In recent weeks, I read:
In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan
Plenty: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally by Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

The first lays out the argument for why you might want to eat more local foods—for environmental and, even more, for health reasons. The second are two very different attempts to eat more locally.

Plenty is by a young couple living in an apartment in Vancouver and attempting to eat only food (including all ingredients) within 100 miles for one year. They struggle.

AVM is about a family with a bit of land and some background in producing both vegetables and meat. They also set less strict rules for themselves, wanting only to eat local produce and meat for one year.

It’s kind of fun to read them back to back because most of us would be kind of in the middle in terms of resources for pursuing such a project. Both are well-written, but, of course, the Kingsolver book is beautiful.