Unless you own a Toyota hybrid, driving around your town to buy locally-grown produce probably isn’t doing any favors for the environment.
This story out of Seattle, Washington is about a guy who was on a year-long quest to buy only foods that are grown in Washington and Oregon. Unfortunately, about four months before the year was up, he reached the conclusion that he was simply driving around too much to find locally-grown food. As a result, he was adding more greenhouse gases into the air than if he had shopped at closer stores for food shipped in from more distant places.
“I felt like I was doing it for the wrong reasons in the end,” said Justin Rothboeck, a 26-year-old law student and former vegan.
Rothboeck’s dilemma is similar to that of many others who are trying to be responsible to the environment. Stores advocate buying locally-grown foods, but many customers live several miles away from the nearest market that sells these products. If you find yourself in this dilemma, you can reduce your feelings of guilt and the amount of greenhouse gases by getting a Toyota hybrid from your Conshohocken area Toyota dealer. Otherwise, weigh the effects of your actions and determine which is better: buying locally-grown or driving less?