What is a Locavore? It Could be You!

The word locavore was the 2007 word of the year for the New Oxford American Dictionary.

The past few years have seen the popularization of a trend in using locally grown ingredients and taking advantage of seasonally available foodstuffs that can be bought and prepared without the need for extra preservatives or miles traveled to acquire.

The “locavore” movement encourages consumers to buy from farmers’ markets or even to grow or pick their own food, arguing that fresh, local products are more nutritious and taste better. Locavores look for local alternatives for fresh foods in preference to supermarket offerings as an environmentally friendly measure since shipping food over long distances requires more fuel for transportation.

“The word ‘locavore’ shows how food-lovers can enjoy what they eat while still appreciating the impact they have on the environment,” said Ben Zimmer, editor for American dictionaries at Oxford University Press. “It’s significant in that it brings together eating and ecology in a new way.”

“Locavore” was coined in 2005 by a group of four women in San Francisco who proposed that local residents should try to eat only food grown or produced within a 100-mile radius. Other regional movements have emerged since then, though some groups refer to themselves as “localvores” rather than “locavores.”

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