might be surprised to learn that our Greenbelt is the world’s largest and most diverse. This link is a great site for the Southern Ontario area – besides having great resources for local food sources, it provides lots of information about what’s going on throughout the Greenbelt. They have written an incredible Local Shopping Guide that lists the farms, markets, stores and restaurants that offer fresh and healthy foods harvested locally from the Greenbelt.
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Addresses, websites, and phone numbers
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Hours of operation for farmers’ markets
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More than 140 on-farm markets and pick-your-own farms
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Time of year for fairs and festivals
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Parks and conservation areas and their contact information
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Charts outlining the seasonal availability of Greenbelt fruits and vegetables
The listings are colour coded and separated into the following regions:
 A well laid out interesting resource site with links to other sites, recipes, agricultural associations, etc..
We are committed to adding to these resources on a continual basis - please send your suggestions/feedback to info@CleanOurAir.com
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