By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Columnist

Chances are the food you eat travels more than you do.

Imagine how much of your shopping basket involves the energy costs associated with transportation: grapes from Chile, lettuce from California, orange juice from Florida, wine from Italy or Australia.

In "Eating to Save the Earth: Food Choices for a Healthy Planet," authors Linda Riebel and Ken Jacobsen said that the average food item travels 1,300 miles to reach the consumer. For Hawai'i residents, the figure may be double that or more.

The authors said that a significant portion of the carbon dioxide produced by humans comes from fuels used by the agriculture industry to grow food and transport it.

One of the ways to be a little easier on the planet is to eat closer to home.

There was a time early in Hawai'i's history when all the food consumed here was grown here. Imported food grew in importance after Captain Cook's visit, but during World War II, old-timers say, food quickly got back into the neighborhood. Folks grew backyard victory gardens, and farmers produced a lot of the fare for local markets.

In an age of high-rises and tiny house lots, producing your own food is more and more difficult. But it is possible to shop for food in a way that's easier on the environment.

You can look for more locally grown fruits and vegetables. Those Kona oranges may not be as uniformly orange in color, but many will swear they're tastier and sweeter than the imported kind. And if you're shopping at a farmer's market, you have the added benefit of being able to ask farmers about the varieties they are growing, what crops are coming up next, and how they grew the food they are selling.

You can buy local organic produce, if that's your preference. But another benefit of buying locally is the assurance that even if you're not buying organic, the chemicals used to grow the crops are ones that have been approved by U.S. environmental authorities. That may not always be the case with foreign crops.

If you eat meat, you might like to know that local ranchers are working to develop a market for grass-fed Island beef.

Changes in the management of cattle, in the way they are fed and the kinds of grasses they eat, have resulted in high-quality, tender, flavorful cuts that lack the gaminess that some folks may remember from the free-range cattle of the early days in Hawai'i. At your favorite store, you can ask for local beef.

Besides the personal and global benefits, eating close to home means there's a place for farming in the Hawaiian economy and there's a reason to protect agricultural lands.

Jan TenBruggencate is The Advertiser's Kaua'i bureau chief and its science and environment writer. Reach him at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 245-3074.